Serra do Mar

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Serra do Mar

Serra do Mar is a 1,500 km long system of mountain range

Mountain range

A mountain range is a chain of mountains bordered by highlands or separated from other mountains by mountain pass or valleys. Individual mountains within the same mountain range do not necessarily have the same geology, though they often do; they may be a mix of different orogeny, for example volcanoes, uplifted mountains or Fold mountains...
s and escarpment

Escarpment

In geomorphology, an escarpment is a transition zone between different physiogeographic provinces that involves a sharp, steep elevation differential, characterized by a cliff or steep slope....
s in Southeastern Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is a country in South America. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, occupying nearly half of South America, the List of countries by population country, and the fourth most populous democracy in the world....
, which runs in parallel to the Atlantic Ocean

Atlantic Ocean

The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions; with a total area of about 106.4 million square kilometres . It covers approximately one-fifth of the Earth's surface....
coast

Coast

The coast is defined as that part of the land adjoining or near the ocean or its saltwater arms. A precise line that can be called a coastline cannot be determined due to the process of tides....
, from the state of Espírito Santo

Espírito Santo

Esp?rito Santo is one of the states of Brazil of southeastern Brazil, often referred to by the abbreviation "ES". Its capital is Vit?ria and the largest city is Vila Velha....
to Santa Catarina. The main escarpment forms the boundary between the sea-level littoral

Littoral

In coastal environments and biomes, the littoral zone extends from the high water mark, which is rarely inundated, to shoreline areas that are permanently submerged....
and the inland plateau

Plateau

In geology and earth science, a plateau, also called a high plateau or tableland, is an area of highland , usually consisting of relatively flat terrain....
(planalto), which has a mean altitude of 500 to 1300 m. The mountain ranges are discontinuous in several places and receive individual names, such as Serra de Bocaina, Serra de Paranapiacaba, Serra Negra

Serra Negra

Serra Negra is a city and municipality in the state of S?o Paulo , Brazil. It belongs to the meso-region of Campinas. Population was 24,953 inhabitants....
, Serra dos Órgãos

Serra dos Órgãos

Serra dos ?rg?os is a national park in the state of Rio de Janeiro , Brazil, about a one hour drive from the city of Rio de Janeiro.Serra dos ?rg?os was created in 1939 as the third National Park in Brazil....
, etc.

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Serra do Mar is a 1,500 km long system of mountain range

Mountain range

Escarpment

Brazil

Atlantic Ocean

Coast

Espírito Santo

Littoral

In coastal environments and biomes, the littoral zone extends from the high water mark, which is rarely inundated, to shoreline areas that are permanently submerged....
and the inland plateau

Plateau

Serra Negra

Serra Negra is a city and municipality in the state of S?o Paulo , Brazil. It belongs to the meso-region of Campinas. Population was 24,953 inhabitants....
, Serra dos Órgãos

Serra dos Órgãos

Ilha Grande

Ilha Grande is an island located off the coast of Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil, and part of the municipality of Angra dos Reis. The island is largely undeveloped and noted for its scenic beauty, which includes tropical beaches, luxuriant vegetation and a rugged landscape....
. The highest point of Serra do Mar is the Pico das Salinas, located in the Parque Estadual dos Três Picos in the state of Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro , is the second largest city of Brazil and South America, behind S?o Paulo, and the third largest metropolitan area in South America, behind S?o Paulo and Buenos Aires....
in a municipality of Nova Friburgo, with a height of 2,316 m.

Geologically, the Serra do Mar belongs to the massive crystalline rock platform that forms Eastern South America

South America

South America is the southern continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere....
and tectonically

Tectonics

Tectonics is a field of study within geology concerned generally with the structures within the lithosphere of the Earth and particularly with the forces and movements that have operated in a region to create these structures....
is very stable. Most of the elevations of Serra do Mar were formed about 60 million years ago.

At the time of discovery of Brazil (1500), Serra do Mar supported a rich and highly diversified ecosystem, composed mainly by a lush tropical rain forest, called Mata Atlântica
Mata Atlântica

The Atlantic Forest is a region of Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests, tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublandss, and Mangrove which extends along the Atlantic Ocean coast of Brazil from Rio Grande do Norte state in the north to Rio Grande do Sul state in the...
(Atlantic Rainforest). Due to urbanization

Urbanization

Urbanization is the physical growth of rural or natural land into urban areas as a result of population im-migration to an existing urban area....
and deforestation

Deforestation

Deforestation is the logging or burning of trees in forested areas. There are several reasons for doing so: trees or derived charcoal can be sold as a commodity and are used by humans while cleared land is used as pasture, plantations of commodities and human settlement....
, however, most of the forest cover was destroyed and it remains almost exclusively in the steep escarpments facing the sea. A chain of national and state park

State park

State parks are parks or other protected areas of the United States and in Mexico for an area of land preserved on account of its natural beauty, historic interest, recreation, or other reason, and under the administration of the government of a U.S....
s, ecological stations and biological reservations now protect the Mata Atlântica and its biological heritage, but acid rain

Acid rain

Acid rain is rain or any other form of Precipitation that is unusually acidic. It has harmful effects on plants, aquatic animals, and infrastructure....
, pollution

Pollution

Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into an environment that causes instability, disorder, harm or discomfort to the ecosystem i.e. physical systems or living organisms ....
, poacher

Poaching

Poaching is the illegal hunting, fishing or eating of wild plants or animals contrary to local and international Conservation and wildlife management laws....
s, clandestine logger

Logger

Logger may refer to:* A lumberjack, also known as a woodcutter* A program or hardware device that records events or messages to a log file...
s, forest fires and encroachment by urban areas and farms are still promoting active destruction, particularly around cities. The largest metropolis of São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro

Curitiba

Curitiba is the capital city of the Brazilian Brazilian state of Paran? . The city has the largest population and also the largest economy in Southern Region, Brazil....
and Vitória

Vitória

Vit?ria is the capital of the States of Brazil of Esp?rito Santo, Brazil. It is located on a small island within a bay where a few rivers meet the sea....
are near the Serra do Mar.

Reforestation and recuperation of biological diversity are notoriously difficult to bring about in destroyed rain forest habitats, but Rio de Janeiro boasts of such success in the Mata Atlântica in its city parks.

Serra do Mar

See also