The ''Caño Cristales'' (; ) is a river located in the

Serranía de la Macarena Serranía de la Macarena is an isolated mountain range located in the Meta Department, Colombia. It was named after the Virgin of Hope of Macarena. The mountains are separated by about at their northern extreme from the East Andes. The range ...

, an isolated mountain range in

Meta Department Meta () is a department of Colombia. It is close to the geographic center of the country, to the east of the Andean mountains. A large portion of the department, which is also crossed by the Meta River, is covered by a grassland plain known ...

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

. It is a tributary of the

Guayabero River The Guayabero River is a river of Colombia. It is primarily located in the Meta Department, forming a portion of its border with the Guaviare Department. It is part of the Orinoco River basin. Its confluence with the Ariari River gives rise to th ...

, itself a part of the Orinoco basin. Caño Cristales was found in 1969 by a group of cattle farmers. The river is commonly called the "River of Five Colors" or the "Liquid Rainbow," and is noted for its striking colors. The bed of the river from the end of July through November is variously colored yellow, green, blue, black, and especially red, the last caused by '' Rhyncholacis clavigera'' ( syn. '' Macarenia clavigera'') plants on the riverbed. In recent years, the river has become a tourist destination; there were more than 16,000 visitors in 2016.

Geography

The

quartzite Quartzite is a hard, non- foliated metamorphic rock that was originally pure quartz sandstone.Essentials of Geology, 3rd Edition, Stephen Marshak, p 182 Sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure usually related to tecton ...

rocks of the Serrania de la Macarena tableland formed approximately 1.2 billion years ago. They are a western extension of the

Guiana Shield The Guiana Shield (; ; ; ) is one of the three cratons of the South American Plate. It is a 1.7 billion-year-old Precambrian geological formation in northeast South America that forms a portion of the northern coast. The higher elevations on ...

. Caño Cristales is a fast-flowing river with many rapids and waterfalls. Small circular pits known as

giant's kettle A giant's kettle, also known as either a giant's cauldron, moulin pothole, or glacial pothole, is a typically large and cylindrical Pothole (landform), pothole drilling, drilled in solid rock (geology), rock underlying a glacier either by water ...

s can be found in many parts of the riverbed, which have been formed by pebbles or chunks of harder rocks. Once one of these harder rock fragments falls into one of the cavities, it is rotated by the water current and begins to carve at the cavity wall, increasing the dimensions of the pit.

Fauna and flora

The Serranía de la Macarena is located on the border of three large

ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) is a system formed by Organism, organisms in interaction with their Biophysical environment, environment. The Biotic material, biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and en ...

s, each of them with high diversity of flora and fauna: the

Andes The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range ...

, the

Llanos The Llanos ( Spanish ''Los Llanos'', "The Plains"; ) is a vast tropical grassland plain situated to the east of the Andes in Colombia and Venezuela, in northwestern South America. It is an ecoregion of the tropical and subtropical grasslands, ...

, and the

Amazon rainforest The Amazon rainforest, also called the Amazon jungle or Amazonia, is a Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, moist broadleaf tropical rainforest in the Amazon biome that covers most of the Amazon basin of South America. This basin ...

. The representative biome of the Serrania de la Macarena is the hydrophytic rainforest: hot, warm, and cold. The tableland is home to about 420 species of birds, 10 species of amphibians, 43 species of reptiles, and eight primates. Caño Cristales is home to several species of

fish A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...

(despite sometimes claimed to contain no fish), freshwater

turtles Turtles are reptiles of the order Testudines, characterized by a special shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira (side necked turtles) and Cryptodira (hidden necked turtle ...

and other aquatic animals. Caño Cristales river has a wide variety of aquatic plants. The water of the river is extremely clear due to the lack of nutrients and small particles. Almost unique is the bright red – pink coloration of the riverbed after the rainy period from the end of June till November. This color is caused by great quantities of plant species '' Rhyncholacis clavigera'' (often known by its former name, ''Macarenia clavigera''). This plant is only found in Caño Cristales and a few other rivers in the region, such as the Caño Siete Machos. These plants, which are green when young, then turn yellowish and finally various shade of red, adhere tightly to rocks in places where the river has faster current.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cano Cristales Rivers of Colombia National monuments of Colombia 1969 in Colombia 1969 in the environment Geography of Meta Department Orinoco basin