Here we make notes on geographic forms and phenomena that do not occur/exist or are very little representative in Brazilian territory (20 topics), with very general notes about them and parallels with national or neighboring scenarios in South America. We emphasize that there are several other phenomena and landscapes that do not occur in the country, but the focus in this text are those with more visual appeal and geographic relevance.
Other elements could have been cited: oasis, sand storms, salars, hiper rained regions, nacarate clouds, lava fiels, color lakes, huge caves, deeper caves, cenotes and bigger islands.
1. RELATED TO VULCANIC/TECTONIC
1.1 HUGE EARTQUAKES ▸ the strongest earthquake in Brazil hit 6.5ºR (Volcano Discovery) in 2022 at Acre state; joining this information with the list of major earthquakes by country, we have that Brazil has only the 59th major national earthquake, a fact that attests to the complete absence of major earthquakes in the country.
EARTQUAKES FROM DEC/2004 TO NOV/2014 (CHEGG, 2022)
1.2 GEYSERS ▸ a geyser is a spring characterized by an intermittent discharge of water ejected turbulently and accompanied by steam. As a fairly rare phenomenon, the formation of geysers is due to particular hydrogeological conditions that exist only in a few places on Earth. Worldwide true geysers occur in 25 countries, two European (Iceland and Turkyie), four in Africa (Chad, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda), seven in Asia (India, China, Myanmar, Thailand, Indonesia, Russia, Japan), five in Oceania (New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Is., Fiji, Vanuatu) and seven in America (U.S.A., Mexico, Costa Rica, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina and Chile), by Scot Bryan (BOOK, 2018).
For New Zealand gysers, see Johnstons Achive.
NEW WORLD GEYSER FIELDS AROUBD THE WORLD
1.3 VULCANOES ▸ an estimated 800 million people live within 100 km of an active volcano in 86 countries and additional overseas territories worldwide. 531 volcanoes has confirmed eruptions since 1800, in 55 countries plus Antartida, 282 only in Indonesia, U.S.A., Japan, Russia and Chile. 74 are South American; Brazil ho has none volcano since Holocene (Smthsonian/Volcanoes by Country). Mexico has 9 active volcanoes since 1800, and 5 since 1960; for Chile the numbers are 34 and 19, respectively; in Russia, 49 and 27; in U.S.A., 63 and 40, almost all in Alaska; for a complete synopsis of volcanoes, see Cottrell (Chapter Book, 2015).
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| VOLCANOES WITH ACTIVE ERUPTIONS SINCE THE YEAR 1900 |
1.5 HYDROTERMAL VENTS ▸ ince the first discovery of vents in 1977, some 700 hydrothermal vent species previously unknown to science (Vents Database), together with 600 species at cold seeps, have now been described (German et al., Plos One, 2011). Worldwide this places occur in over Pacific Ocean, scarce points in Indian Ocean, Red Sea, Mediterrânean, Arctic, and in Meso-Atlantic Ocean; the closest occurrences to Brazil are c. 2,500 km away, in the middle of the Atlantic at the same latitude of Pernanbuco, Paraíba and Rio Grande do Norte; for details about this, see German et al. (Earth and Planetary Sciences Letters, 2008).
WORLD DISTRIBUTION OF HYDROTHERMAL VENTS
2. RELAED TO GEOLOGICAL PROCESSES
2.1 FJORDS ▸ a fjord or fiord is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. Fjords exist on the coasts of Alaska, Antarctica, British Columbia, Chile, Denmark, Germany, Greenland, the Faroe Islands, Iceland, Ireland, Kamchatka, the Kerguelen Islands, Labrador, Newfoundland, New Zealand, Norway, Novaya Zemlya, Nunavut, Quebec, the Patagonia region of Argentina and Chile, Russia, South Georgia Island, Tasmania, United Kingdom, and Washington state. Norway's coastline is estimated to be 29,000 km (18,000 mi) long with its nearly 1,200 fjords, but only 2,500 km (1,600 mi) long excluding the fjords (Wikipedia). Saco do Mamanguá, a ria in southern Rio de Janeiro state in Brazil (Ecobrasil), is sometimes (and erroneously) reported a single tropical fjorde wordwide (Guia Viaje Melhor).
