Eilerts-de-Haan Mountains
| Eilerts-de-Haan Mountains | ||
|---|---|---|
| location | Sipaliwini , Suriname | |
| part of | Central Suriname Nature Reserve | |
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| Coordinates | 3 ° 0 ′ N , 56 ° 10 ′ W | |
The Eilerts-de-Haan Mountains are an incoherent mountain range in Suriname , in the Sipaliwini district, from the border with Brazil to the north .
It is the southern part of the Wilhelminagebirge . The Eilerts-de-Haan Mountains reach a maximum height of 884 m in the south, which slowly decreases towards the north and sinks below 500 m on the upper reaches of the Awalapakreek . In the further course it increases in height again to 800 m, then sinks again and reaches its highest point in the north at 986 m. The mountains - or the mountain range - have various foothills, some of which are over 500 m high.
exploration
The first scientific investigations of the area were undertaken by the expedition of Eilerts de Haan in 1908, the Corantijn expedition by Eilerts de Haan and Kayser 1910–1911 and the Wilhelminagebirge expedition by Stahel and Ijzerman in 1926. In the sixties and seventies of the 19th century, the Centraal Bureau Luchtkartering (Central Office for Aerial Mapping) and the Geological Mijnbouwkundige Dienst (Geological and Mining Service) were responsible for the research.
The mountains are named after the lieutenant for the sea and cartographer Johan Eilerts de Haan, who died of malaria as a participant in the Corantijn expedition in 1910 and who is buried at the foot of the mountain range that was later named after him.
In February 2000, a descendant of Johan Eilerts de Haan went on another expedition to the area to visit the grave. The expedition over the Gran Rio was successful and was edited on film by the National Geographic TV station.
Nature reserve
The area has been one of the largest nature reserves in Suriname with around 220,000 hectares since 1966 . The borders form the Zuidrivier (south river) and the Lucierivier . The Lucierivier was first mapped by Eilerts de Haan in 1908 and is named after his godchild. Since 1998, the protected area and other reserves have been part of the 1.6 million ha or 16,000 km² Central Suriname Nature Reserve .
literature
- CFA Bruijning and J. Voorhoeve (main editors): Encyclopedie van Suriname . Elsevier , Amsterdam 1977, ISBN 90-10-01842-3 , p. 171.