South America From Space Trivia Quiz

Answer: The Andes

Running the length of South America, the Andes forms the world's longest continental mountain range, stretching from Venezuela in the north to Argentina and Chile in the south.

Formed by the subduction of oceanic plates under the South American plate, the mountain range forms a spine down the western half of South America. In doing so it forms part of the Pacific "ring of fire", containing a number of volcanoes, as well as being an area prone to earthquakes.

Answer: Amazon River Basin

Formed by the River Amazon and its tributaries, the Amazon Basin covers approximately 6,915,000 km2. As such, it forms the world's largest rainforest, covering an area approximately 5,500,000 km2.

Bounded by the Andes in the east, The Guiana Highlands in the north and the Brazilian Highlands in the south, the River Amazon rises in Peru before flowing out into the Atlantic Ocean. As the world's largest rainforest, the Amazon Basin contains a wide range of species, forming an ecosystem that is still largely unexplored.

The area though is under threat from exploitation, with areas of forest being clears for farming, timber and mineral extraction.

Answer: Chile

Located mainly in northern Chile, the edges of the Atacama Desert also cross into Argentina, Peru and Bolivia. Due to its location in the Andes, the Atacama Desert is rated the driest non-polar desert, with a combination of desert, volcanoes, and salt lakes.

Known as one of the driest places in the world, the average rainfall each year on the Atacama Desert is less about 15 millimetres, with some areas receiving as little of 1 millimetre a year.

Even though it is high in the Andes Mountains, the Atacama Desert has no glaciers. In fact, the region has been describes as being Mars like, as it is devoid of life in some parts, even in the soil.

Answer: Yes

Situated in southeast Brazil, São Paulo is not only one Brazil's largest cities, but one the largest in the southern hemisphere. With a population of over 11 million living in the metropolitan area of São Paulo, the city itself was founded by the Portuguese in 1554.

For many centuries São Paulo remained poor, but the discovery of gold started to bringing wealth to the area. As the cultivation of coffee took place in Brazil, Sao Paulo's economy grew further after it was linked to the port of Santos by rail. As such, São Paulo now has a high number of billionaires living in the city. However, there is still widespread poverty in the city.

Answer: Ecuador

Discovered in 1535 by Fray Tomás de Berlanga, the Galápagos Islands are a volcanic archipelago of islands straddling the Equator. Discoveries made by explorer Thor Heyerdahl in 1952 showed signs that islands may have been inhabited before that date.

Galápagos Islands were first mapped a few decades later by Gerardus Mercator and Abraham Ortelius - taking their name from the giant tortoises found there.
By the 17th century, the islands were used by pirates pillaging treasure from Spanish galleons. Eventually in 1832, Ecuador annexed the islands, taking control.

The Galápagos Islands though are best known though for the discoveries made by Charles Darwin which lead to him write his theory of evolution in the book "On the Origin of Species", published in 1859.

Answer: Venezuela

Connected to the Gulf of Venezuela, Lake Maracaibo was discovered in 1499 by Alonso de Ojeda. As well as supporting a fishing industry, the Lake Maracaibo basin in also the centre for Venezuela's oil industry. As such, the lake provides much of Venezuela's economic wealth.

As seen though from the satellite image, Lake Maracaibo has a major duckweed infestation that is causing major problems in its removal. In addition, pollution in the lake has caused the duckweed to spread, bringing problems to the fishing communities as the fish stocks are killed off. Because of this, the Venezuelan government spends around $24 million dollars a year clearing the duckweed.

Oil extraction too is bringing its problems to the lake, causing subsidence around the eastern shore of Lake Maracaibo. As such, dikes were built to protect the swampland in that area by preventing flooding.

Answer: Peru

Situated in the Nazca Desert of Southern Peru, the Nazca Lines were designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994.

In addition to the lines featured in the satellite image, there are also zoomorphic designs of creatures, as well as humans and tress that are visible from the air.

First mentioned in 1553 by Pedro Cieza de León, it was not until 1927 that they were first surveyed properly by a Peruvian archaeologist named Toribio Mejia Xesspe.

Believed to have been created by the Nazca culture between 400 to 650 AD, the exact purpose of the lines have been the subject of debate, from them being astronomical lines to religious. However, the lines are under threat as due to their shallow position on the ground, they are prone to being washed away in the event of a flood in the area.

Answer: Lithium

Situated in the south east of Bolivia, the Salar de Uyuni is the world's largest salt flat. As such, it is one of the world's flattest places with an average height variation of one metre. In addition, the Salar de Uyuni is often used to calibrate altimeters for a number of satellites orbiting Earth.

The size of the lake also means it is a major transportation link for a number of communities situated around the shoreline, with crossing points for vehicles marking where cars should travel across the lake.

Formed from a number of prehistoric lakes, the Salar de Uyuni has a salt crust laying on top of a brine lake, making it a valuable resource for salt. However, the lake itself is said to contain between 50% 70% of the world's lithium resources.

In addition, the lake itself has a number of species living on or around its shores including James' and Andean Flamingoes.

Answer: Land of Fire

Situated at the tip of South America, the Tierra del Fuego archipelago is shared between Chile and Argentina. Discovered by Ferdinand Magellan in 1520, the islands making up Tierra del Fuego form a number of channels at the tip of South America, whilst the tip of the islands form Cape Horn.

Although settled by indigenous South American Indians, the area was colonised by Europeans in the mid 19th century, led by the discovery of gold. This has resulted in very few of native Selk'nam inhabitants remaining, largely wiped out by disease and persecution as their lands were taken from them. Although a few hundred Selk'nam remain, they have interbreed with settlers, the last truly indigenous Selk'nam native dying in the mid-20th century.

The islands themselves has also been disputed over by the Argentinian and Chilean governments, leading to Chile building a number of forts and laying minefields to protect their land from Argentinian incursions. It was Chilean radar stations that also provided information to the British during the Falklands Conflict, about Argentinian air force movements in the area.

Answer: Lake Titicaca

At an altitude of 3,812 metres, Lake Titicaca is one of the world's highest navigable lakes, second only in surface area to Lake Maracaibo in Venezuela in surface area, but containing far more water, making it the most voluminous lake is South America.

Shared between Peru and Bolivia, Lake Titicaca is fed by five major rivers and has a maximum depth of 284 metres. In addition, there is also a smaller sub-basin to the lake named Wiñaymarka in Bolivia. The lake itself is drained by the Desaguadero River - also in Bolivia, but most of the water loss from the lake is either through evaporation or water extraction.