American Cordillera

See also: Continental Divide of the Americas

American Cordillera
Andes in Peru Coast Mountains in British Columbia, Canada
Highest point
Peak	Aconcagua, Las Heras Department, Mendoza, Argentina
Elevation	6,961 m (22,838 ft)
Geography
Map of the Americas, showcasing the North American Cordillera in maroon, the mountains of Central America in lavender, and the South American Cordillera in pink. Map of Antarctica, showcasing the extension of the American Cordillera into Graham Land in the northwest.
Countries	United States, Canada, Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina and Chile

The American Cordillera (/ˌkɔːrdəlˈjɛrə/ KOR-dəl-YERR-ə) is a chain of mountain ranges (cordilleras) that consists of an almost continuous sequence of mountain ranges that form the western "backbone" of the Americas. Aconcagua is the highest peak of the chain. It is also the backbone of the volcanic arc that forms the eastern half of the Pacific Ring of Fire.

Description

North America

Main article: North American Cordillera

The ranges of the Cordillera from Mexico northward are collectively called the North American Cordillera.

From north to south, this sequence of overlapping and parallel ranges begins with the Alaska Range and the Brooks Range in Alaska and runs through the Yukon into British Columbia. The main belt of the Rocky Mountains along with the parallel Columbia Mountains and Coast Ranges of mountains and islands continue through British Columbia and Vancouver Island. In the United States, the Cordillera branches include the Rockies, the Sierra Nevada, the Cascades, and various small Pacific coastal ranges. In Mexico, the Cordillera continues through the Sierra Madre Occidental and Sierra Madre Oriental, as well as the backbone mountains of the Baja California peninsula.

The Cordillera continues on through the mountain ranges of Central America in Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama, and becomes the Andes Mountains of South America.

South America and Antarctica

The Cordillera, having continued through Central America, continues through South America and even to the Antarctic. In South America, the Cordillera is known as the Andes Mountains. The Andes with their parallel chains and the island chains off the coast of Chile continue through Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, and Chile to the southernmost tip of South America at Tierra del Fuego. The Cordillera continues along the Scotia Arc before reaching the mountains of the Antarctic Peninsula.

Further reading

• Silberling, N.J. et al. (1992). Lithotectonic terrane map of the North American Cordillera [Miscellaneous Investigations Series I-2176]. Reston, Va.: U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey.