Monday, December 8, 2014

Final Assessment

Mount Roraima is a tepui, which is a table-top shaped mountain. Tepuis form from the remains of sandstone once covered in granite, from an area between the Orinico River and the Amazon Basin. Due to the Earth's changes, tepuis abruptly rise from the giant plateau through erosion. These land formations are deemed some of the oldest in the world, resulting in surface features such as sinkholes and sometimes, caves. The climate at Mount Roraima is also very unique. Due to the location directly in the middle of a rainforest, heat from the forest rises, condenses, then cools, and creates day long rain showers and thunderstorms. Though Mount Roraima sees mass amounts of rainfall throughout the year, excess water drainage creates some of the tallest waterfalls in the world. Since Mount Roraima stands alone and is somewhat of a floating island, it is home to species that are unique to Mount Roraima and have adapted to the harsh conditions the mountain inhibits. 


A beautiful view of the Roraima Tepui, the largest of the Pakaraima mountain chain


But what about in.....10,000 years from now:


Mount Roraima is covered in joints due to the movement of plate tectonics, giving weathering a head start as these foster the movement of decayed material on the large rock. There are two types of weathering that this landform is exposed to: mechanical and chemical. Physically (mechanically) speaking, pressure release processes could very well be exhibited in this area as time goes on due to the massive amount of both sandstone and granite that the rock contains. With this happening, smaller tepuis could pop off and form around the larger mountain when under pressure. Though this type of weathering and its effects are possible, chemical weathering is by far the biggest threat to Mount Roraima due to the extraordinarily high amounts of rainfall. Rain absorbs sulfuric and carbonic acid from the surrounding atmosphere and although the levels can be weak, the amount of rain Mount Roraima sees is unusually high, as well as constant, resulting in more acidic exposure to the rock. Over long periods of time, rain can change the shape and mineral makeup of rock formations, as well as create more drastic surface features. 


Joints are spaced fissures in rocks that allow different types of weathering to occur




....in 1,000,000 years from now:

The levels of sulfuric and carbonic acid in rain are going to get increasingly higher as time goes on due to the ever-rising amount of pollution and negligence of said problem (hopefully this disaster can be avoided, as it would effect much more than just this very landscape). If this does happen, however, Mount Roraima would heavily reap the effects as not only the hydrology of the landscape would be full of chemicals as it repeats the cycle through the convection process, but its entire zoology of endemic species would become extinct.


....in 100,000,000 years from now:

Rain erosion is also a huge threat to Mount Roraima. By this point in time, Mount Roraima could very well be much smaller in size (in both perimeter and height), as the excess of rainwater falling over the top of the tepui would continually erode the side of the mountains. Though there are already heavily indented joints where waterfalls gather, these will become much deeper and wider, eroding much of the minerals and bringing them down to the base of the mountain. At the base, mass amounts of ground water would be collapsing and causing much larger and deeper sinkholes. Much of the landscapes unique design and shape would be deteriorated and hikers ability to scale the mountain may be no longer. Quartz, another mineral present in Mount Roraima's landscape as well as the most stable, is the last to crystallize and will likely be the last mineral holding up the massive tepui.


Excess rainwater falling down the tepui side in waterfalls. This image will look much different in millions of years to come. 


Though Mount Roraima's beautiful landscape is unique to this area, it is not a landform that will last through time due to its extreme climate. If the rainfall levels were not as high, I surmise that Mount Roraima would remain in amazing condition due to the lack of human intercept. But, its harsh climate will be the beautiful areas drastic downfall. 


http://www.montessoritraining.net/elementary_program2/courses/physical_geography/sample_lessons.pdf

http://www.beyondnootka.com/articles/roraima.html
http://www.bestepics.com/photo/5419.aspx


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