Amazon Landscape and Biogeography

Coastal Landscape in the Amazon Rainforest

 

More than 90 percent of French Guiana is forested by the Amazon Rainforest.  The image above on the left is the Coast of The French Guiana.  The image on the right is the location of the Coast of French Guiana.  The waves are formed by wave energy of the South Atlantic Ocean causing the shore above.  Waves and tides transport sediments because of water pushing against rock formations.

Fluvial Landscape

The Amazon River is the largest drainage basin in the world at about 7,050,000 square kilometers and accounts for one-fifth of the world’s total river flow.  The river flows at an extremely high velocity creating numerous of cutbanks throughout the forest.  At some points, the river gets cut off and creates oxbows.  Because the valleys are shaped by water, V-shaped valleys from fluvial erosion are formed.  However, when the streams try to reach equilibrium, knickpoints are formed. The most beautiful waterfall, Victoria Falls, has a huge knickpoint where it dumps the water into the Amazon River. When water flows into less resistant strata, it undercuts the area creating a knickpoint.  

Biogeography

Biogeography includes human and physical determinants that influence animals and plants.  The rainforest has more than half of the world’s biodiversity.   Almost all rainforests are near the equator and they produce about 40% of the Earth’s oxygen.  Deforestation has a major impact on the rainforest’s biome.  It causes the extinction of plants and animals and changes the climate of the Earth.  Swidden (slash-and-burn), the technique used in deforestation, which the ashes then fertilizes the soil to be used for farming.

Picture references:

http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/travel/images/images/iStock_000005585910XSmall.jpg

http://boonsuen.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/amazone-river1.jpg?w=300&h=225

http://www.geographicguide.net/africa/images/victoria-falls.jpg

http://amazonpilgrim.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/animals-of-the-rainforest-collage.jpg

http://www.flash-screen.com/free-wallpaper/uploads/201010/thus/1286873642_470x353_torrential-river-in-tropical-rainforest.jpg

Climate Basics & Processes

Climate

The Amazon supports the most luxurious and various environments on earth because of its climate. Since it is located by the equator, the humidity is high during the day and cooling occurs at night causing early morning radiation fogs form and heavy dew drips. High sun angles and low latitude location make for annual temperatures with little seasonal differentiation; colossal precipitation is experienced in all months. Estimates show over 80 inches of precipitation falls annually.

Thunderstorms

The moisture from the heavy rain and the unstable air caused from the warm air that rises rapidly from the lift from fronts, or sea breezes, creates thunderstorms year long in the Amazon Rainforest. On the other side of the Amazon, the mountains are also capable of lifting air to form thunderstorms. These thunderstorms can cause extensive damage in the rainforest from tree falls. The falling air touches the water, the warm air rises and creates high winds and hurricanes that toss around trees. When one tree falls, it creates a domino effect and dozens of neighboring trees are brought down with it. Larger tropical storms can cause substantial damage and recovery may take a decade to centuries. Hurricane Hugo (1989) is expected to take at least 250 years.

Pressure & Winds

Rainforests are wet because the air pressure at the equator is low. Low air pressure also means that air rises into the atmosphere. As result, the sun evaporates moisture from the forest, producing storms on a daily basis.

Ocean Circulation

During El Nino the increase of rising air over warm water leads to the increase in atmospheric pressure in the Amazon. And in the ENSO cycle means pressures flip-flop in the Walker Circulation and the warm water goes to South America. As well as 22-24% of rainfall in the tropics result to higher sea surfaces and more vegetation growth.

The percentage difference from average rainfall levels during the strong 1997-

1998 El Niño event. The December, January, and February mean is on the left,

and the March, April, May mean is on the right. Image Courtesy of NOAA:

Climate Prediction Center.

References:

http://www.uwsp.edu/geo/faculty/ritter/geog101/textbook/climate_systems/tropical_rainforest_1.html

http://rainforests.mongabay.com/0802.htm

http://oceancurrents.rsmas.miami.edu/atlantic/north-brazil.html

Picture reference:

http://images.stanzapub.com/readers/2008/09/03/310199_1.jpg

http://www.islandbreath.org/2009Year/2009-08/090831rainforest.jpg

http://www.earthgauge.net/wp-content/CF_Amazon.pdf

Tearing Down Amazon Rainforest’s Landscapes

The Amazon River is the largest river system in the world spanning over 4,080 miles through the Amazon Rainforest.  The rainforest also receives about 9 feet of rain yearly making it very wet and humid.  However, most of the water comes from snowmelt from the Andes.  The rainforest’s drainage basin covers 2,722,000 square miles and is drained from roughly 1,100 tributaries where it is distributed to a delta.

