The Sierra Nevada de Mérida is the highest mountain range in the largest massif in Venezuela, the
Cordillera de Mérida
The Cordillera de Mérida is a mountain range, or massif, in northwestern Venezuela. The Cordillera de Mérida is a northeastern extension of the Andes Mountains and the most important branch of the Venezuelan Andes. The range runs approximately 4 ...
, which in turn is part of the northern extent of the
Cordillera de los Andes (Andes Mountains). The Sierra Nevada de Mérida includes the highest peaks in Venezuela,
Pico Bolívar, which has an elevation of ,
Pico Humboldt,
Pico Bonpland and others.
The
Sierra Nevada National Park is a protected area within the range.
The Cordillera de Mérida is a series of mountain ranges, or massif, in northwestern Venezuela. The Cordillera de Mérida is a northeastern extension of the Andes Mountains. The ranges run southwest–northeast between the Venezuelan-Colombian border and the Venezuelan coastal range. The Táchira depression separates the Cordillera de Mérida from the Cordillera Oriental, which forms the Colombia-Venezuela border.
The ranges runs from southwest to northeast and parts lie within each of the following states: Táchira, Mérida, Barinas, Trujillo, Portuguesa and Lara. The southeastern slopes are drained by tributaries of the Orinoco River, while the streams that drain the northwestern slopes empty into Lake Maracaibo. At the northeast tip of the massif lies the town of Barquisimeto and the headwaters of the River Cojedes.
In the centre of the massif is the city of Mérida. Two ranges of peaks lie on either side of the city, the Sierra de la Culata to the north and Sierra Nevada de Mérida to the south. Pico Bolívar, at 4,981 meters elevation (16,342 feet), is the highest peak in Venezuela.
Most of the ranges are covered by Venezuelan Andes montane forests, although the highest elevations (above 3,100 meters) are above tree line. These ranges are home to the Cordillera de Mérida páramo, an enclave of the páramo (tropical alpine grasslands) of the northern Andes. Protected areas in the massif include Sierra Nevada National Park.
Glaciers
In 1991 the mountain range had five glaciers situated near its peaks.
However, as of 2017, only one glacier (10% of its size 30 years earlier) remained near
Pico Humboldt.
It was then predicted this last glacier would disappear within the next ten or twenty years,
but already in May 2024, the Humboldt Glacier was officially downgraded to an ice field and thus no longer considered a glacier.
[ The Guardian, 8 May 2024 ]
Venezuela loses its last glacier as it shrinks down to an ice field.
/ref>
The snowy season is between July–August. The snows cover the mountains above 4.200 meters, and sometimes above 3.800 meters.
Gallery
File:La cascada el velo de la novia.JPG, El Velo de la Novia waterfall
File:Quebrada Mucubají, Sierra de Santo Domingo.JPG, Sierra de Santo Domingo
File:Laguna mucubaji.jpg, Mucubají lagoon
See also
*Sierra Nevada National Park (Venezuela)
The Sierra Nevada National Park (SNNP) is a List of national parks of Venezuela, National Park of Venezuela located between the states of Mérida, Mérida, Mérida and Barinas, Venezuela, Barinas in western Venezuela. It was created on May 2, 195 ...
* Sierra La Culata
* Merida glaciation
References
External links
Schubert, Carlos (1998) "Glaciers of Venezuela" United States Geological Survey (USGS P 1386-I)
Mountain ranges of the Andes
Mountain ranges of Venezuela
Glaciers of Venezuela
Geography of Mérida (state)
Geography of Barinas (state)
Sierra Nevada National Park (Venezuela)
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