Guiana Shield

This is a very old part of the land.

It sits in northeast South America. It covers many lands like Guyana and Brazil.

The land has high hills. Some hills are flat on top. These are called tepuis.

Water falls from these hills. They make big waterfalls.

Many plants and animals live here. There are many kinds of birds. There are also many fish in the water.

The area has many green forests. These forests stay green and lush. It is a very busy place for life.

There are many things to find here. It is a special place to see.

The Guiana Shield is a very old part of the Earth.

It sits in northeast South America. This land covers parts of Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana. It also covers parts of Brazil, Venezuela, and Colombia. The rocks here are 1.7 billion years old.

Some parts of the shield are very high. These are called the Guiana Highlands. You can find flat-topped mountains here called tepuis.

These mountains help make famous waterfalls. You can see Angel Falls and Kaieteur Falls here. The highest point is Pico da Neblina in Brazil.

Life is very busy in this region. It is one of the most diverse places on Earth. Many animals live here that do not live anywhere else. There are over 3,000 types of animals. This includes many birds, fish, and mammals.

There are also over 13,000 kinds of plants. Much of this land is covered by thick tropical forests. These forests are very large and green.

The Guiana Shield is a massive piece of the Earth. It is a very old part of the South American Plate. This land sits in the northeast part of South America. It covers many different places. You will find it in Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana. It also reaches into parts of Venezuela, Brazil, and Colombia.

Some people call the first three countries "The Guianas." This shield is a very important part of our world's history.

This land is made of many different types of rock. The oldest rocks are part of the Imataca Complex. These rocks are made of gneiss. Other parts of the shield have sandstone and quartzite. These layers sit on top of older volcanic rocks. Some rocks are called greenstones. The shield also has granite peaks in some areas.

These rocks were formed a very long time ago.

The shield has three main upland areas. The first is the Guiana Highlands. This area is in Venezuela and Guyana. It also goes into the Roraima state in Brazil. The second area is the Tumucumaque Uplands. These mountains form an arc across Suriname, Guyana, and Brazil. The third area is the Chiribiquete Plateau. This is a plateau with a top made of sandstone.

It sits at the western edge of the shield.

Many famous landmarks are found here. The Guiana Highlands have flat-topped mountains called tepuis. These mountains create huge waterfalls. You can see Angel Falls, Kaieteur Falls, and Cuquenan Falls. The highest point is Pico da Neblina in Brazil. It is a very high summit. It sits on the border between Venezuela and Brazil.

This mountain is part of a large sandstone plateau.

Life is very busy on the Guiana Shield. It is one of the most diverse places on Earth. There are over 3,000 types of animals living here. This includes 1,168 types of fish and 282 types of mammals. There are also 1,004 different kinds of birds. More than 13,000 types of plants grow in the soil. Many of these living things are endemic. This means they do not live anywhere else on the planet.

The Guiana Shield is a massive geological formation in northeast South America. It is one of the three cratons of the South American Plate. A craton is a very old and stable part of a continent. This shield is a Precambrian formation, meaning it is 1.7 billion years old. It covers a large area of the northern coast. The shield underlies Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana. These three territories are often called "The Guianas." The shield also extends into southern Venezuela, parts of eastern Colombia, and much of Brazil north of the Amazon River.

The geology of the shield is made of many different layers. The oldest rocks are the Archean Imataca Complex. These consist of quartz-feldspar gneiss and mafic gneiss. The Guri Fault marks the southern boundary of this complex. South of the fault, you find Early Proterozoic rocks. These include the metavolcanic Pastora Supergroup and the granitic Supamo Complex. The Cuchivero Group contains ash flow tuff and granitic rocks. On top of these are the Roraima Group sediments. These include quartz sandstones, quartzites, and conglomerates. These sediments are between 1.8 and 1.4 billion years old.

There are three distinct upland areas on the shield. The first is the Guiana Highlands. This area is in Venezuela, west-central Guyana, and northern Roraima, Brazil. The second is the Tumucumaque Uplands. These form an arc of central massifs. They stretch from the Wilhelmina Mountains in Suriname through the Acarai Mountains in Brazil. These uplands slope toward the Amazon River in the south and the Atlantic in the north. The third area is the Chiribiquete Plateau. This is a sandstone-topped plateau at the western edge of the shield. It is separated from the Andes by the Sub-Andean Trough.

The landscape of the Guiana Highlands is very unique. It is dominated by high, flat-topped peaks called tepuis. These tepuis belong to the Roraima supergroup and Quasi-Roraima formation. There are also rounded granite peaks in the north and southwest. These belong to the Parguaza and Imataca complexes. The highest point on the entire shield is Pico da Neblina in Brazil. It is part of the Neblina massif. This massif is a highly eroded sandstone plateau. It sits on the border between Venezuela and Brazil. The highlands also host famous waterfalls. These include Angel Falls, Kaieteur Falls, and Cuquenan Falls.

The Guiana Shield is one of the most biodiverse regions in the world. It contains the largest expanse of tropical forest on any Precambrian shield. There are over 3,000 vertebrate species living here. This includes 1,168 species of freshwater fish. There are 269 amphibians, and 54% of them are endemic. Endemic means they are found nowhere else on Earth. The shield also hosts 295 reptiles, 1,004 birds, and 282 mammals. Many invertebrates, like butterflies and dung beetles, are also found here.

Plant life on the shield is incredibly rich. Scientists have found 13,367 species of vascular plants. About 40% of these plants are endemic to the region. Many areas are protected to keep this life safe. Examples include the Iwokrama Forest in Guyana and the Central Suriname Nature Reserve. In Venezuela, the Canaima and Serranía de la Neblina national parks protect the forests. In 2014, Colombia protected a 250-hectare area as a Ramsar Wetland. This makes it a site of international importance.

While the ecosystems are vibrant, they face new challenges. Researchers have documented emerging issues in the highlands. These include invasive plants like *Poa annua*. Another aggressive weed called *Polypogon elongatus* has also appeared. Scientists have also found the infectious bacteria *Helicobacter pylori* in the area. These factors represent new changes to a very old system. The shield remains a vital part of the Earth's biological and geological history.