Tepuis tend to be found as isolated entities rather than in connected ranges, which makes them the host of a unique array of endemic plant and animal species. Notable tepuis include Auyantepui, Autana, Neblina, and Mount Roraima. They are typically composed of sheer blocks of Precambrianquartz arenitesandstone that rise abruptly from the jungle. Auyantepui is the source of Angel Falls, the world's tallest waterfall.
The plateau of Mount Roraima – the peculiar rock formation is caused by erosion.Mount RoraimaView of the Venezuelan Amazon from the top of a tepuiView of Kukenan tepui from top of Mt. RoraimaDevil's Canyon in the Canaima National ParkThe steep rock wall of Mount Roraima
These table-top mountains are the remains of a large sandstone plateau that once covered the granite basement complex between the north border of the Amazon Basin and the Orinoco, between the Atlantic coast and the Rio Negro. This area is part of the remnants of the supercontinent Gondwana.[3] Throughout the course of the history of Earth, the plateau began to erode and fragment about 300 million years ago, and about 70 million years ago the tepuis were formed from the remaining monadnocks.[4]
There are 115 such mesas in the Gran Sabana in the south-east of Venezuela on the border with Guyana and Brazil, where the highest concentration of tepuis is found. The precipitous mountains tower over the surrounding area by up to 1,000 metres (3,000 ft).
Tepuis range in elevation from 1,000–3,000 metres (3,000–10,000 ft).[5] The total surface area of all 115 tepuis is approximately 5,000 km2 (2,000 sq mi).[6]
Because of their great age, some tepuis exhibit surface features and caves typical of karst topography, formed in more water-soluble rocks such as limestone. Caves here include the 671-metre-deep (2,201 ft) Abismo Guy Collet, the deepest quartzite cave in the world. Some of the mesas are pocked with giant sinkholes up to 300 meters (1,000 ft) in diameter and with sheer walls up to 300 meters (1,000 ft) deep. These sinkholes are formed when the roofs of tunnels carved by underground rivers collapse.
Flora and faunaEdit
The plateaus of the tepuis are completely isolated from the ground forest, making them ecological islands.[7] The altitude causes them to have a different climate from the ground forest. The top presents cool temperatures with frequent rainfall, while the bases of the mountains have a tropical, warm and humid climate. The isolation has led to the presence of endemic flora and fauna through evolution over millennia of a different world of animals and plants, cut off from the rest of the world by the imposing rock walls. Some tepui sinkholes contain species that have evolved in these "islands within islands" that are unique to that sinkhole. The tepuis are often referred to as the Galápagos Islands of the mainland, having a large number of unique plants and animals not found anywhere else in the world. The floors of the mesas are poor in nutrients, which has led to a rich variety of carnivorous plants, such as Drosera and most species of Heliamphora, as well as a wide variety of orchids and bromeliads. The weathered, craggy nature of the rocky ground means no layers of humus are formed.
It has been hypothesized that endemics on tepuis represent relict fauna and flora that underwent vicariant speciation when the plateau became fragmented over geological time.[8] However, recent studies suggest that tepuis are not as isolated as originally believed. For example, an endemic group of treefrogs, Tepuihyla, have diverged after the tepuis were formed; that is, speciation followed colonization from the lowlands.[9]
The tepuis, also known as 'islands above the rainforest', are a challenge for researchers, as they are home to a high number of new species that have yet to be described.[10] A few of these mountains are cloaked by thick clouds for nearly the entire year. Their surfaces could previously only be photographed by helicopter radar equipment.
Auyantepui is the largest of the tepuis with a surface area of 700 km2 (270 sq mi). Angel Falls, the highest waterfall in the world, drops from a cleft in the summit.
Mount Roraima, also known as Roraima Tepui. A report by the noted South American researcher Robert Schomburgk inspired the Scottish author Arthur Conan Doyle to write his novel The Lost World about the discovery of a living prehistoric world full of dinosaurs and other primordial creatures. The borders of Venezuela, Brazil, and Guyana meet on the top.
Matawi Tepui, also known as Kukenán, because it is the source of the Kukenán River, is considered the "place of the dead" by the local Pemon Peoples. Located next to Mount Roraima in Venezuela.[citation needed]
Autana Tepui stands 1,300 m (4,300 ft) above the forest floor. A unique cave runs from one side of the mountain to the other.
Sarisariñama Tepui, famous for its almost perfectly circular sinkholes that go straight down from the mountain top – the largest such sinkhole is 300 m (1,000 ft) in diameter and depth (purportedly created by groundwater erosion). They harbour an ecosystem composed of unique plant and animal species at the bottom.[7]
Ilú-Tramen Massif is the most northerly mountain in the chain that stretches along the Venezuelan-Guyana border from Roraima in the south.
