Cordillera Negra
Encyclopedia
Cordillera Oriental, Peru
The section of the Cordillera Oriental in Peru is in the extreme south-west of the area of study, where manifestation like the spurs of the eastern flank. This unit has modelled itself on metamorphic rocks of the Paleozoic. The eastern limit is more or less uniform and Colorado is located in the...
, one of three mountain range
Mountain range
A mountain range is a single, large mass consisting of a succession of mountains or narrowly spaced mountain ridges, with or without peaks, closely related in position, direction, formation, and age; a component part of a mountain system or of a mountain chain...
s in the Andes
Andes
The Andes is the world's longest continental mountain range. It is a continual range of highlands along the western coast of South America. This range is about long, about to wide , and of an average height of about .Along its length, the Andes is split into several ranges, which are separated...
Mountains of west central Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
.
Size
Cordillera Negra extends over an area about 180 km long and 25-40 km wide, stretching in a NNW-SSE direction parallel to the Pacific coast, its ridge circa 60 km from the coastline. It is part of the Andean Sierra which inland borders on the CostaCosta
Costa may refer to:* Costa , including origin of the name and people sharing the surname* Costa, scientific term, from Latin costa "rib" ** In botany, the central strand of a bryophyte leaf or thallus...
, the narrow strip of coastal deserts along the South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
n coast.
Cordillera Negra rises to an elevation of 5,187 m with Pico Rocarre, 5,020 m with Rumi Cruz, 5,006 m with Senal Cerro Rico at 9°03′15"S 77°55′00"W and 4,988 m with Cerro Huancapeti at 9°45′56"S 77°31′39"W with the highest pass road of Cordillera Negra, "Huancapeti Pass", at 4,680 m above sea level
Sea level
Mean sea level is a measure of the average height of the ocean's surface ; used as a standard in reckoning land elevation...
.
Location
In the north and east the cordillera is bordered by Río Santa which crosses the coastal ridge at 8° 45' S and runs parallel to the Cordillera Negra for almost all its length.In the south the cordillera is bordered by Río Pativilca at 10° 30'. In the cordillera's central part near Huaráz
Huaraz
Huaraz is a city in Peru. It is the capital of the Departmento de Ancash and the seat of government of the Provincia de Huaraz . The urban agglomerations population is distributed over the districts of Huaraz and Independencia. It was estimated in 2007 to exceed 120,000...
, Río Casma
Casma River
The Casma is a river that crosses northern Casma province in the Ancash Region of Peru. It originates in the Black Mountain Range and drains into the Pacific Ocean.Major tributaries include the Sechín River and the Grande River ....
breaks through the cordillera's ridge.
Río Santa separates Cordillera Negra from Cordillera Blanca
Cordillera Blanca
The Cordillera Blanca is a mountain range in the Ancash Region of Peru. Part of the larger Andes range, it includes 33 major peaks over high in an area wide and long.-Overview:...
, a snow-covered range rising up to 6,768 m in the east. Cordillera Negra for most of the year has no snow although it rises to 5,000 m in its highest parts. Cordillera Negra intercepts the warmth from the coast, causing the line of perpetual snow sinking as low as 5,100 m in the Cordillera Blanca.
The route Casma
Casma
Casma is a city in the Ancash Region, Peru. It is located in the Casma Valley. Its surface has 1 204,85 km².Its people venerate saint Santa Maria Magdalena and its day is celebrated on July 22....
-Huaraz
Huaraz
Huaraz is a city in Peru. It is the capital of the Departmento de Ancash and the seat of government of the Provincia de Huaraz . The urban agglomerations population is distributed over the districts of Huaraz and Independencia. It was estimated in 2007 to exceed 120,000...
is not a very highly travelled road. The highway begins with a paved path that arrives up to Yaután
Yautan District
Yautan District is one of four districts of the province Casma in Peru.-References:...
. Then it quickly begins to ascend through an unpaved path by the sides of the Cordillera Negra (Black mountain range), following the course of the Casma River
Casma River
The Casma is a river that crosses northern Casma province in the Ancash Region of Peru. It originates in the Black Mountain Range and drains into the Pacific Ocean.Major tributaries include the Sechín River and the Grande River ....
. This route becomes more steep once it arrives to Pariacoto
Pariacoto District
Pariacoto District is one of twelve districts of the province Huaraz in Peru.-References:...
. Along the road, there are not important towns at all, except for Pira that offers some traveler's services.
This route, extremely steep and narrow, goes between big abysses and gullies
Gully
A gully is a landform created by running water, eroding sharply into soil, typically on a hillside. Gullies resemble large ditches or small valleys, but are metres to tens of metres in depth and width...
. It can be seen small rural districts with chacras (smallholding
Smallholding
A smallholding is a farm of small size.In third world countries, smallholdings are usually farms supporting a single family with a mixture of cash crops and subsistence farming. As a country becomes more affluent and farming practices become more efficient, smallholdings may persist as a legacy of...
s) that have been sown with potato
Potato
The potato is a starchy, tuberous crop from the perennial Solanum tuberosum of the Solanaceae family . The word potato may refer to the plant itself as well as the edible tuber. In the region of the Andes, there are some other closely related cultivated potato species...
es, wheat
Wheat
Wheat is a cereal grain, originally from the Levant region of the Near East, but now cultivated worldwide. In 2007 world production of wheat was 607 million tons, making it the third most-produced cereal after maize and rice...
