"Canaima" Venezuela Off The Beaten Path Tip by Schnorf

Canaima includes the uplands of the Gran Sabana and the eastern table mountains (tepuis) of the Roraima Range, as well as the sandstone plateau of Chimantá and Auyán-tepui and the north-western Canaima lowlands. It comprises Precambrian rocks which have been subjected to 600 million years of erosion to form a spectacular landscape. It is composed mainly of horizontal sandstone and lutite strata with inserts of igneous rocks (diorite dykes and colse). There are three disjunct physiographic units: undulating lowlands between 350 and 650m; the flat plateau of the Gran Sabana (800-1500m); and the tepui summits (2000-2700m). The summits reach 1000-2000m above the surrounding plateau and their surfaces are often scarred by gullies, canyons and sinkholes of several hundred metres depth. Water drains from the flat summits forming hundreds of waterfalls. The Río Caroní, with its many tributaries arising within the park, supplies the Guri dam which provides electricity to large areas of the country. There are many waterfalls in the park including Angel Falls, the world's tallest at 1002m (Government of Venezuela, 1993).