Popular cultureEdit
The hypothesis that endemic fauna and flora of tepuis represent remnants of ancient species was an inspiration to Arthur Conan Doyle's novel The Lost World (1912), which was set on a tepui.
In the 1990 film Arachnophobia, a new species of spider with a highly potent, deadly venom that lives in social colonies and is the implied apex predator of its environment is discovered in a sinkhole enclosed by a tepui in the Venezuelan rainforest, also alluding to the unique ecological conditions of tepuis.
Much of the story of 2009 Pixar–Disney film Up takes place among the tepuis. The film also includes depictions of the numerous rock formations and an Angel Falls-like waterfall called "Paradise Falls".
Steve Backshall was part of the first expedition to successfully climb Mount Upuigma.[12] The expedition was part of the program Lost Land of the Jaguar on BBC One in 2008. On the summit they discovered an endemic species of frog and mouse, and also footprints of an unidentified mammal.
In the novel The 6th Extinction (2014)[13] by James Rollins, a tepui in the north of Brazil was featured as a secret lair for the villain Dr. Cutter Elwes.
The sinkholes Sima Martel and Sima Humboldt located on Sarisariñama, were mentioned in the viral marketing for the film Godzilla (2014 film). Entering the name of either sinkhole into the marketing website would produce the readout "twin signatures detected". Due to the sinkholes being discovered in 1961, the readout is assumed to be a joke referring to Mothra (1961 film).
Plateau – Highland area, usually of relatively flat terrain
ReferencesEdit
Citations
^"Tepui". Terrestrial Ecoregions. World Wildlife Fund.
^Eric Dinerstein, David Olson, et al. (2017). An Ecoregion-Based Approach to Protecting Half the Terrestrial Realm, BioScience, Volume 67, Issue 6, June 2017, Pages 534–545; Supplemental material 2 table S1b. [1]
^DÉSAMORÉ, AURÉLIE; VANDERPOORTEN, ALAIN; LAENEN, BENJAMIN; GRADSTEIN, ROBBERT; KOK, PHILIPPE (September 2010). "Biogeography of the Lost World (Pantepui region, northeastern South America): Insights from bryophytes". Phytotaxa. 9 (30): 255. doi:10.11646/phytotaxa.9.1.14. ISSN 1179-3163. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
^It’s Not So Lonely at the Top: Ecosystems Thrive High in the Sky
^"Tepuis". Terrestrial Ecoregions. World Wildlife Fund. Retrieved 2012-03-13.
^Rull, Valenti (18 May 2005). "Biotic diversification in the Guayana Highlands: a proposal". Journal of Biogeography. 32 (6): 921–927. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2699.2005.01252.x.
^ abZimmer, Carl. It’s Not So Lonely at the Top: Ecosystems Thrive High in the Sky, The New York Times website, May 7, 2012, and published in the New York edition, p. D3 on May 8, 2012.
^Chapman, F. M. (1931). "The upper zonal bird-life of Mts. Roraima and Duida". Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. 63: 1–135.
^Salerno, P. E.; Ron, S. R.; Señaris, J. C.; Rojas-Runjaic, F. J. M.; Noonan, B. P.; Cannatella, D. C. (2012). "Ancient Tepui Summits Harbor Young Rather Than Old Lineages of Endemic Frogs". Evolution. 66 (10): 3000–3013. doi:10.1111/j.1558-5646.2012.01666.x. PMID 23025594. S2CID 205783918.
^"Conquering a virgin Venezuelan tepui, The Sunday Times; November 2007". Timesonline.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-03-13.
^"Conquering a virgin", The Times, 11 November 2007
^Rollins, James (Aug 12, 2014). The 6th Extinction: A Sigma Force Novel. HarperCollins. pp. 448 pages. ISBN978-0-06-233698-9.
Bibliography
Much of the text of this article comes from the corresponding German-language Wikipedia article, retrieved on 16 February 2006, which uses the following sources:
Uwe George: Inseln in der Zeit. GEO - Gruner + Jahr AG & Co., Hamburg, ISBN3-570-06212-0.
Roland Stuckardt: Sitze der Götter. terra - Heft 3/2004, Tecklenborg Verlag, Steinfurt.
The Making of the Tepuis Film : "The Living Edens : The Lost World"
Mongabay.com – pictures from Tepuis in Venezuela.
