Auyán-tepui (Spanish pronunciation:[awˈʝanteˈpuj]), also spelled Ayan,[3] is a tepuiinBolívar state, Venezuela.[1] It is the most visited and one of the largest (but not the highest) tepuis in the Guiana Highlands, with a summit area of 666.9 km2 (257.5 sq mi) and an estimated slope area of 715 km2 (276 sq mi).[1]
The unevenly heart-shaped summit plateau of Auyán-tepui is heavily inclined, rising from around 1,600 metres (5,200 ft) in the northwest to a maximum of 2,450 m (8,040 ft) in the southeast.[1] It is incised from the north by a vast valley, the Cañón del Diablo (Devil's Canyon), formed by the Churún River. The larger western portion of the plateau is partially forested, whereas the eastern part comprises mostly bare rock with only patchy vegetation cover.[1] The mountain hosts a number of extensive cave systems.[4][5]
Auyán-tepui gives its name to the Auyán Massif, which also includes the tiny peaks of Cerro El Sol and Cerro La Luna to the north and the satellite mountain of Uaipán-tepui to the south. The massif has a total summit area of roughly 670 km2 (260 sq mi) and an estimated slope area of 795 km2 (307 sq mi).[1] It is situated entirely within the bounds of Canaima National Park.[6] Auyán-tepui means "Devil's House" in the local Pemón language.[7]
Angel Falls, the tallest waterfall in the world, drops from a cleft near the summit. The falls are 979 meters (3,212 ft) high, with an uninterrupted descent of 807 meters (2,648 ft)[8] — a drop nineteen times higher than that of Niagara Falls.
Auyán-tepui achieved international fame in 1933 when Angel Falls was accidentally discovered by Jimmie Angel, a bush pilot searching for gold ore. Attempting to land on the heart-shaped mesa in 1937, Angel crashed his small Flamingo plane on top of Auyán-tepui and was forced to hike down the gradually sloping backside, a trip that took him and his crew 11 days to complete; he was immortalised when the waterfall was named after him.[7]
^Piccini, L. & M. Mecchia (1 May 2009). Solution weathering rate and origin of karst landforms and caves in the quartzite of Auyan-tepui (Gran Sabana, Venezuela). Geomorphology106(1–2): 15–25. doi:10.1016/j.geomorph.2008.09.019
^ abAngel, K. (2001) [revised 2009, 2010]. "The Truth about Jimmie Angel and Angel Falls"(PDF). Alexander von Humboldt International Conference 2001, Humboldt State University, Arcata, California.
^Myers, C.W. & M.A. Donnelly (March 2008). The summit herpetofauna of Auyantepui, Venezuela: report from the Robert G. Goelet American Museum–Terramar Expedition. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History308: 1–147. doi:10.1206/308.1
^Myers, C.W., G.R. Fuenmayor & R.C. Jadin (August 2009). New species of lizards from Auyantepui and La Escalera in the Venezuelan Guayana, with notes on "microteiid" hemipenes (Squamata: Gymnophthalmidae). American Museum Novitates, no. 3660: 1–31. doi:10.1206/657.1
^(in Spanish) Lentino, M., L. Pérez, G. Barrowclough & P. Sweet (1999) ['1998']. Notas sobre las aves de la cima del Auyantepuy. Acta Terramaris11: 1–12.
^Gleason, H.A. & E.P. Killip (October 1938). The flora of Mount Auyan-tepui, Venezuela. Brittonia3(2): 141–204. doi:10.2307/2804811
De Marmels, J. (1983). The Odonata of the region of Mount Auyantepui and the Sierra de Lema, in Venezuelan Guyana. 3. Additions to the families Gomphidae, Aeshnidae and Corduliidae, with description of Progomphus racenisi spec. nov.. Odonatologica12(1): 1–13.
De Marmels, J. (1994). Sympetrum chaconi spec. nov. from Auyan-Tepui, Venezuela, with notes on a pantepuyan form of Tramea binotata (Rambur) (Anisoptera: Libellulidae). Odonatologica23(4): 405–412.
(in Spanish) Delascio Chitty, F. (1997). Apuntes sobre la vegetación del Auyantepui. Acta Terramaris10: 27–42.
Dunsterville, G.C.K. (August 1964). Auyantepui, home of fifty million orchids. American Orchid Society Bulletin 1964: 678–689.
