El Pinacate y Gran Desierto de Altar
| El Pinacate y Gran Desierto de Altar | |
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UNESCO world heritage 
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| El Pinacate crater |
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| National territory: |
 Mexico
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| Type: | nature |
| Criteria : | vii, viii, x |
| Reference No .: | 1410 |
| UNESCO region : | Latin America and the Caribbean |
| History of enrollment | |
| Enrollment: | 2013 (session 37) |
El Pinacate y Gran Desierto de Altar is a biosphere reserve in Mexico , which was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2013 .
location
The biosphere reserve is located in the Sonoran Desert , between the cities of Puerto Peñasco , Plutarco Elías Calles and San Luis Rio Colorado . The area is 714,566 hectares , including the buffer zone 354,871.34 hectares.
Weather
The region is characterized by low precipitation (predominantly winter rains), high temperatures in summer, intense sunlight and low humidity . Temperatures are among the highest in the northern hemisphere . Records show average maximum temperatures of 49 ° C and a maximum of 56.7 ° C. In winter, nighttime temperatures of −8.3 ° C have been measured, although temperatures below freezing point rarely occur. The average temperature is 18 to 22 ° C. The frequency of precipitation decreases so much towards the west that no significant precipitation has been recorded for 34 months, for which reason the terrain can be classified as one of the driest areas in the world. The average rainfall is less than 200 mm.
Worth seeing
It is the largest active dune area in North America and features unusual, star-shaped dune formations. There are Maar - Crater , a volcano sign with lava flows and cinder cones . In it you can find rare natural pools of water, tinajas , openings in the lava fields that provide water for the wildlife. The contrasting landscape, with the dark lava fields and the light sand of the desert, offers a multitude of habitats for a great diversity of species . There are over 540 species of vascular plants , around 40 mammals , 200 birds and 40 reptile species , as well as amphibians and freshwater fish . These include endemic , threatened and endangered species.
geology
There are more than 400 volcanic cones , including cinder cones , of varying shape, size and complexity. Among the 10 Maar craters, El Elegante is the largest crater in the area, 250 meters deep and 1500 meters in diameter. The volcanic shield covers an area of around 2000 square kilometers, with three main peaks Pico Pinacate, Pico Carnegie and Pico Medio , the entire complex of which is named as the Santa Clara volcano or Sierra Pinacate . The shield is demarcated by liquid lava that extends up to 20 km. The total volume of basaltic lava emitted is estimated at 150 to 180 km³.
The dune fields cover more than 550,000 hectares , called Erg (Lancaster et al., 1989). The dunes can reach a height of up to 200 m. The dune formations are linear, crescent-shaped and star-shaped with a length of up to 48 km. Although the linear formations dominate with about 70%, the star-shaped ones are the most important, as they only exist in a few places in the world (Breed et al., 1984).
Furthermore, the geology of the terrain offers quicksand , river beds , alluvial cones and mountains of basalt and granite . In the large field of mountains in tooth formation, the Sierra Blanca is the oldest with around 100 billion years.
Flora
About 18% of the registered flora of the Sonoran Desert can be found here. The region has 560 vascular plant species divided into 315 genera and 85 families (Felger, 1992). The vegetation consists mainly of bushes, although in some isolated areas there are also chaparral plants and on the beaches prosopis thickets (mimosa). At least 309 species grow inside the shield volcano , including the endemic species Senecio pinacatensis , a genus of ragweeds .
Wildlife
The mammals are represented with 44 species of wild animals . Particularly noteworthy are the forked antelope Sonoran, which is threatened with extinction. Furthermore, the bighorn sheep , the small Mexican flower bat and the bat genus Myotis vivesi . The group of birds is the most common. There are a total of 225 species of land and water birds . 19 of them are under special protection. The red-tailed buzzard , the golden eagle , the prairie falcon and the peregrine falcon are particularly noteworthy . Due to the lack of water, the fish group is poorly represented. Two endemic species are the desert varifo and the species Agosia chrysogaster . From the group of amphibians 5 frog species are represented, of which the Sonoran green toad ( Bufo retiformis ) is under special protection. 44 species of reptiles live here, including an endemic chameleon of the species Phrynosoma mcalli and the threatened Gila lizard and a tortoise of the species Ghoperus agassizii .