, barley
Barley
Barley is a major cereal grain, a member of the grass family. It serves as a major animal fodder, as a base malt for beer and certain distilled beverages, and as a component of various health foods...
and other food products. It can also be seen livestock
Livestock
Livestock refers to one or more domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to produce commodities such as food, fiber and labor. The term "livestock" as used in this article does not include poultry or farmed fish; however the inclusion of these, especially poultry, within the meaning...
and a lot of human activity.
The gullies
Gully
A gully is a landform created by running water, eroding sharply into soil, typically on a hillside. Gullies resemble large ditches or small valleys, but are metres to tens of metres in depth and width...
of the Cordillera Negra -that goes, simultaneously, with the Cordillera Blanca
Cordillera Blanca
The Cordillera Blanca is a mountain range in the Ancash Region of Peru. Part of the larger Andes range, it includes 33 major peaks over high in an area wide and long.-Overview:...
throughout 150 km- are gloomy and dark. Most of them are dry or their flow
Environmental flow
‘’’Environmental flows’’’ describe the quantity, timing, and quality of water flows required to sustain freshwater and estuarine ecosystems and the human livelihoods and well being that depend on these ecosystems...
is scarce. From north to south, there are some hills like Rumicruz (5020 m), Rocarre (5187 m), Cerro Rico (5015 m), and Chonta (4810 m).
The beauty of the Cordillera Blanca
Cordillera Blanca
The Cordillera Blanca is a mountain range in the Ancash Region of Peru. Part of the larger Andes range, it includes 33 major peaks over high in an area wide and long.-Overview:...
is largely determined by the Cordillera Negra, because this mountain range
Mountain range
A mountain range is a single, large mass consisting of a succession of mountains or narrowly spaced mountain ridges, with or without peaks, closely related in position, direction, formation, and age; a component part of a mountain system or of a mountain chain...
soften the winds that come from the Pacific ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
. The Cordillera Negra, acting as a shield, avoids the thaw of the big glacier
Glacier
A glacier is a large persistent body of ice that forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. At least 0.1 km² in area and 50 m thick, but often much larger, a glacier slowly deforms and flows due to stresses induced by its weight...
s from the Cordillera Blanca
Cordillera Blanca
The Cordillera Blanca is a mountain range in the Ancash Region of Peru. Part of the larger Andes range, it includes 33 major peaks over high in an area wide and long.-Overview:...
.
The Cordillera Negra has rocky peaks
Summit (topography)
In topography, a summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. Mathematically, a summit is a local maximum in elevation...
with very little winter snowfall, reaching a maximum height of 5500 m. Its name comes from the comparison with the white snowy peaks of the Cordillera Blanca
Cordillera Blanca
The Cordillera Blanca is a mountain range in the Ancash Region of Peru. Part of the larger Andes range, it includes 33 major peaks over high in an area wide and long.-Overview:...
.
Population
Cordillera Negra as well as Cordillera Blanca almost 100% are situated in the Peruvian Ancash RegionAncash Region
Ancash is a region in northern Peru. It is bordered by the La Libertad region on the north, the Huánuco and Pasco regions on the east, the Lima region on the south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. Its capital is the city of Huaraz, and its largest city and port is Chimbote...
.
In the 1960s, Cueva del Guitarrero (Guitarrero Cave) was discovered on the northern edges of Cordillera Negra, a cave containing bones of mastodon
Mastodon
Mastodons were large tusked mammal species of the extinct genus Mammut which inhabited Asia, Africa, Europe, North America and Central America from the Oligocene through Pleistocene, 33.9 mya to 11,000 years ago. The American mastodon is the most recent and best known species of the group...
and llama
Llama
The llama is a South American camelid, widely used as a meat and pack animal by Andean cultures since pre-Hispanic times....
and suggesting human occupation as far back as 10,950 to 10,230 BC.
Today, Cordillera Negra is sparsely inhabited by mainly native Indian population growing wheat
Wheat
Wheat is a cereal grain, originally from the Levant region of the Near East, but now cultivated worldwide. In 2007 world production of wheat was 607 million tons, making it the third most-produced cereal after maize and rice...
, maize
Maize
Maize known in many English-speaking countries as corn or mielie/mealie, is a grain domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica in prehistoric times. The leafy stalk produces ears which contain seeds called kernels. Though technically a grain, maize kernels are used in cooking as a vegetable...
and oats
OATS
OATS - Open Source Assistive Technology Software - is a source code repository or "forge" for assistive technology software. It was launched in 2006 with the goal to provide a one-stop “shop” for end users, clinicians and open-source developers to promote and develop open source assistive...
at an elevation of well above 4,000 m. The cordillera is rich in mineral resources like gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
, silver
Silver
Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
and copper
Copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
.