Chapada Diamantina’s tropical semi-humid, semi-arid
landscape is home to karst topography containing underground rivers, systems of
quartzite caves, mesas and rock formations bordering valleys, and majestic
waterfalls spilling into crystal clear lakes. Such geographical features were
crafted through millennia of folding, weathering and erosion.
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| Chapada Diamantina Karst Topography Created Through Weathering & Erosion |
Using cross-cutting for strata depicts years of chemical
weathering and erosion of rock by both oceanic and fresh-water river systems.
Anticline folds shifted and shaped the aboveground anticlinal valleys.
Subterranean groundwater and streams dissolved and continue to eat-away at
sedimentary rock carving karst underground structures including caves and
caverns. These processes continue to be a force in Chapada Diamantina’s
landscape.
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| Chapada Diamantina Anticlinal Valley Created Through Folds |
Chapada Diamantina 10,000 Years in the Future…
In ten thousand years Brazil’s Chapada Diamantina will be
approximately 1km west of its current location. The South American Plate moves
roughly 10cm west every year while the Nazca Plate moves about 16cm east each
year. The South American and Nazca plates interact with a closing velocity of
nearly 26cm per year. This phenomenon increases tectonic activity along the
coast of South America. Although these tectonic plate movements seem
significant, not much will be different in 10,000 years except Chapada
Diamantina’s new GPS coordinates. Chapada Diamantina will sit less than a mile
west than it does it today, resulting in much of the same annual rainfall and
climatic patterns.
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| South American & Nazca Plate Movement |
In 1,000,000 Years…
In one million years Chapada Diamantina will potentially
experience more rainfall, slightly lower temperatures and more seismic
activity. By this time period the South American plate will be 100km west and
the Nazca Plate will be 16km east from current measure. Chapada Diamantina’s
new location will be much more inland and receive about twice as much annual
rainfall than currently recorded. In one million years this convergent boundary
will produce many more earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Volcanic eruptions
contribute to the Haze Effect, which basically lowers average global temperatures.
This seismic activity will alter Chapada Diamantina’s current climate and
produce slightly cooler temperatures.
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| Brazil's Average Annual Rainfall |
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| The Haze Effect from Volcanic Eruptions |
100,000,000 Years Later…
One-hundred million years from now Chapada Diamantina will
change to a completely tropical landscape covered in island-like trees and
sandy beaches. The South American Plate will be 10,000km west of current measure
and Chapada Diamantina will have moved to what is now the South Pacific Ocean,
just a few km south of Fatu Hiva of the Marquesas Islands. The elevation will
be much lower and become a victim to the rising sea level. The divergent plate
boundary from the South American Plate and African plate will have increased and
created volcanic islands along the wider Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The African Plate
moves 3.75cm east each year and in one-hundred million years it will be 3,750km
east while the South American Plate is 10,000km west. Chapada Diamantina’s
entire landscape and climate will be completely altered in 100,000,000 years.
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| South American & African Plate Divergence Along South Atlantic Ridge |
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| Fatu Hiva in South Pacific Ocean |
Chapada Diamantina’s landscape and climate will be
completely different but equally as beautiful when weathering, erosion, and
tectonic activity reshape its appearance. Nonetheless, Brazil’s hidden gem will
remain an icon and a place to witness the features Earth’s geographical
processes left behind.
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| Chapada Diamantina at Sunset |
References:
http://www.geology.sdsu.edu/how_volcanoes_work/climate_effects.html
http://blank005.tripod.com/geology/tectonics.html
http://www.geo.mtu.edu/~hnlechne/volcanichazards.html
http://jersey.uoregon.edu/~mstrick/AskGeoMan/geoQuerry29.html
http://www.geology.sdsu.edu/how_volcanoes_work/climate_effects.html
http://blank005.tripod.com/geology/tectonics.html
http://www.geo.mtu.edu/~hnlechne/volcanichazards.html
http://jersey.uoregon.edu/~mstrick/AskGeoMan/geoQuerry29.html
