The tepuys (or tepuis) are flat-top mountains overlooking the tropical jungle
Tepuys are high plateaus or flat mountains found in the Plateau des Guyanes in South America, especially in South America Venezuela . In the language of People Pemón living in the Gran Sabana (big savannah), "Tepui" means "House of the Gods" because of their height.
The tepuys are generally isolated from each other, unlike the conventional mountain ranges, resulting in a concentration of hundreds of endemic plant and animal species Some of them are only on one tepuy. The isolation of these reliefs and their strong climate contrasts explain this. Up above the surrounding forest, the tepuys have vertical flanks almost at peak, and many are up to 1,000 metres above the surrounding jungle. The largest of them are more than 3000 metres high. The almost vertical escarpments and the dense bed of the tropical forest on which these tepuys are located, make them inaccessible on foot . Only three of the mountains Gran Sabana can be reached on foot, including Mont Roraima , height of 2180 m, which is most accessible.
The tepuys are the remains of a large sandstone plateau that once covered the entire granite soil between the northern border of the Amazon basin and the Orenoc, and between the Atlantic coast and the Rio Negro, during the course of the precambrean period . For millions of years, the plateaus were eroded and all that remained were the isolated tepuys, these mountains with “flat head” (or table mountain , mesa , and tafelberg as they are also called). Although the tepuys seem sterile enough, their summit is groubling .
The high altitude of the tepuys gives them a different climate from the forest below. The summit is often cooler with frequent rains, while the base enjoys a tropical, warm and humid climate. Many extraordinary plants (endemics) have adapted to the environment to form unique and tepui-specific species.
Some 9,400 species of higher plants were registered in Venezuelan Guyana, including 2322 are registered from the tepuys. So, about one third of the species do not exist anywhere else in the world than on tepuys .
There are 115 mountains of this type in the Gran Sabana region, in the southeast of Venezuela, which has the highest concentration of tepuys. The most famous of them is Mont Roraima . The latter was unexplored until 1884. Today, tepuy is a popular destination with the backpackers and houses many small waterfalls, natural pools lined with quartz and the Punto Triple the point where the borders of Venezuela, Brazil and Guyana meet. He was explored by Robert Schomburgk whose expedition inspired Scottish writer Arthur Conan Doyle for his novel The Lost World .
The other famous tepui is Auyantepui , from which fall Salto Angel The highest waterfall in the world. Auyantepui is also the largest tepuy with an area of 700 km2.
These are pictures of tepuys , must-see attractions during a trip to Venezuela:
Photo sources : Amusing Planet
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