September 02, 2023
tepui, tepui, tepuy, spanish, teˈpuj, table, mountain, mesa, found, south, america, especially, venezuela, western, guyana, word, tepui, means, house, gods, native, tongue, pemon, indigenous, people, inhabit, gran, sabana, kukenan, tepuiecoregion, territory, p. A tepui ˈ t ɛ p w i or tepuy Spanish teˈpuj is a table top mountain or mesa found in South America especially in Venezuela and western Guyana The word tepui means house of the gods in the native tongue of the Pemon the indigenous people who inhabit the Gran Sabana TepuiKukenan tepuiEcoregion territory in purple EcologyRealmNeotropicalBiometropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forestsBordersGuianan Highlands moist forestsGuianan piedmont and lowland moist forests Guianan savannaGeographyArea50 675 km2 19 566 sq mi CountriesVenezuelaBrazilGuyanaSurinameConservationConservation statusRelatively stable intact 1 Protected37 658 km 74 2 Tepuis tend to be found as isolated entities rather than in connected ranges which makes them the host of a unique array of endemic plant and animal species Notable tepuis include Auyantepui Autana Neblina and Mount Roraima They are typically composed of sheer blocks of Precambrian quartz arenite sandstone that rise abruptly from the jungle Auyantepui is the source of Angel Falls the world s tallest waterfall Contents 1 Morphology 2 Flora and fauna 3 Selected tepuis 4 Popular culture 5 See also 6 References 7 External linksMorphology Edit nbsp The plateau of Mount Roraima the peculiar rock formation is caused by erosion nbsp Mount Roraima nbsp View of the Venezuelan Amazon from the top of a tepui nbsp View of Kukenan tepui from top of Mt Roraima nbsp Devil s Canyon in the Canaima National Park nbsp The steep rock wall of Mount RoraimaThese table top mountains are the remains of a large sandstone plateau that once covered the granite basement complex between the north border of the Amazon Basin and the Orinoco between the Atlantic coast and the Rio Negro This area is part of the remnants of the supercontinent Gondwana 3 Throughout the course of the history of Earth the plateau began to erode and fragment about 300 million years ago and about 70 million years ago the tepuis were formed from the remaining monadnocks 4 There are 115 such mesas in the Gran Sabana in the south east of Venezuela on the border with Guyana and Brazil where the highest concentration of tepuis is found The precipitous mountains tower over the surrounding area by up to 1 000 metres 3 000 ft Tepuis range in elevation from 1 000 3 000 metres 3 000 10 000 ft 5 The total surface area of all 115 tepuis is approximately 5 000 km2 2 000 sq mi 6 Because of their great age some tepuis exhibit surface features and caves typical of karst topography formed in more water soluble rocks such as limestone Caves here include the 671 metre deep 2 201 ft Abismo Guy Collet the deepest quartzite cave in the world Some of the mesas are pocked with giant sinkholes up to 300 meters 1 000 ft in diameter and with sheer walls up to 300 meters 1 000 ft deep These sinkholes are formed when the roofs of tunnels carved by underground rivers collapse Flora and fauna EditThe plateaus of the tepuis are completely isolated from the ground forest making them ecological islands 7 The altitude causes them to have a different climate from the ground forest The top presents cool temperatures with frequent rainfall while the bases of the mountains have a tropical warm and humid climate The isolation has led to the presence of endemic flora and fauna through evolution over millennia of a different world of animals and plants cut off from the rest of the world by the imposing rock walls Some tepui sinkholes contain species that have evolved in these islands within islands that are unique to that sinkhole The tepuis are often referred to as the Galapagos Islands of the mainland having a large number of unique plants and animals not found anywhere else in the world The floors of the mesas are poor in nutrients which has led to a rich variety of carnivorous plants such as Drosera and most species of Heliamphora as well as a wide variety of orchids and bromeliads The weathered craggy nature of the rocky ground means no layers of humus are formed It has been hypothesized that endemics on tepuis represent relict fauna and flora that underwent vicariant speciation when the plateau became fragmented over geological time 8 However recent studies suggest that tepuis are not as isolated as originally believed For example an endemic group of treefrogs Tepuihyla have diverged after the tepuis were formed that is speciation followed colonization from the lowlands 9 The tepuis also known as islands above the rainforest are a challenge for researchers as they are home to a high number of new species that have yet to be described 10 A few of these mountains are cloaked by thick clouds for nearly the entire year Their surfaces could previously only be photographed by helicopter radar equipment Many tepuis are in the Canaima National Park in Venezuela which has been classified as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO Selected tepuis EditA few of the most notable of the 60 tepuis 11 Auyantepui is the largest of the tepuis with a surface area of 700 km2 270 sq mi Angel Falls the highest waterfall in the world drops from a cleft in the summit Mount Roraima also known as Roraima Tepui A report by the noted South American