which geographic feature lies east of the andes mountains
Andes The Andes are a Mesozoicâ€“Tertiary orogenic belt of mountains along the Pacific Ring of Fire, a zone of volcanic activity that encompasses the Pacific rim of the Americas as well as the Asia-Pacific region. The Andes are the result of plate tectonics processes, caused by the subduction of oceanic crust beneath the South American Plate. The main cause of the rise of the Andes is the compression of the western rim of the South American Plate due to the subduction of the Nazca Plate and the Antarctic Plate. To the east, the Andes range is bounded by several sedimentary basins, such as Orinoco, Amazon Basin, Madre de Dios and Gran Chaco, that separate the Andes from the ancient cratons in eastern South America. In the south, the Andes share a long boundary with the former Patagonia Terrane. To the west, the Andes end at the Pacific Ocean, although the Peru-Chile trench can be considered their ultimate western limit. From a geographical approach, the Andes are considered to have their western boundaries marked by the appearance of coastal lowlands and a less rugged topography. The Andes Mountains also contain large quantities of iron ore located in many mountains within the range.
Climate of Argentina Although the centre and the eastern parts of the country are mostly flat, the west is mountainous.[2] Both the Andes and Sierras Pampeanas affect the climate of Argentina, leading to differences in temperature, pressure, and spatial distribution of precipitation depending on the topography and altitude.[12]:8 Here, the Andes exert an important influence on the climate.[12]:7 Owing to the higher altitudes of the Andes north of 40oS, they completely block the normal westerly flow, preventing low pressure systems containing moisture from the Pacific Ocean from coming in.[13][12]:7[14] Thus, much of Argentina north of 40oS is dominated by wind circulation patterns from the South Atlantic High.[13][14] South of 40oS, the Andes are lower in altitude, allowing much of Patagonia to be dominated by westerly winds and air masses from the Pacific Ocean.[13][14] However, the north–south orientation of the Andes creates a barrier for humid air masses originating from the Pacific Ocean.[15][16] This is because they force these air masses upwards, cooling adiabactically.[13][15][16] Most of the moisture is dropped on the Chilean side, causing abundant precipitation and cloudiness while on the Argentine side, the air warms adiabatically, causing it to become drier as it descends.[15][16] Thus, an extensive rain–shadow is present in much of Patagonia, causing it to receive very little precipitation.[13][15][16] The Sierras Pampeanas influences the climate on a much smaller scale than the Andes.[12]:7–8