Geological Features of Venezuela - Research Paper Example

Geology of Venezuela Introduction Venezuela is a South American country located along the Northern Coast of the continent. The country is approximately 916, 445km2 large with a population of around 29, 000,000 (Padoan, Rossetti, & Rubatto, 2014). Venezuela is important in the modern history with its rich biodiversity. There are many habitats ranging from the famous Andes Mountains to the vast Amazon Basin tropical rainforest. Other outstanding features about Venezuela include the Caribbean coast, Llanos plains, as well as the beautiful scenery of Orinoco River Delta (Miller, Vandome, & Mcbrewer, 2009). On the other hand, Angel Falls is an important geographical landmark of Venezuela since it ranks as the largest waterfall worldwide. Another geographical feature like Lake Maracaibo in South America is found in Venezuela. Archeologists also carried out studies and found that Venezuela has the oldest rocks in the world (Padoan, Rossetti, & Rubatto, 2014). Nonetheless, the rich biodiversity finds its basis from the tropical climate that favors many wildlife habitats like mountains, plains, and islands. Venezuela’s geographical features explain its importance to tourism activities (Padoan, Rossetti, & Rubatto, 2014). Apart from one of the longest rivers in the continent, the countrys coastline is the longest along the Caribbean region. Natural resource wise, Venezuela is rich in oil reserves as well as natural gas. Studies show that Venezuela’s oil reserves are some of the largest in the world. In 2011 for instance, the country’s government confirmed that Venezuela has a lot of petroleum reserves above significant oil reserves of the Middle East Delta (Miller, Vandome, & Mcbrewer, 2009). Oil reserves also exist along the Orinoco River in the form of oil sands as conventional form of oil reserves. In terms of biodiversity, the country is among the top 20 high-diverse countries in the world. An outstanding 40% of the country is protected areas (Silvano, 2008). Therefore, research seeks to discuss some of the natural resources present in Venezuela as well as geographical features that add to the importance of the country to the South American continent. NATURAL RESOURCES Venezuela has the largest oil reserves in the West Hemisphere (Silvano, 2008). As at 2011, the country’s oil reserves were valued at 297.6 barrels activities (Padoan, Rossetti, & Rubatto, 2014). Some of the economically important natural resources in Venezuela include natural gas and petroleum. Mining of these natural resources accounts for a good percentage of the countrys GDP. On the other hand, coal is also a major natural resource in Venezuela and the country has considerate deposits of other minerals like bauxite, iron ore among others (Miller, Vandome, & Mcbrewer, 2009). Most important, statistical research recommends that that Venezuela boasts of good oil reserves mainly along the Orinoco delta as well as the offshore of the river. Other significant oil reserves include eastern Llanos, Guarico, Monagas, Anzoagetui (Van der Ploeg, 2011). The exploitation of these natural resources depended heavily on foreign firms though the government stepped in with nationalization of the oil resources. Nonetheless, the country is rich in natural gas and ranks top as world’s largest reserves. Furthermore, iron-ore mining in the country dates back to many centuries and has gone through a tremendous growth since the 1980s (Van der Ploeg, 2011). Guiana Highlands is rich with bauxite deposits. Besides, the country has deposits of other natural occurring minerals like diamond and gold. Venezuela has salt deposits in Araya Peninsula as well as some few but scattered limestone deposits (Miller, Vandome, & Mcbrewer, 2009). Moreover, the country has economically significant quantities of phosphates, nickel, copper, lead, zinc, manganese, and titanium. On the other hand, surveys have indicated that the country has some considerate amount of thorium and uranium. The country also has a good source of electric power coming from hydroelectric projects (Miller, Vandome, & Mcbrewer, 2009). Guri Dam is the main generator of hydroelectric power. The high production of hydro-electric power implies that Venezuela has a perfect and efficient catchment area especially from the Amazon Basin. There are other additional sources of hydroelectric power like Santo Domingo River as well as the smaller Andean rivers (Van der Ploeg, 2011). The hydroelectricity power serves many homes in Venezuela making the country as the leading in power supply within the Latin American continent. Of all the resources, petroleum is the most important in the country with a larger percentage contribution to its GDP. Other minerals like