researcher Robert Schomburgk inspired the Scottish author Arthur Conan Doyle to write his novel The Lost World about the discovery of a living prehistoric world full of dinosaurs and other primordial creatures The borders of Venezuela Brazil and Guyana meet on the top Matawi Tepui also known as Kukenan because it is the source of the Kukenan River is considered the place of the dead by the local Pemon Peoples Located next to Mount Roraima in Venezuela citation needed Autana Tepui stands 1 300 m 4 300 ft above the forest floor A unique cave runs from one side of the mountain to the other Sarisarinama Tepui famous for its almost perfectly circular sinkholes that go straight down from the mountain top the largest such sinkhole is 300 m 1 000 ft in diameter and depth purportedly created by groundwater erosion They harbour an ecosystem composed of unique plant and animal species at the bottom 7 Ilu Tramen Massif is the most northerly mountain in the chain that stretches along the Venezuelan Guyana border from Roraima in the south Popular culture EditThe hypothesis that endemic fauna and flora of tepuis represent remnants of ancient species was an inspiration to Arthur Conan Doyle s novel The Lost World 1912 which was set on a tepui In the 1990 film Arachnophobia a new species of spider with a highly potent deadly venom that lives in social colonies and is the implied apex predator of its environment is discovered in a sinkhole enclosed by a tepui in the Venezuelan rainforest also alluding to the unique ecological conditions of tepuis Much of the story of 2009 Pixar Disney film Up takes place among the tepuis The film also includes depictions of the numerous rock formations and an Angel Falls like waterfall called Paradise Falls Steve Backshall was part of the first expedition to successfully climb Mount Upuigma 12 The expedition was part of the program Lost Land of the Jaguar on BBC One in 2008 On the summit they discovered an endemic species of frog and mouse and also footprints of an unidentified mammal In the novel The 6th Extinction 2014 13 by James Rollins a tepui in the north of Brazil was featured as a secret lair for the villain Dr Cutter Elwes The sinkholes Sima Martel and Sima Humboldt located on Sarisarinama were mentioned in the viral marketing for the film Godzilla 2014 film Entering the name of either sinkhole into the marketing website would produce the readout twin signatures detected Due to the sinkholes being discovered in 1961 the readout is assumed to be a joke referring to Mothra 1961 film See also EditCanaima National Park National park in Venezuela Geography of South America Overview of the geography of South America Plateau Highland area usually of relatively flat terrainReferences EditCitationsThis article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Tepui news newspapers books scholar JSTOR December 2011 Learn how and when to remove this template message Tepui Terrestrial Ecoregions World Wildlife Fund Eric Dinerstein David Olson et al 2017 An Ecoregion Based Approach to Protecting Half the Terrestrial Realm BioScience Volume 67 Issue 6 June 2017 Pages 534 545 Supplemental material 2 table S1b 1 DESAMORE AURELIE VANDERPOORTEN ALAIN LAENEN BENJAMIN GRADSTEIN ROBBERT KOK PHILIPPE September 2010 Biogeography of the Lost World Pantepui region northeastern South America Insights from bryophytes Phytotaxa 9 30 255 doi 10 11646 phytotaxa 9 1 14 ISSN 1179 3163 Retrieved 11 April 2018 It s Not So Lonely at the Top Ecosystems Thrive High in the Sky Tepuis Terrestrial Ecoregions World Wildlife Fund Retrieved 2012 03 13 Rull Valenti 18 May 2005 Biotic diversification in the Guayana Highlands a proposal Journal of Biogeography 32 6 921 927 doi 10 1111 j 1365 2699 2005 01252 x a b Zimmer Carl It s Not So Lonely at the Top Ecosystems Thrive High in the Sky The New York Times website May 7 2012 and published in the New York edition p D3 on May 8 2012 Chapman F M 1931 The upper zonal bird life of Mts Roraima and Duida Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 63 1 135 Salerno P E Ron S R Senaris J C Rojas Runjaic F J M Noonan B P Cannatella D C 2012 Ancient Tepui Summits Harbor Young Rather Than Old Lineages of Endemic Frogs Evolution 66 10 3000 3013 doi 10 1111 j 1558 5646 2012 01666 x PMID 23025594 S2CID 205783918 Conquering a virgin Venezuelan tepui The Sunday Times November 2007 Timesonline co uk Retrieved 2012 03 13 The Carnivorous Plant FAQ Heliamphora ranges and tepuis Sarracenia com Retrieved 2012 03 13 Conquering a virgin The Times 11 November 2007 Rollins James Aug 12 2014 The 6th Extinction A Sigma Force Novel HarperCollins pp 448 pages ISBN 978 0 06 233698 9 BibliographyMuch of the text of this article comes from the corresponding German language Wikipedia article retrieved on 16 February 2006 which uses the following sources Uwe George Inseln in der Zeit GEO Gruner Jahr AG amp Co Hamburg ISBN 3 570 06212 0 Roland Stuckardt Sitze der Gotter terra Heft 3 2004 Tecklenborg Verlag Steinfurt National Geographic Magazine May 1989 Venezuela s Islands in Time pp 526 561External links EditTepui at Wikipedia s sister projects nbsp Definitions from Wiktionary nbsp Media from Commons nbsp Data from Wikidata The Making of the Tepuis Film The Living Edens The Lost World Mongabay com pictures from Tepuis in Venezuela Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Tepui amp oldid 1157287866, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
