The South American Transition Zone

The South American transition zone comprises the highlands of the Andes between western Venezuela and Chile, desert areas of coastal Peru and northern Chile, and central western Argentina (Morrone, 2004b, 2006, 2014b). It spans from sea level to 4,500 meters. It has been shaped by the uplift of the Andes in the Neogene. This rise progressed from south to north and from west to east, with two major events: one in the Middle Miocene and another at the beginning of the Pliocene (Amarilla et al., 2015).