Qualla: Venezuelan Andes

Venezuelan Andes: Introduction

Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Gabrielsanz, CC BY-SA 4.0. The Andes begin at the southern tip of South America and run 7,000 kilometers north through seven countries before arriving in Venezuela, where the chain makes its last gesture. Here, the Cordillera Oriental of Colombia splits into two branches as it crosses the border: the Sierra de Perija, a smaller range running along the Colombian frontier with 7,500 square kilometers in Venezuelan territory, and the Cordillera de Merida, the main event, stretching 40,000 square kilometers across the states of Tachira, Merida, and Trujillo. Together, these two branches compose the Venezuelan Andes -- the northernmost extension of the longest continental mountain chain on Earth, covering 5.2 percent of Venezuela's national territory and containing the country's highest point.

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Image: Gabrielsanz | CC BY-SA 4.0

Venezuelan Andes: Three Plates, One Mountain Range

Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Marturius, CC BY-SA 3.0. The Venezuelan Andes exist because three tectonic plates refuse to get along. The Nazca Plate, the Caribbean Plate, and the South American Plate converge in northwestern South America, and their collision has been pushing rock skyward since the Eocene epoch, roughly 40 to 50 mill...

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Image: Marturius | CC BY-SA 3.0

Venezuelan Andes: The Bocono Fault

Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Gianfranco Cardogna from El Tigre, Venezuela, CC BY 2.0. The most significant of these strike-slip faults is the Bocono Fault Zone, which runs along the spine of the Cordillera de Merida like a seam in the Earth's crust. It has been active since the Early Holocene, and GPS measurements record it slipping at four to six millimeters per ...

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Image: Gianfranco Cardogna from El Tigre, Venezuela | CC BY 2.0

Venezuelan Andes: Ice Ages in the Tropics

Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Rjcastillo, CC BY-SA 3.0. It is easy to forget that tropical mountains had glaciers. The Venezuelan Andes, with peaks above 4,900 meters, were extensively glaciated during the Pleistocene. Two morainic complexes in the Cordillera de Merida record the advance and retreat of ice: one set of deposits between...

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Image: Rjcastillo | CC BY-SA 3.0

Venezuelan Andes: Two Branches, Two Characters

Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Arnaldo Noguera Sifontes, CC BY-SA 4.0. The Cordillera de Merida and the Sierra de Perija may share a geological origin, but they have distinct personalities. The Cordillera de Merida is the dominant range -- higher, broader, more densely populated, and more ecologically varied. It can be subdivided into three regions:...

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Image: Arnaldo Noguera Sifontes | CC BY-SA 4.0