| Actual Image
Tepuy - The 'Lost World' (30)
Jamesp
![Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 1351 W: 0 N: 5494]](http://i1.treknature.com/misc/g-n-g.gif) (16522) | The tepuys were the inspiration for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s ‘The Lost World’.
The tepuys are the most conspicuous geological features in Canaima, they are tabletop mountains with vertical walls carved by the erosion of millions of years. The tepuys emerging abruptly out of the grasslands and thick jungles make one of the most dramatic views you can imagine.
The relative isolation of the top of the tepuys, combined with their very particular environment, have resulted in fauna and flora that are mostly endemic and not found anywhere else in the world.
The most ancient rock formations in the world's geochronology are found here, and are specially visible at the top of the tepuys. Dating from the Precambrian period, they are assumed to have been formed between 1.5 and 2 billion years ago.
Erosion by wind and water have carved these rocks into the most bizarre forms. No wonder the natives consider the top of the tepuys sacred places, inhabited by Gods and the spirits of their ancestors.
The main shot was taken in 1989 and is a scanned slide, taken with a Pentax SFX, Pentax 70 - 210 zoom and Agfa 100asa slide film. This shows the area in the wet season. In the WORKSHOP is a shot taken in Dec 2003 in the dry seasno - the difference is quite amazing!!
This will be my last posting for about a week as I am off to Sicily |
|