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| FJORDS WORLDWIDE |
2.2 ANCHIALINE CAVES ▸ anchihaline (or anchialine) habitats are water bodies in hollows along the sea coasts where the influence of the sea may be felt and which are inhabited by some obligatory subterranean species. Or, more accurately, they belong to “a tidally influenced subterranean estuary located within crevicular and cavernous karst and volcanic terrains that extends inland to the limit of seawater penetration.” In New World anchialine caves occur in Caribbean, Mexico, Central America, Venezuela, Bermudas, Florida, Galapagos Is. and Hawaii; for diversity of life in anchialine caves, see Perez-Moreno et al. (International Journal of Speleology, 2016); for Bermudas, with 78 spp., 66 of them Crustaceans, see Iliffe & Gutiérrez (Diversity, 2021).
Globally, crustaceans represent the most diversified group of anchialine fauna, with at least 500 species described, belonging to 4 classes, 16 orders, and 57 families. Several taxonomic groups of crustaceans, including the class Remipedia, the peraccharides of the orders Mictacea and Bochusacea, and the copepods of the order Platycopioida have been designated from specimens collected in this medium and are found exclusively in groundwater (Romero, Anartia, 2019).
In Mexico, anchialine caves are only known in the Yucatan Peninsula, with over 2,241 cenotes recorded; a half of this sysmtems have records for only one to three species, five caves with more than ten records, while only three an chialine systems possess representatives of more than two phyla. Despite an apparently low diversity in this region, Calderón-Gutiérrez et al. (2017) performed an exhaustive diversity survey at El Aerolito cenote, which extends for 18 km, and reaches a maximum depth of 27 m. They reported that El Aerolito cave system holds 100 species (53 as new records, and 47 previously reported), grouped within 10 phyla (Porifera, Cnidaria, Platyhelminthes, Nemertea, Sipuncula, Annelida, Arthropoda, Mollusca, Echinodermata, and Chordata). These authors pointed out that El Aerolito is the richest and foremost biodiverse anchialine system of the world, and it could be a result of the energy input to the system by mangroves in the main entrance, and the direct connection with the sea, together with the chemosynthesis processes that occur there (Romero, Anartia, 2019).
Details for Mexican anchialine caves, see Alvarez et al. (Mexican Fauna in Anthropocene, 2023).
ANCHIALINE CAVES WORLDWIDE (NEIBER ET AL., 2011)
In Venezuela, so far, only two endemic anchialine species, Cyathura univam (Isopoda: Anthuridea) (Botosaneanu 1983) and Metaniphargus venezuelanus (Amphipoda: Hadziidae), have been reported, and they were described from specimens collected in a cave not yet officially record- ed by professional speleologists in Falcon state, specifically in the Mallorquines karst (Botosaneanu’s Cave, Morrocoy peninsula). These two species are the only representatives of their respective groups in South America and they were the result of the 1982 Amsterdam Expedition to the Venezuelan Islands and other localities on the mainland (Romero, Anartia, 2019).
2.3 GYPSUM CAVES ▸ open gypsum karsts are found mainly in arid and semiarid environments, and where fairly thick gypsum units were surrounded by impervious sequences prior to exposure. The best documented examples of caves formed in open karst type are in Central Apennines and Sicily in Italy (Neogene gypsum), in Sorbas (Neogene gypsum) and Vallada (Triassic gypsum) regions in Spain, in New Mexico and in Oklahoma, USA (Permian gypsum), and in the Pinega region of Russia (Permian gypsum). They include the longest gypsum caves of this type Kulogorskaja-Troja (Pinega; 16.4 km long), Jester Cave (Oklahoma, 11.8 km long), SpipolaAquafredda (Central Apennines; 11 km long and 118m deep; Fig. 2D), the Gueva de Aqua (Sorbas; 9.1 km long), and the deepest gypsum cave in the world Tunel dels Sumidors (Vallada; 210m deep). Other significant gypsum caves of this type are explored in the Diebel Nador and Oranais areas in eastern and western Algeria, in the Ar Rabitat/Bir area in northwest Libya, in central and northern Somalia, in some mountain areas in the northern Caucasus in Russia, and in Central Asia in Tajikistan (White & Culver, Enciclopedia of Caves, 2019, 3th edition).
2.3 LAVA TUBES ▸ lava tube, or pyroduct, is a natural conduit formed by flowing lava from a volcanic vent that moves beneath the hardened surface of a lava flow. If lava in the tube empties, it will leave a cave. The most notable listing of lava tubes around the world is proposed by Wikipedia (SEE), which lists 51 systems in 19 countries. In the New World, they only occur in U.S.A. (19, Washington to New Mexico and Hawaii). The largest worldwide is Corona lava tube in Lanzarote, Canary Is., Spain (LEICA).
