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14-605: The Samalá is a river in southwestern Guatemala. Its sources are in the Sierra Madre , Valle De Écija range, in the departments of Quetzaltenango and Totonicapán . From there it flows down, past the towns San Carlos Sija in the Valle De Écija , Quetzaltenango , San Cristóbal Totonicapán , Quetzaltenango , El Palmar and Zunil , through the coastal plains of Retalhuleu into the Pacific Ocean . The Samalá river basin covers

28-584: A line well south of the range, where over twenty volcanoes form five clusters. Between the Sierra Madre and the Volcanic line lies a central plateau. Volc%C3%A1n Atitl%C3%A1n Volcán Atitlán ( Spanish pronunciation: [atiˈtlan] ) is a large, conical, active stratovolcano adjacent to the caldera of Lake Atitlán in the Guatemalan Highlands of the Sierra Madre de Chiapas range. It

42-495: A territory of 1,510 km² (580 sq ml) and has a population of around 0.4 million people. Its proximity to the active Santa Maria and Santiaguito volcano complex, with its recurring lava and lahars flows, leads to a heightened risk of serious flooding. This article related to a river in Guatemala is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Sierra Madre de Chiapas The range runs northwest–southeast from

56-559: A way through the Sierra Madre at the bottom of deep ravines. On the eastern side a number of the rivers of the Atlantic slopes attain a considerable volume and size. The Sierra Madre moist forests ecoregion covers the southern slopes of the mountains. The mountains intercept winds from the Pacific, creating fog, clouds, and orographic precipitation that sustain the ecoregion's cloud forests. The Central American pine–oak forests ecoregion covers

70-681: Is within the Sololá Department , in southwestern Guatemala . The volcano has been quite active historically, with more than a dozen eruptions recorded between 1469 and 1853, the date of its most recent eruption. Atitlán is part of the Central American Volcanic Arc . The arc is a chain of volcanoes stretching along Central America formed by subduction of the Cocos Plate underneath the Caribbean Plate . These volcanoes are part of

84-449: The Ring of Fire around the Pacific Ocean . Volcán Atitlán is a few miles south of Volcán Tolimán , which rises from the southern shore of Lake Atitlán. Volcán San Pedro rises above Lake Atitlán northwest of Volcán Atitlán. A long narrow bay separates Volcán Atitlán and Volcán Toliman from Volcán San Pedro. Atitlán is home to two particularly rare and beautiful birds that are endemic to

98-407: The cloud forests of this region. The horned guan ( Oreophasis derbianus ) is a Pleistocene relic of the family Cracidae that persists today only in small fragments of its previous range. Its habitat is limited to cloud forests above approximately 1,650 metres (5,410 ft). This bird is the size of a turkey and the adult male has a one-inch scarlet-colored "horn" projecting straight up from

112-493: The Mexican frontier, but has a more southerly trend, especially towards El Salvador. The base of many of the volcanic igneous peaks rests among the southern foothills in the southern region of the range. It is, however, impossible to subdivide the Sierra Madre into a northern and a volcanic chain; for the volcanoes are isolated by stretches of comparatively low country; at least thirteen considerable streams flow down through them, from

126-533: The Sierra Madre from the Chiapas Plateau , the Guatemalan Highlands , and Honduras' interior highlands. The range forms the main drainage divide between the Pacific and Atlantic river systems. On the Pacific side the distance to the sea is short, and the streams, while very numerous, are consequently small and rapid. A few of the streams of the Pacific slopes rise in the Guatemalan Highlands , and force

140-448: The Sierra's high peaks and northern slopes. It is known near Guatemala city as the Sierra de las Nubes, and enters Mexico as the Sierra de Istatan. Its summit is not a well-defined crest, but is often rounded or flattened into a table-land. The direction of the great volcanic cones, which rise in an irregular line above it, is not identical with the main axis of the Sierra itself, except near

154-717: The main watershed to the sea. Viewed from the coast, the volcanic cones seem to rise directly from the central heights of the Sierra Madre, above which they tower; but in reality their bases are, as a rule, farther south. East of Volcán Tacana (4,092 metres) which marks the Mexican frontier, the principal volcanoes are Tajumulco (4,220 meters); Santa Maria (3,777 meters), which erupted in October 1902, after centuries of quiescence, in which its slopes had been overgrown by dense forests; Atitlan (3,557 meters), overlooking Lake Atitlan ; Acatenango (3,976 meters); Fuego (i.e. "fire," 3,763 metres), which received its name from its activity at

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168-587: The state of Chiapas in Mexico , across western Guatemala , into El Salvador and Honduras . Most of the volcanoes of Guatemala, part of the Central America Volcanic Arc , are within the range. A narrow coastal plain lies south of the range, between the Sierra Madre and the Pacific Ocean . To the north lie a series of highlands and depressions, including the Chiapas Depression, which separates

182-506: The time of the Spanish conquest; Agua (i.e. "water," 3,765 meters), so named in 1541 because it destroyed the former capital of Guatemala with a deluge of water from its flooded crater; and Pacaya (2,550 metres), a group of igneous peaks which were in eruption in 1870. East of the Guatemalan border, the range forms the boundary between El Salvador and Honduras. In El Salvador, the volcanoes form

196-465: The top of its head. The Cabanis's or azure-rumped tanager ( Tangara cabanisi ) is probably the most restricted-range species in the region. It occurs only at mid-elevations within the Sierra Madre del Sur of Chiapas, Mexico and western Guatemala. This Guatemala location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article related to a protected area in North America

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