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Encyclopedia > Guiana Shield
Mt Roraima in Guyana
Mt Roraima in Guyana

The Guiana Shield (Spanish: Guayana) forms a portion of the northern coast of South America. It is a 2 billion year old Precambrian geological formation, possibly the oldest on the planet, that hosts the impressive and mysterious table-like mountains called tepuis. Its highlands are the source of some of the world's most spectacular waterfalls such as Angel Falls, Kaieteur Falls and Kuquenan Falls. Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Monte Roraima (Also: Mount Roraima, Cerro Roraima, Pico do Roraima, Roroima) is the highest of the table-top tabletop mountains (or tepuis) shared between Venezuela, Guyana (disputed by Venezuela) and the Roraima state of Brazil. ... Shields are shown in orange. ... South America South America is a continent crossed by the equator, with most of its area in the Southern Hemisphere. ... The Precambrian (or Pre-Cambrian) is an informal name for the eons of the geologic timescale that came before the current Phanerozoic eon. ... Kukenantepui. ... Angel Falls or Salto Ángel (indigenous name: Kerepakupay Vená) is the worlds highest free-falling waterfall at 979 m (3,212 ft) with an uninterrupted drop of 807 m (2,648 ft) lying in the Canaima National Park, Venezuela at . It is situated in the river Churún, an... Kaieteur Falls, Guyana Artists rendition of Kaieteur Falls on the Guyana $10 bill Kaieteur Falls is a waterfall on the Potaro River in central Guyana. ... Kuquenan Falls (also spelled Cuquenan, Salto Kukenan, Kukenan) is the eleventh highest waterfall on Earth. ...


The Guiana Shield underlies Guyana (previously British Guiana), Suriname (previously Dutch Guiana) and French Guiana (or Guyane) – an Overseas Department and an Overseas Region of France, as well as parts of Colombia, Venezuela and Brazil. The highlands of the Shield are largely located in south eastern Venezuela, and are partly protected by the Canaima National Park (VE) and the Kaieteur National Park (GY). The highest tepui is Pico da Neblina at 2,994m. Under the 1946 Constitution of the Fourth Republic, the French colonies of Guadeloupe, Martinique and French Guiana in the Caribbean and Réunion in the Indian Ocean became départements doutre-mer (Overseas departments) or DOMs. ... Région doutre-mer, or Overseas regions, is a recent designation given to the départements doutre-mer which have similar powers to those of the régions of metropolitan France. ... Canaima National Park (Spanish: Parque Nacional Canaima) is a 30,000 km² park in south-eastern Venezuela that borders Brazil and Guyana. ... Kaieteur National Park is a National Park located in the Potaro-Siparuni Region of Guyana. ... Pico da Neblina is the highest mountain in Brazil. ...


In geological terms the Guiana Shield is a granitic formation overlaid with sandstone, quartzite, shales, conglomerates and boulder beds. Geology (from Greek γη- (ge-, the earth) and λογος (logos, word, reason)) is the science and study of the Earth, its composition, structure, physical properties, history, and the processes that shape it. ... Granite is a common and widely-occurring group of intrusive felsic igneous rocks that form at great depths and pressures under continents. ... Red sandstone interior of Lower Antelope Canyon, Arizona, worn smooth due to erosion by flash flooding over millions of years Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-size mineral or rock grains. ... Quartzite Quartzite is a hard, metamorphic rock which was originally sandstone. ... Shale Shale is a fine-grained sedimentary rock whose original constituents were clays or muds. ... A conglomerate with iron oxide cementing material Conglomerate, Submarine Landslide located at Point Reyes, Marin County California. ... Boulder In geology, a boulder is a rock with grain size of usually no less than 256 mm (10 inches) diameter. ...

Map showing extent of Precambrian rocks in Guyana Shield
Map showing extent of Precambrian rocks in Guyana Shield

The Shield is overlain by the largest expanse of undisturbed tropical rain forest in the world. Guianan rain forest is similar in nature to Amazonian rain forest and known Protected Areas include those mentioned above and the Iwokrama Forest of central Guyana and the Kanuku National Park of southern Guyana. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... The Amazon Basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributaries. ... The Kanuku Mountains are a group of mountains in Guyana, located in the Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo region. ...


The term The Guianas is often used as a collective name for Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana (French: Guyane). The Guyanas or Guianas is a group of three countries on the north coast of South America: Guyana, formerly known as British Guiana Suriname, also known as Dutch Guiana French Guiana See also Guiana This is a disambiguation page, a list of pages that otherwise might share the same title. ...


See also


  Results from FactBites:
 
Iwokrama Forest | Regional Rain Forests (366 words)
The Guiana Shield is that portion of South American tropical forest that covers much of Guyana, Surinam and French Guiana, as well as eastern and southern Venezuela, and northeast Brazil.
These features mean that Guiana Shield frontier forest ecosystems represent one of the highest per capita forested areas in the world and one of the largest well preserved landscapes.
The challenge for Guiana Shield countries is to develop management approaches, within human and financial resource constraints, that can capture the full range of forest values and consequently reduce the threats to these values.
Guyana encyclopedia : Cultural Information , Maps, Guyana politics and officials, Guyana History. Travel to Guyana (264 words)
Guiana (or the Guiana Shield) (Spanish: Guayana) forms a portion of the northern coast of South America.
The highlands of the Shield are largely located in south eastern Venezuela, and are partly protected by the Canaima National Park (VE) and the Kaieteur National Park (GY).
In geological terms the Guiana Shield is a granitic formation overlaid with sandstone, quartzite, shales, conglomerates and boulder beds.
  More results at FactBites »


 
 

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