Sarisariñama
Encyclopedia
The Sarisariñama tepui
Tepui
A tepui , or tepuy, is a table-top mountain or mesa found in the Guiana Highlands of South America, especially in Venezuela. The word tepui means "house of the gods" in the native tongue of the Pemon, the indigenous people who inhabit the Gran Sabana....

 is a mountain in the Jaua-Sarisariñama National Park at the far south-west of Bolívar State
Bolívar (state)
Bolívar State , is one of the 23 states into which Venezuela is divided. The state capital city is Ciudad Bolívar. Bolívar State covers a total surface area of 238,000 km² and in June 30, 2010 had an estimated population of 1,620,359....

, Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...

, near the border with Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

. Altitude: 300 - 2,350 metres. The name of the mountain originates from the tale of local Ye'kuana
Ye'kuana
The Ye'kuana, also called Ye'Kuana, Yekuana, Yequana, Yecuana, Dekuana, Maquiritare, Makiritare, So'to or Maiongong, are a Cariban-speaking tropical rain forest tribe who live in the Caura River and Orinoco River regions of Venezuela in Bolivar State and Amazonas State...

 Indians about an evil spirit living in caves up in the mountain and devouring human flesh with a sound "Sari... sari...".

The tepui is in one of the most remote areas in the country, with the closest road being hundreds of miles away.

Size

Similar to other tepuis, Sarisariñama consists of quartzite of the Roraima formation, belonging to Paleoproterozoan. The summit area of Sarisariñama tepui is 546.88 km² and the slope area is 482 km² .

Biology

Sarisariñama is the only tepui with species-rich, 15-25 meter-high forest covering the top of it. This isolated ecosystem is especially rich, including numerous endemic species of plants and animals.

Sinkholes

The most distinctive features of this tepui are its sinkholes
Sinkhole
A sinkhole, also known as a sink, shake hole, swallow hole, swallet, doline or cenote, is a natural depression or hole in the Earth's surface caused by karst processes — the chemical dissolution of carbonate rocks or suffosion processes for example in sandstone...

. There are four known sinkholes. Two, Sima Humboldt
Sima Humboldt
Sima Humboldt is an enormous sinkhole located on the summit of the plateau of Sarisariñama tepui in Bolívar State, Venezuela. It is unusual for several reasons, including its enormous size and depth, its location on the top of the only forested tepui, having a patch of forest on its base and also...

 and Sima Martel
Sima Martel
Sima Martel is an enormous sinkhole located on the summit of plateau of Sarisariñama tepui, in Bolívar State, Venezuela. It is unusual due to several factors including its enormous size and depth, location on the top of the only forested tepui and having a patch of forest on its base and also due...

, are visually unusual, huge, and well known, with isolated forest ecosystem
Ecosystem
An ecosystem is a biological environment consisting of all the organisms living in a particular area, as well as all the nonliving , physical components of the environment with which the organisms interact, such as air, soil, water and sunlight....

s covering their bottoms. The largest one, Sima Humboldt, is up to 352 metres wide and 314 metres deep. Another Sarisariñama sinkhole, the 1.35 km long Sima de la Lluvia, has been very important for exploration of the processes of erosion on tepuis.

Exploration

Sarisariñama became a much sought destination for exploration after 1961, when pilot Harry Gibson noticed both enormous sinkholes , a natural phenomenon unknown at the time.

The summit of Sarisariñama was reached only in 1974, with a helicopter. Initial investigations were done at both sinkholes, including a descent to the bottom of Sima Humboldt. A more thorough speleological investigation was done in 1976.

Nowadays access to Sarisariñama is restricted to scientific researchers.

External links

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