nickel, gold, and diamond are also important, and the country now has incentives for exploiting them to the maximum (Silvano, 2008). GEOLOGICAL PLACES TO VISIT 1.0 Angel Falls Angel Falls is a waterfall found in Venezuela and is the largest waterfall at 979 meters with an elevation of around 807 meters (Gąsiewicz, A & Slowakiewicz, 2014). The fall is part of the Auyan Tepui, a table mountain, situated in the Canaiman National Park. The falls are parts of the plateau underlying lands in Venezuela. The plateau is very old with an estimated age of 2 billion years (Gąsiewicz, A & Slowakiewicz, 2014). Therefore, the park has crucial geological formations that date back to the Precambrian periods, and some are as old as the Pangaea. Angel Falls is a product of faulting activities on the earth surface. Faulting is the process that involves rock movement along breaks on within the earth crust (Yagupsky et al., 2014). The faulting caused rock displacement leading to the elevation of one land block above others. Eventually, water flows down the rock edge of the elevated block forming a waterfall. The faulting activities resulted to the present day Angel Falls. Nonetheless, the Angel Falls lies within Gran Sabana in Venezuela (Gąsiewicz, & Slowakiewicz, 2014). The ecological zone is full of grasslands, but deeper parts of Gran Sabana have a tropical rainforest (Silvano, 2008). The region is outstanding with its many tepuis as well as flat-topped mountains having vertical walls. The region is rich in wildlife ranging from tropical monkeys, various orchid species, and poison arrow frogs. There are few mammals but is easy to spot armadilos, anteaters, otters, pumas, jaguars, and capybaras among others (Silvano, 2008). Mountain Roraima The mountain is the highest of the chain of plateaus in Venezuela with cliffs rising up to 400 meters (Silvano, 2008). The mountain situates along Guiana Shield Venezuela’s southern corner in the Canaima National Park. It is the highest part of the Guyana’s highland range. Nonetheless, the Table Mountains contain oldest geological earth formations that also date back to the Precambrian period (Miller, Vandome, & Mcbrewer, 2009). Maverick Rock the mountain’s peak or highest point. Moreover, the mountain is a product of faulting that led to the elevation of one part of the land above others. In terms of the environment, the mountain has unique forms of biodiversity and good climate. Thus, the mountain is home to various plants like pitcher plants as well as the rare rapatea (Van der Ploeg, 2011). The region receives adequate rainfall throughout the year. There is low scanty and low bristling vegetation in this rocky summit. One of the unique fauna in Roraima Mountain is the Romaira Bush Toad and is one of the endangered species in the planet (Silvano, 2008). Medanos de Coro Medanos de Coro is found in Falcon state near Coro city (Silvano, 2008). The strategic location implies that the national park is along the road leading to Paraguana. The Park lies on Medanos Isthmus covering a wide range of desert as well as coastal habitat especially the salt marshes. The region has three main zones namely the alluvial plain originating from Milatre River delta, Aeolian plain with different types of dunes and finally a unique littoral plain with many mangrove swamps (Miller, Vandome, & Mcbrewer, 2009). The region receives rainfall rarely thus the vegetation is characteristically thorny bushes. Though the park has few fauna, there are lizards, anteaters, rabbits, foxes, kestrels, and pigeons. The most important geographical features are the dunes that have touristic importance (Van der Ploeg, 2011). They have distinct features and characteristics, and some have strong or firm base for anchorage while others are easily swept off by wind. Cerro Autana Cerro Autania is a tableland unique to Venezuala’s rainforest (Van der Ploeg, 2011). They are a group of tablelans with impressive and extraordinary features. Venezuelans refer to the bigger as tepui or flat-topped mountain. The tableland has vertical walls reaching up to 1.400 meters. The tepui have solid quartze. The Mountain lies in the western Guiana Shield and marks the border between Venezuela and Colombia (Miller, Vandome, & Mcbrewer, 2009). The rocks are the main geographical importance of the region since they attract many tourists who enjoy rock climbing. On the other hand, the tablelands were formed as a result of fragmentation of the plate tectonics which initiated land erosion leading to the rising of these numerous tablelands. Frequent erosions maintain the appearance of the vertical walls. In some cases, the mountain cliffs form huge caverns and overhangs. However, Cerro Autana went through unique erosion from the two sides cutting through