The world’s longest above-water mountain range is the Andes, about 7,000 km (4,300 mi) long. The range stretches from north to south through seven countries in South America, along the west coast of the continent: Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina. Aconcagua is the highest peak, at about 6,962 m (22,841 ft).
Because the Andes act as a large wall between the Pacific Ocean and the continent, they have a tremendous impact on climate in the region. The northern part of the Andes is typically rainy and warm, and the weather is also wet in the eastern part of central Andes, and the area to the southwest. To the west, the dry climate is dominated by the Atacama Desert in northern Chile. The mountains form a rain cover over the eastern plains of Argentina, which have extremely dry weather.
The Andes Mountains of South America are home to 99 percent of tropical glaciers — permanent rivers of ice at high enough elevations not to be affected by the types of balmy temperatures usually associated with the tropics.
The Andes are also home to the world’s highest volcano when measured above sea level, Ojos del Salado on the Chile-Argentina border, which reaches 22,615 feet (6,893 m), and more than 50 volcanoes that reach 19,685 feet (6,000 m).
Credit : Live Science
Picture Credit : Google