A number of species are under species protection according to the official Mexican standard 2001 (NOM-059-ECOL -2001).
Human settlement
Human settlement in the area presumably existed about 40,000 years ago (Hayden, 1976, 1998). The first inhabitants, called Malpais , moved from the mountains to the coast as hunters and gatherers . The next wave of settlement is known as the San Dieguito Complex and continued until a dry spell about 9,000 years ago forced people to leave the area.
In 1698, Father Kino found around 50 to 200 local people, pinacatenos , who ate roots and fish. By 1850, almost the entire population had been killed by yellow fever and the few survivors left. Due to the remoteness, the testimony of the Tohono O'odham is better preserved here than in the other settlements of this group. You can find geoglyphs (earth drawings) and petroglyphs (rock paintings) that depict human, animal or geometric representations. Since the last Tohono O'odham left the area in 1912, the area has still served as an important place of worship for his people , where the origin of creation is supposed to be found.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e UNESCO WHC - El Pinacate and Gran Desierto de Altar Biosphere Reserve (English), accessed on April 10, 2017
- ↑ El Pinacate y Gran Desierto de Altar - Ubicaión (Spanish), accessed April 8, 2017
- ↑ El Pinacate y Gran Desierto de Altar - Clima (Spanish), accessed April 9, 2017
- ↑ a b El Pinacate y Gran Desierto de Altar (Spanish), accessed April 8, 2017
- ↑ a b c El Pinacate y Gran Desierto de Altar - Geología (Spanish), accessed April 9, 2017
- ↑ a b El Pinacate y Gran Desierto de Altar - Biodiversidad (Spanish), accessed April 8, 2017
- ↑ a b El Pinacate y Gran Desierto de Altar - Historia (Spanish), accessed on April 8, 2017
Heritage: Historic Center of Mexico City and Xochimilco (1987) | Pre-Columbian City and National Park of Palenque (1987) | Pre-Columbian city of Teotihuacán (1987) | Old town of Oaxaca and ruins of Monte Albán (1987) | Historic Center of Puebla (1987) | Guanajuato Historic Center and Mines (1988) | Pre-Columbian city of Chichén Itzá (1988) | Old Town of Morelia (1991) | Pre-Columbian city of El Tajín (1992) | Old town of Zacatecas (1993) | Rock carvings in the Sierra de San Francisco (1993) | Monasteries on the slopes of Popocatépetl (1994) | Pre-Columbian city of Uxmal (1996) | Querétaro monument ensemble (1996) | Cabañas Hospice in Guadalajara (1997) | Monument area of Tlacotalpan (1998) | Archaeological sites of Paquimé in Casas Grandes (1998) | Xochicalco Archaeological Site (1999) | Historic city and fortress of Campeche (1999) | Franciscan Missions in the Sierra Gorda (2003) | Luís Barragán's house and studio (2004) | Agave landscape and historical tequila production sites (2006) | University campus of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (2007) | Fortified town of San Miguel de Allende and the pilgrimage church of Jesús de Nazareno in Atotonilco (2008) | Camino Real de Tierra Adentro (2010) | Prehistoric caves of Yagul and Mitla in the Oaxaca Valley (2010) | Aqueduct of Padre Tembleque (2015)
Natural heritage: Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve (1987) | El Vizcaíno lagoon - whale shelter (1993) | Islands and Protected Areas in the Gulf of California (2005) | Mariposa Monarca Biosphere Reserve (2008) | El Pinacate y Gran Desierto de Altar Biosphere Reserve (2013) | Revillagigedo Archipelago (2016)
Cultural / natural heritage: Mayan city of Calakmul and tropical rainforests in Campeche (2002)
Coordinates: 32 ° 0 ′ 0 ″ N , 113 ° 55 ′ 0 ″ W.