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| South American lowlands | |
|---|---|
| Name | South American lowlands |
South American lowlands are the vast low-elevation plains, basins and coastal forelands that occupy much of the continental interior and margins of South America, encompassing the Amazon Basin, the Gran Chaco, the Pantanal, the Llanos, the Pampas and adjacent coastal plains. They form an ecological and geographical continuum between the Andes, the Atlantic and Pacific margins, and the Caribbean Sea, and have shaped continental colonial expansion, independence movements and modern nation-states such as Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Venezuela, Bolivia and Paraguay.
The lowlands span the Amazon Basin, the Orinoco Basin, the La Plata Basin, the Gran Chaco, the Pantanal, the Llanos, the Pampas, coastal plains like the Guianas, and river deltas such as the Amazon Delta and Rio de la Plata. Bounded to the west by the Andes and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, the region includes political territories in Peru, Ecuador, Suriname, French Guiana, Guyana, Uruguay and parts of Chile and Trinidad and Tobago. Major cities within or adjacent to the lowlands include Manaus, Belém, Iquitos, Bogotá (on the Andean margin), Asunción, Buenos Aires (on the Pampas margin) and Caracas (on the Caribbean fringe).
The lowlands rest on cratonic platforms like the Amazonian Craton and sedimentary basins formed during the Mesozoic and Cenozoic eras, with structures influenced by the Andean orogeny and passive margin subsidence. Sediment accumulation from Andean uplift feeds megafans, floodplains and deltas such as the Solimões-Amazon. Karst regions in the Guianas relate to the Guiana Shield, while the Pampa and Chaco are underlain by extensive loess and alluvial deposits. The region shows features studied in plate tectonics contexts tied to the Nazca Plate and South American plate interactions and includes geomorphological phenomena like river meandering, avulsion and wetlands exemplified by the Pantanal.
Climatic regimes range from equatorial humid in the Amazon Rainforest to tropical wet-and-dry in the Llanos, subtropical humid in the Pampas, and seasonal semi-arid in parts of the Gran Chaco. The system is modulated by atmospheric patterns including the ITCZ, the South American Monsoon System, and teleconnections like El Niño–Southern Oscillation and the Atlantic Multidecadal Variability. Hydrologically, major rivers such as the Amazon River, Orinoco River, Paraná River, Paraguay River and Uruguay River drive sediment transport, flood pulse dynamics described in the flood pulse concept, and form extensive wetlands like the Pantanal and fluvial islands like the Marajó Island. Groundwater systems include large aquifers such as the Guarani Aquifer.
Flora and fauna diversity is among the highest globally, with biomes including the Amazon rainforest, seasonal tropical forest, cerrado, chaco scrub, wetland systems and temperate grasslands of the Pampas. Iconic taxa occur across the lowlands such as Jaguar, Giant otter, boto, capybara, harpy eagle, anaconda and myriad plant genera including Hevea (rubber), Brazil nut and buriti. Endemism is high in regions like the Guiana Shield and Eastern Amazonia, and the area supports key migratory bird flyways tied to sites recognized by the Ramsar Convention and protected areas such as Jaú National Park, Iguazú National Park, and Manu National Park.
Indigenous cultures such as the Tupi–Guarani peoples, Arawak, Carib peoples, Guarani people and Munduruku established complex settlement systems, agroforestry and riverine economies prior to European contact. Colonial extractive economies driven by Spanish Empire, Portuguese Empire and later national policies promoted cattle ranching in the Pampas and Chaco, rubber extraction in the Amazon, and plantation agriculture in the Guianas. Contemporary land use includes mechanized agriculture (soybean, cotton), cattle ranching, hydroelectric reservoirs like Itaipu Dam and urban expansion in metropolises such as São Paulo (margin), Rio de Janeiro (coastal), Santa Cruz de la Sierra and Córdoba.
The lowlands were arenas of contact and conflict during the Age of Discovery, the Spanish colonization, the Treaty of Tordesillas, and wars such as the War of the Triple Alliance and the Chaco War. They figured in resource booms like the rubber boom and the soybean boom, shaping migrations, frontier settlements and cultural movements including gaucho traditions, llanero music and indigenous resistance led by figures referenced in national histories. Cities like Belém and Buenos Aires became cultural hubs linking regional traditions to international networks such as the Pan-Americanism movement.
Threats include deforestation driven by logging, agricultural conversion for soybean and cattle, mining for gold and hydrocarbons, hydrological alteration from dams, and climate change impacts mediated by El Niño–Southern Oscillation. Conservation responses involve national parks, indigenous territories, international agreements such as the Convention on Biological Diversity, and transboundary initiatives like the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization. Conservation science draws on research institutions including Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and universities across Brazil and the region, while civil society actors such as Greenpeace and local indigenous organizations engage in advocacy and stewardship.
Category:Regions of South America