Andes: Mountains - Volcanoes

Andes Mountains - Volcanoes, Glaciers, Plateaus: The Fuegian Andes begin on the mountainous Estados (Staten) Island, the easternmost point of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago, reaching an elevation of 3,700 feet. They run to the west through Grande Island, where the highest ridges—including Mounts Darwin, Valdivieso, and Sorondo—are all less than 7,900 feet high. The physiography of this southernmost subdivision of the Andes system is complicated by the presence of the independent Sierra ... The Andes are a vast mountain chain in South America. They extend from Chile to Venezuela through Colombia, Argentina, Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador. The Andes are a Mesozoic – Tertiary orogenic belt of mountains along the Pacific Ring of Fire. The Andes are the result of plate tectonics processes, caused by the subduction of oceanic crust beneath the South American continental plate. South America, like North America, has been moving west since the Cretaceous period. Thus the subduction of the Nazca Plate beneath the South American Plate formed the Andes. This was caused by the westward movement of South America. The formation of the ... The Andes are a chain of mountains along the western edge of South America, extending from Venezuela to Chile. They are formed by the subduction of oceanic plates and have diverse geology, climate, and culture.