Most tepuis are found in southern Venezuela,
with a few in Western Guyana, Surinam and northern-most Brazil.
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The story of the origin of tepuis begins some 1.8 billion years ago with the super-continent Gondwana. What is now called South America, Africa, Madagascar, Australia – New Guinea, New Zealand and Antarctica were all part of Gondwana. Over hundreds of millions of years, many layers of sandstone were laid down, compressed and turned into quartzite also known as quartz arenite. Quartzite is essentially rock made mostly of quartz grains cemented by silica – this re-crystallization process makes quartzite a very hard substance. On Moh’s Scale of Hardness, quartz is assigned a hardness rating of 7 – diamonds are the hardest known minerals with a rating of 10. When continental drift caused the separation of Gondwana into individual land masses, and South America began to drift west some 130 million years ago, the South Atlantic Ocean formed. During the formation of the Atlantic, this plateau was up-lifted. The large sandstone plateau that once covered the Guiana Shield was subsequently eroded by large rivers such as the Orinoco which carved large canyons leaving monadnocks, also known as tepuis.
Unlike mountain ranges, tepuis are isolated geological entities with sheer slopes often towering well over 1,000 m in height from the forest floor below. Tepuis are considered ecological islands with cool temperatures and frequent rainfall on their tops while at their base, tropical forests with warm, humid climates can be found. The tops of the tepuis are poor in nutrients, which has led to a rich variety of carnivorous plants.
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Tarantula
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Caterpillar
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Katydid
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Many species of plants and animals are endemic to tepuis. Efforts are underway to document the biodiversity of these unique formations.
Mount Wokomung is one such tepui. This is the view from the top where the elevation is 1697 m.
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Topo map of Mount Wokomung.
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Topo map of Auyantepui, which is the source of Angel Falls the world's tallest waterfall, is another tepui.
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Entogeek at the Summit of Mount Wokomung.
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Entogeek and some of the local fauna atop Mount Wokomung.
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In order to log this cache you must:
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Email me your the co-ordinates and elevation of your location atop the tepui.
- In your log describe the climate atop the tepui, how you reached the top and how long it took you to get there.
- The top of Mount Wokomung is home to a small habitat that is home to organisms you would not expect to find at this elevation. Briefly describe this habitat and why it can exist.
- Optional Logging Requirement: Upload a photo that you have from the top of Mount Wokomung.
