. The Andes of southern Peru; geographical reconnaissance along the seventy-third meridian. Yale Peruvian Expedition (1911); Physical geography; Geology. THE PERUVIAN LANDSCAPE 185. bed, and the tortuous trail now follows a stream in the depths of a profound abyss, now scales the walls of a labyrinthine canyon. The most striking elements of scenery are not commonly the most important in physiography. The oldest and most significant surface may be at the top of the country, where it is not seen by the traveler or where it cannot impress him, ex- cept in contrast to fea- tures of greater height
. The Andes of southern Peru; geographical reconnaissance along the seventy-third meridian. Yale Peruvian Expedition (1911); Physical geography; Geology. THE PERUVIAN LANDSCAPE 185. bed, and the tortuous trail now follows a stream in the depths of a profound abyss, now scales the walls of a labyrinthine canyon. The most striking elements of scenery are not commonly the most important in physiography. The oldest and most significant surface may be at the top of the country, where it is not seen by the traveler or where it cannot impress him, ex- cept in contrast to fea- tures of greater height or color. The layman frequently seizes on a piece of bad-land erosion or an outcrop of bright- colored sandstone or a cliff of variegated clays or a snow-covered mountain as of most interest. All we can see of a beautiful snow-clad peak is mere entertainment compared with what subdued waste-cloaked hill-slopes may show. We do not wish to imply that everywhere the tops of the Andes are meadows, that there are no great scenic features in the Peruvian mountains, or that they are not worth while. But we do wish to say that the bold features are far less important in the interpre- tation of the landscape. Amid all the variable forms of the Peruvian Cordillera certain strongly developed types recur persistently. That their impor- tance and relation may be appreciated we shall at once name them categorically and represent them in the form of a block diagram (Fig. 126). The principal topographic types are as follows: Fig. 125—Mature upper and young lower slopes at the outlet of the Cuzco basin. 1. An extensive system of high-level, well-graded, mature slopes, below which are: 2. Deep canyons with steep, and in places, cliffed sides and narrow floors, and above which are: 3. Lofty residual mountains composed of resistant, highly deformed rock, now sculptured into a maze of serrate ridges and sharp commanding peaks. 4. Among the forms of high importance, yet causally unrelated to the o
Size: 2176px × 1149px
Photo credit: © Library Book Collection / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookauthorbo, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectgeology
