The earth and its inhabitants .. . , there are scarcely any plains,but only a series of terraced lands between the mountains and the sea. Here alsothe marine waters deepen rapidly, abysses of 1,000 fathoms occurring normallywithin 120 miles of the coast. Thus the submerged roots of the Andes presentan aspect analogous to that of the upraised slopes, except that their incline isconsiderably less abrupt. Evidently thecoast ranges and the coastline are dueto the same cosmic phenomenon. But, however regular it majbe in its main outlines, the Andes orographic systempresents great difierences in its
The earth and its inhabitants .. . , there are scarcely any plains,but only a series of terraced lands between the mountains and the sea. Here alsothe marine waters deepen rapidly, abysses of 1,000 fathoms occurring normallywithin 120 miles of the coast. Thus the submerged roots of the Andes presentan aspect analogous to that of the upraised slopes, except that their incline isconsiderably less abrupt. Evidently thecoast ranges and the coastline are dueto the same cosmic phenomenon. But, however regular it majbe in its main outlines, the Andes orographic systempresents great difierences in its several sections, which vary in breadth and altitude 20 SOUTH AMERICA—THE ANDES REGIONS. as ?well as in the number of their parallel or divergent chains. The great centralplateau, which may be called the heart of the Andes, is one of those where the ramifi-cations arc most numerous ; but these ramifications are mere ridges compared with rig. 6.— OF THE AlfDES AXD OF THB EASTERN HlOHI,AN1)8. Foale I : f)fi,00O,O(»l,. ^ U to 1,600 Feet Feet. aDd upwards. The thickness of the block lines is in proportion to the height of the ranges: , i, inch to 3,300 feet. 1,J4U Miles. the huge pediment of the elevated tablelands, which have a mean altitude offrom 14,000 to 1(J,000 feet for a space of over 80,000 square miles. From the Pacific shores eastwards to the plains watered by the Amazon andLa Plata affluents, the uplands of the Bolivian Andes have a breadth of from 400 THE SNOW LINE—GLACIEES. 21 to 500 miles in a straight line. In this highland region are found, if not theculminating point of the South American continent, at least the groups of peaksand domes which have the greatest mean altitude. Here rise Illampu andIlliraani, both of which exceed 21,000 feet. These giants indicate with sufficientaccuracy the central point of the Andean system, and the central points of thenorthern and southern sections are similarly indicated by the other loftiest sum-mits of Ame
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectgeography, bookyear18