Dunsterville, G.C.K. (1965). Auyantepui. Boletín de la Sociedad Venezolana de Ciencias Naturales26(109): 163–171.
Dunsterville, G.C.K. & E. Dunsterville (1982). Auyán-tepui: reminiscences of an orchid search. In: J. Arditti (ed.) Orchid Biology: Reviews and Perspectives, II. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York. pp. 19–38.
(in Spanish) Huber, O. (1976). Observaciones climatológicas sobre la región del Auyán-tepui (Edo. Bolívar). Boletín de la Sociedad Venezolana de Ciencias Naturales32(132–133): 509–525.
(in Spanish) Maguire, B. (1957). Resultados botánicos de la expedición de la Universidad Central de Venezuela a la región Auyantepui en la Guayana venezolana, abril de 1956. 1. Una nueva especie de la familia Cyperaceae. Acta Botánica Venezuelica2(6): 43–45.
Mecchia, M. & L. Piccini (1999). Hydrogeology and SiO2 geochemistry of the Aonda Cave system (Auyantepui, Bolivar, Venezuela). Boletín Sociedad Venezolana de Espeleología33: 1–11.
Moldenke, H.N. (1957). Resultados botánicos de la expedición de la Universidad Central de Venezuela a la región Auyantepui en la Guayana venezolana, abril de 1956. 2. Three new species of the family Eriocaulaceae. Acta Botánica Venezuelica2(7): 47–50.
Myers, C.W. (1997). Preliminary remarks on the summit herpetofauna of Auyantepui, eastern Venezuela. Acta Terramaris10: 1–8.
(in Spanish) Phelps, W.H. (1938). La expedición del American Museum of Natural History al Monte Auyantepui. Boletín de la Sociedad Venezolana de Ciencias Naturales4(32): 251–265.
(in Spanish) Rácenis, J. (May–August 1968). Los odonatos de la región del Auyantepui y de la Sierra de Lema, en la Guayana Venezolana. 1. Superfamilia Agrionoidea. Memoria de la Sociedad de Ciencias Naturales La Salle28(80): 151–176.
(in Spanish) Rácenis, J. (1970). Los odonatos de la región del Auyantepui y de la Sierra de Lema, en la Guayana Venezolana. 2. Las familias Gomphidae, Aeshnidae y Corduliidae. Acta Biologica Venezuelica7(1): 23–39.
(in Spanish) Roze, J.A. (1958). Los reptiles del Auyantepui, Venezuela, basándose en las colecciones de las expediciones de Phelps-Tate, del American Museum of Natural History, 1937–1938, y de la Universidad Central de Venezuela, 1956. Acta Biologica Venezuelica2(22): 243–270.
(in Spanish) Señaris, J.C. (1995) ['1993']. Una nueva especie de Oreophrynella (Anura; Bufonidae) de la cima del Auyán-tepui, Estado Bolívar, Venezuela. Memoria de la Sociedad de Ciencias Naturales La Salle53(140): 177–183.
(in Spanish) Señaris, J.C. & J. Ayarzagüena (1994) ['1993']. Una nueva especie de Centrolenella (Anura: Centrolenidae) del Auyán-tepui, Edo. Bolívar, Venezuela. Memoria de la Sociedad de Ciencias Naturales La Salle53(139): 121–126.
(in Spanish) Steyermark, J.A. (1967). Flora del Auyán-tepui. Acta Botánica Venezuelica2(5–8): 5–370.
(in Spanish) Tate, G.H.H. (1938). Auyantepui: notas sobre la Expedición Phelps (Phelps Venezuelan Expedition). Boletín de la Sociedad Venezolana de Ciencias Naturales5(36): 96–125.
Tate, G.H.H. (July 1938). Auyantepui: notes on the Phelps Venezuelan Expedition. Geographical Review28(3): 452–474. doi:10.2307/209741
Vareschi, V. (1958). Resultados botánicos de la expedición de la Universidad Central de Venezuela a la región Auyantepui en la Guayana venezolana, abril de 1956. 3. Hymenophyllopsis universitatis, a new species endemic to Guayana and its relatives. Acta Biologica Venezuelica2(15): 151–162.
1 List sourced from volume 1 of Flora of the Venezuelan Guayana; includes landforms that may not strictly conform to the definition of a tepui or table mountain. 2 Poorly known sites or lower mountains treated as tepuis for historical reasons.