erosional caves inside the rocks (Van der Ploeg, 2011). The activities would, therefore, create huge portals, natural bridges, and huge caves running through the big mountains. The rocky formations are home to numerous plant communities like lichens, algae, low herbs, and mosses. Pico Bolivar Pico Bolivia is also an important geographical landmark for Venezuela with 4, 978 meters height (Van der Ploeg, 2011). The outstanding height makes the mountain the highest in Venezuela with its location in the Merida State. Atop the mountain are snow coverings with few glaciers. The mountain is full with tropical vegetation and easily passes for a rainforest. There are tall trees as well as bamboo forests that rise to form a canopy to enable them compete for the sunlight. On the other hand, the mountain has nice waterfalls and creeks. One of the unique animals in the mountain is the lapa as rare hare species (Miller, Vandome, & Mcbrewer, 2009). Moreover, the mountain has huge rocks that date back to the glacial periods. Nonetheless, there is the unique Nevada crest that can serve aesthetic purposes as well as helping with the explanation of how the mountain came into existence (Gąsiewicz, & Slowakiewicz, 2014). There is a variety of wildlife since the mountain has different ecological zones from the base with long tropical trees to the temperate desert climate of algae and lichens. Orinoco river delta The Orinoco River is one of the important physical features of Venezuela since it has a delta that has always served the sole purpose of oil extraction (Gąsiewicz, A & Slowakiewicz, 2014). Orinoco River appears in the list of longest rivers in South America with its drainage basin covering both Venezuela and Colombia. However, Venezuela has the largest portion of the River. Orinoco’s river flow forms an extremely large ellipsoidal arc that surrounds Guiana Shield (Van der Ploeg, 2011). At the mouth of Orinoco River is a huge delta that bursts into many rivers. One of the inhabitants of the river is boto or Amazon dolphins as well as river otters (Van der Ploeg, 2011). On the other hand, the river has one of the rare reptile species or the Orinoco crocodiles. The river also contains many fish species like cardinal tetras and black spot piranhas. The river delta is an important natural resource reservoir in terms of proven petroleum deposits. Los Roques Los Roques is a group of cays, islands, and islands that cover an approximately 40 square kilometers (Van der Ploeg, 2011). The land forms and features constitute an archipelago in Northern Guaira port. The island is home to pristine or rare coral reefs and has been serving the region as a touristic importance attracting many visitors as far as Europe (Gąsiewicz, A & Slowakiewicz, 2014). On the other hand, the archipelago has is rich with seabirds as well as aquatic life. The islands of the region have tall structures though communities formed their external barriers and sandy shallows. The region attracts fishing activities that target species like bonefish, tarpon, barracuda, and Spanish mackerel among others (Van der Ploeg, 2011 Conclusion In summary, Venezuela is rich with both natural resources and geographical attractions. The Orinoco River is an oil deposit though other petroleum resources exist in the form of oil sands. Other natural resources include minerals like gold, diamond, nickel, and iron ore among others. On the other hand, the research paper has found out that Venezuela has many geographical attractions. The country has the longest water, Angel Falls, and boasts of other plateau mountains that add to the richness in biodiversity. The Venezuelan government has developed the geographical attractions and protects them through acts of parliament that declared most of them National Parks. References Gąsiewicz, A., & Slowakiewicz, M. (2014). Palaeozoic Climate Cycles: Their Evolutionary and Sedimentological Impact. London: Geological Society of London Miller, F.P., Vandome, A.F., & Mcbrewer, J. (2009). Venezuela: Venezuela. Geography of Venezuela, States of Venezuela, History of Venezuela, History of the Venezuelan Oil Industry, Economy of Venezuela. New York: Alphascript Publishing. Padoan, M., Rossetti, P., & Rubatto, D. (2014). The Choco 10 gold deposit (El Callao, Bolivar State, Venezuela): Petrography, geochemistry, and U–Pb geochronology. Precambrian Research, 252, 22-38. Silvano, A. (2008). World Geography, Grade 6-12. Columbus: Carson-Dellosa Publishing Van der Ploeg, F. (2011). Natural resources: Curse or blessing?. Journal of Economic Literature, 3(1), 366-420. Yagupsky, D. L., et al., (2014). Distribution of active faulting along orogenic wedges: Minimum-work models and natural analogue. Journal of Structural Geology, 66, 237-247. Read More