3. RELATE TO CLIMATE
3.1 SNOW WINTERS/BLIZZARDS ▸ as a tropical country, Brazil does not have severe winters, with regular temperatures that are always positive, with negative national records almost never lasting more than 24 hours; blizzards are also very rare. In addition to tropicality, the fact that the Southern Hemisphere is more covered by oceans makes the existence of such winters, and the landscapes and phenomena associated with them, difficult.
WINTER COVERAGE THROUGHOUT THE YEAR, HIGHLIGHTING WHERE THE RIGOROUS WINTER ADVANCES IN THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE
3.2 HURRICANES ▸ because the South Atlantic basin is generally not a favorable environment for their development, Brazil has only rarely experienced tropical cyclones. The country's coastal population centers are considered less burdened with the need to prepare for cyclones, as are cities at similar latitudes in the United States and Asia. Historical Hurricane Tracks list over 13,000 storms since 1832, 582 hurricanes of category 2 or more (H2-5) in North Atlantic Ocean Basin, 196 H2-5 in Mexico (in both of coasts), 200 H5 in E Asia, 24 H5 in E Pacific category 5 (only four inland Mexico).
HISTORIC SERIES OF HURRICANES, AND IMAGE OF HURRICANE CATARINA, UNIQUE IN THE HISTORY OF BRAZIL
4. RELATED TO LATITUDINAL POSITION
4.1 MIDNIGHT SUN ▸ the midnight sun is a natural phenomenon that occurs in the summer months in places north of the Arctic Circle or south of the Antarctic Circle, when the Sun remains visible at the local midnight. When the midnight sun is seen in the Arctic, the Sun appears to move from left to right, but in Antarctica the equivalent apparent motion is from right to left. This occurs at latitudes from 65°44' to 90° north or south, and does not stop exactly at the Arctic Circle or the Antarctic Circle, due to refraction; the opposite phenomenon, polar night, occurs in winter, when the Sun stays below the horizon throughout the day (Wikipedia).
ARTIC COUNTRIES, WHERE THE MIDNIGHT SUN OCCURS
4.2 AURORAS ▸also commonly known as the polar lights,[c] is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly seen in high-latitude regions (around the Arctic and Antarctic). Auroras display dynamic patterns of brilliant lights that appear as curtains, rays, spirals, or dynamic flickers covering the entire sky; aurora australis is visible from high southern latitudes in Antarctica, Chile, Argentina, South Africa, New Zealand, and Australia. The aurora borealis is visible from being close to the center of the Arctic Circle such as Alaska, Canada, Iceland, Greenland, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia. On rare occasions the aurora borealis can be seen further south, for example in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Scotland, Ireland, Denmark, and the northern part of the contiguous United States (Wikipedia).
5. RELATED TO DRY CLIMATES
5.1 ROCKY/GLACIAL/SAND DESERTS ▸ a desert is a barren area of landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About one-third of the land surface of the Earth is arid or semi-arid; this includes much of the polar regions, where little precipitation occurs, and which are sometimes called polar deserts or 'cold deserts'. Deserts can be classified by the amount of precipitation that falls, by the temperature that prevails, by the causes of desertification or by their geographical location (Wikipedia); oasis, salt flats and sandstorms are some elements associated with deserts.
NON POLAR DESERTS IN WORLD
6. RELATED TO RELIEF RANGE
6.1 HIGH LANDS ▸Brazil has a low average altitude, of only 320m on average; in the country the level 1 highlands (above 1000m) stand out only to the east of the country and isolated points to the north (Brazil in X-Ray/Location and Nature), and in the Americas there is more area at this level Canada, USA, Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and Argentina; in level 3 high areas, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Panama have only the highest peak regions; Canada and Venezuela more consistent regions; Colombia and Ecuador more sustained regions; Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina large areas, supporting true highlands; for an interactive map of altitude around the world, see Flood Map.