The Amazon Rainforest’s landscape is extremely permeable due to the large amounts of precipitation the rainforest receives.  Because of the permeable landscape, the rainforest’s transport-limited slopes changes incredibly slow.  Since the Amazon River rushes through the forest with a huge volume of water, the forest floor acts as a sponge and absorbs an enormous amount of water.  

Within the Amazon Rainforest, montmorillonite or “clay lick” plays a huge role for the animals.  Montmorillonite is a special clay deposit that is found along riverbanks or even the interior of the Amazon Rainforest. Montmorillonite is expandable when it absorbs water and nutrients. The animals and plants need all the necessary vitamins, minerals, and elements to flourish within the rainforest.

The Amazon Rainforest is very dense, warm, and humid. This is a result of the clay-like soil and low nutrients, also known as Lateralization. In fact, 99% of all the nutrients come from only the top two inches of the soil.  Trees here learn to adapt by growing roots out of the ground and forming a mat for an equal amount of nutrition.

References:

http://www.koiphen.com/forums/:showthread.php?58933-can-you-say-quot-montmorillonite-quot 

 http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/amazon.htm

http://rainforests.mongabay.com/0502.htm

Picture references:

http://www.agiweb.org/geotimes/july08/trends1.jpg

http://www.inkas.com/tours/jpg_files/jpg_photos/amazon/tambopata/macaws.jpg

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5IeOo1OqqMrFhP89DBhau6C7xWzyM8dTF9uUcdAkXvGZB8tHioD3MJ5EsGm3E18IKSW_S_pgpu9Y_CnjrCAQEg-eh1b6AHzRYVbC2FK8WWkGM4jqZXtd_F7w-fo9hs0lGc4z4xKoHOgM/s1600/Amazon-Rainforests-Amazonia-South-America.jpg

The Amazon Landscape

The Amazon River once flowed westward into the Pacific Ocean about 15 million years ago.  After that, the South American Plate moved into the Nazca Plate creating the Andes Mountain.  Because the mountains interfered with the flow of the river, it backed up and eventually formed fresh water lakes creating a new environment.  The river later found its path eastward into the Atlantic Ocean

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 Victoria Falls

The Amazon Basin is made up of sedimentary layers of soft clay that is extremely thick. Andesite rocks are igneous, volcanic rocks that are most commonly founded in the Andes Mountains.  Due to the enriched soil of the tropical rain forest, numerous of minerals are founded in the rain forest.  The most common minerals are magnetite, zircon, apatite, ilmenite, biotite, and garnet.

 

Sample of andesite

The Andes  Mountains is located in an area where continental-oceanic collision occurs thus causing explosive volcanism.  The process of intrusive landforms results from magma solidifying beneath the earth's crust which is later uplifted and exposed by erosion.  Earthquakes, glacial activity, and erosion later on brings the magma to the surface. 

   Volcanic Landforms in the Andes Mountains

The Andes Mountains are formed on the west coast of South America during the end of the Mesozoic Era by the process of two major colliding tectonic plates. The lighter Nazca plate in the Pacific Ocean converged under the heavier American Plate; also known as Subduction.

Andes Mountains

References for text:
http://science.jrank.org/pages/6300/South-America-Andes.html
http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/saland.htm

References for images:
http://www.monnikhof.com/Victoria-Falls-2.jpg

http://cdn.wn.com/pd/a0/72/88e23b1ceffa304131933e080fe6_grande.jpg
http://adv-model-earth-syst-discuss.org/meetings/fm09/program/images/V23D-2099_A.jpg
http://www.treehugger.com/andes-mountains-peru.jpg

Introduction to The Amazon Rainforest

This blog consists of four group members whom are: Tommy Hoong, Paul Morales, Binh Nguyen, and Phu Nguyen.

We have decided as a group to research the Amazon Rainforest which is located in the northern part of South America. It is about three degrees south of the Equator. Unlike other rainforests, The Amazon is a tropical rainforest which means it is very humid and wet because of the location.

As a group, we have decided to research the Amazon because there are many different species/plants that we would like to learn more about. The Amazon intrigues us because there are many things to see that we have not seen before. For instance, jaguars, poisonous frogs, flamingos, and plants used for cancer research.