Southwest High School - Roundup Yearbook (St Louis, MO)

Page 18 text:

THE GEOGRAPHY OF SGUTH AMERICA By JOCILLE MCINTYRE SERIES of mountain ranges, tropical forests, and rich plains woven together into a great irregular triangle, 4800 miles long and 3230 miles wide, is a geographic picture of South America. With 7,000,000 square miles, it is the fourth largest conti- nent in the world. The coast-line is peculiarly regular with few good har- 9 bors. Very few rivers flow from the interior, none of them are navigable very far inland, and they all empty into the 'l Atlantic. The Amazon, largest of South America's rivers, T is also the largest in the world. Even it, however, is dili- -V cult to navigate, and most of its tributaries have near their junction rapids or falls that make them of small navigable use. Yet the Amazon is the only means of transportation for an area two- thirds as large as the United States. The Rio de la Plata, the Guayaquil, and the Magdelena Rivers are the most navigable of the remaining rivers, and hence assume great importance commercially. North America and South America have in common the long chain of mountains which extends along the western coast, reaching from the Alaskan peninsula to Cape Horn. This chain is the principal mountain range of South America. It stretches 4500 miles: and while its width is not great, its peaks rise so high that they rank second highest in the world. Across the interior lowlands to the north and east rise three chains of comparatively old and worn mountains. The intervening valleys contain what was once much of the grandeur and rugged beauty of these mountains. Hidden in the Andes are three distinct series of active volcanoes, reaching a surprising total of over thirty. Between these mountain ranges lie the lowlands. West of the Andes lies a 100-mile strip reaching to the Pacific, but it is of relatively small importance. However, with the Andes on the west and the Plateau of Guiana on the east, lies a fertile valley known as the Ilanos, through which the Orinoco River winds its way. The other lowlands of the continent are the Amazon basin and the pampas, or open steppes, of Argentina, and the pasture lands of Brazil. The elevation is generally less than 1000 feet above sea level, although it has been stated that seven per cent of the continent has an elevation of more than 10,000 feet. The pampas is a wide-flung plain with fertile, sedimentary soil yielding a coarse grass upon which horses, cattle, and sheep thrive part of the year. It is drained by only one stream, although numerous pools of water stand about. The great savanas also are covered with a coarse, dry grass and scrub brush dotted only occasionally with a straggly clump of trees. The rainfall here is very irregular. For nine months of the year these plains receive ample precipitation, but for the remaining three months receive less than two inches. During these months the grass, trees, and all vegetation Withers away until the plain looks like a desert. These savanas spread over one-fourth of the continent. Two-thirds of South America, however, is covered by vast tropical forests. Half of this forest percentage is the dense tropical-rain forest in which both the variety of plant life and its rapid growth are so astonishing. Within these forests lie a hidden wealth in valuable timber, ornamental woods, dyewoods, cinchona, india-rubber, vegetable ivory, mahogany, cedar, ebony, wax palm, bamboos, and fig trees, simply because the dense vegetation and dangerous insect pests make traveling overland so hard. The vegetation, although growing on an extensive scale, yields many exquisite flowers and fruits. The orchid Fourteen

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and Victoria Regia are excellent examples of the former: among the latter are oranges, limes, pineapples, mangoes, bananas, and pomegranates. The greatest expanse of South America has a rainy, tropical climate. Since the heat is often so intense, the mountains have proved a great help to this continent, moderating the climate by offering their cool slopes and sending down refreshing streams of fresh, cold water. The climate is varied also by the fact that South America extends on both sides of the equator in contrast with the position of North America. West coast winds first modify its atmo- sphere: and then as they pass over the Andes eastward, they saturate the Amazon basin with rain. The precipitation has reached two hundred inches here at times. After the winds have crossed the mountains again, they leave the western slopes dry. However, in the South, climatic conditions are reversed. The western winds bring the rain and leave the Southeast dry. Thus their winter months are June, July, and August, and their summer months, December, January, and February, South America is a continent rich in mineral resources. The Andes hold fabulous reserves of gold, silver, copper, and tin: Brazil has large gold and diamond mines: Bolivia, great silver mines: and Chile is rich in copper, silver, coal, guano, niter, borax, and iodine compounds. The country also holds mercury and lead deposits of great value. But the treasures of this country of rugged mountains and rolling plains, fringed in dense tropical forests and reached by only a few navigable rivers, lie locked in unscaled mountains and impenetrable jungles, and we can only guess at their value. galil- if-50 Q14 ,an- Qi QE w hit 11- - 1v,gfr- - jeu V 1 ii,.'f ,: ' - , ' ,I t .. : .' 5 -.I --: 1 ' -: I 1- . .. , ll ,, r az,-2 f O ' 0 ' is A ' A Ruth Bunch Flllwu