6.2 ABSOLUTE DEPRESSIONS ▸ dozens of land areas of the Earth sit below current sea level, in 33 countries; the lowest land area is the shoreline of the Dead Sea Depression in Israel, Jordan and Syria; it is approximately 413m below sea level; the largest below-sea-level depression by surface area is the Caspian Depression of Kazakhstan and Russia with 200,000 km² of land below sea level (geology.com); in New World absolute depressions are: Lousiana region (-4m), Death Valley in E California (-85,5m), Salton Trough in S California (-69m), Laguna Salada in NW Mexico (-10m), Lake Enriquillo in Dominica Republic (-45m), small places in Lagunillas Municipality, Zulia, Venezuela (up -12m), three places in Piura and Lambayeque Departaments (up -34m), Peru; and areas in coast of Argentina (up -105m). For Argentina provinces, see Wikiwand. Five subjects has areas below sea level (Buenos Aires, Chubut, La Pampa, Rio Negro and Buenos Aires city).
AMERICA LATINA'S NOTES FOR RELIEF, EXCLUDING SURINAME COAST
6.3 ENDORHEIC BASINS ▸ endorheic basins, whose fluvial flow does not flow to the oceans, are typical of continental depressions, and quite common in Eurasia, Africa and Australia. In the Americas there are nine large clusters systems: two in Canada, three systems in the US and Canada, one cluster in Mexico, one in Guatemala, a large system between Peru and NW Argentina, one in Venezuela, and two small systems exclusive to Argentina (Wikipedia). There is no mention of endorheic basins in Brazil.
ENDORHEIC BASINS WORLDWIDE, CENTERED IN EURASIA AND AFRICA, ALSO IN AUSTRALIA, NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA
7. LARGE LAKES
There are 13 huge lakes in World simultaneously with more than 8,300 km² in area and 850 km³ in volume (Wikipedia), being 4 in Great Lakes (Superior, Michigan, Huron, Ontario), 3 in African Lakes (Tanganika, Malawi and Victoria), two in NW Canadá (Great Bear, Grat Slave), two in Eurasia (Caspian, the larger in both aspects, and Baikal), one in South America (Titicaca, the smaller of all huge laks in both aspects) and one in Antartida (Vostok). Brazil lakes are all very small, not deep and few volumous; superlatives text is available in Brazil: Location, Area and Physical Notes (SEE).
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| THE 13 HUGE LAKES WORLDWIDE EXCEPT VOSTOK LAKE IN ANTARTIDA, WITH MAP IN REAL SCALE |
8. RELATED TO COASTAL CONTOUR AND POSITION
8.1 PENINSULAS ▸ a peninsula is a landform that extends from a mainland and is surrounded by water on most, but not all of its borders; a peninsula is also sometimes defined as a piece of land bordered by water on three of its sides; peninsulas exist on all continents; the size of a peninsula can range from tiny to very large. The largest peninsula in the world is the Arabian Peninsula (Wikipedia).
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| LARGEST AND MOST CLASSICAL PENINSULAS WORLDWIDE |
8.2 GULFS AND SEAS ▸ here is no clear definition of what is bay, gulf or sea; in this way, there are bays larger than seas, lakes called sea, gulfs more open than coasts that do not take any special name, assigned to classical, media or historical names. On the map below we highlight all the major maritime bodies in these categories, with the notable highlight that there are almost none of these in South America.
SOME CLASSIC GULFS, BAYS AND SEAS WORLDWIDE
8.3 DOUBLE OCEANIC COAST ▸ by Wikipedia (SEE), worlwide only Russia, U.S.A. and Canada has three coasts, both with Arctic, Pacific and Atlantic Ocean [1]; Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama and Colombia are all Spanic countries with coasts in Pacific and in Atlantic [2]. South Africa, Chile, Argentina and Australia are tip-countries with two coasts [3]; Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and East Timor are provusely mixed with coasts between Indian and Pacific Ocean [4]; Egypt and Israel are Mediterranean/Red Sea coas countires [5]; Norway, Iceland and Greenland are Artic/Atlantic countries [6].xyz
WORLD'S OCEANS AND COUNTRIES WITH 2 OR MORE COASTS
9. RELATED TO ANIMAL MIGRATIONS ▸ monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus, Nymphalidae) has the longest migration trajectory of any insect; every November, the forest located between the Mexican states of Michoacan and Estado de Mexico is covered in fluttering orange, black, and white insects; as part of their migration cycle, monarch butterflies fly around 2,800 miles from Canada and the United States to spend the coldest months of the year in warmer lands. Brazil no has none massive migration of insects (Travel Leisure).
DETAILS FOR MONARCH BUTTERFLY MIGRATION
