Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

The Sierra Nevada de Cocuy

1932; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 22; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.2307/208972

1931-0846

Frank B. Notestein, Robert E. King,

History and Politics in Latin America

Most of the snow-capped sum_/-~ -^ ^ mmits in the Colombian Andes are ranged along the volcanic summit of the Cordillera Central, which FIG. I-The summit of Alto Ritacuva, elevao tion 5493 meters, sketched from a photograph. is a northern continuation of the chain of snow peaks of Ecuador. Along that axis the culminating points are Chiles, Cumbal, Purace, Huila, Tolima, and Ruiz, whose altitudes have been variously estimated as between 4700 and 5700 meters. Far to the north on the Atlantic coast is the isolated summit of Santa Marta, whose elevation was determined by de Brettes as 5887 meters.' Three summits on the Cordillera Oriental rise above permanent snow line. South of Bogota is the Nevado de Sumapaz, which rises above 4500 meters.2 Between the cities of Pamplona and Bucaramanga lies the Mesa Colorada, stated to reach 4400 meters and to be streaked with snow. The culminating group of peaks of the cordillera, however, is the Sierra Nevada de Cocuy, 275 kilometers northeast of Bogota, whose summit was determined by the writers as 5493 meters (Figs. I and 2).