Cerro Sarisariñama

Cerro Sarisariñama is a sandstone table mountain in Venezuela’s Guiana Highlands. Its summit plateau contains enormous, steep-sided sinkholes, including Sima Humboldt and Sima Martel.

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Sima Humboldt: A giant sinkhole on Cerro Sarisariñama’s summit plateau, named for Alexander von Humboldt. This exceptionally large pit is the mountain’s best-known sinkhole.
Karst: Terrain shaped by the dissolution of soluble rock, commonly producing caves, sinkholes, and underground drainage. The summit pits resemble karst sinkholes, though Sarisariñama’s sandstone setting differs from classic limestone karst.
Mount Roraima: A prominent tepui on the border of Venezuela, Guyana, and Brazil. Its flat summit and sandstone cliffs make it a well-known regional counterpart.
Tepui biogeography: The study of species distributions and evolutionary patterns across isolated tepui summits. Sarisariñama’s separated plateau raises questions about how summit species arrived and diversified.
Sima Martel: A major sinkhole on Cerro Sarisariñama’s summit plateau, named for French speleologist Édouard-Alfred Martel. It is another enormous summit pit, distinct from Sima Humboldt.
Pseudokarst: Cave and sinkhole terrain that resembles karst but forms without the dissolution of soluble rock. This framework helps explain sinkholes in sandstone, where mechanical erosion can dominate.
Auyán-tepui: A large tepui in Venezuela’s Canaima National Park, containing Angel Falls. It shows how isolated table mountains can host striking landforms and habitats.
Island biogeography: The study of how habitat area and isolation shape species richness and extinction. An isolated tepui summit can function like an ecological island.
Sarisariñama tepui forests: Forests growing on the isolated plateau of Cerro Sarisariñama in southeastern Venezuela. The plateau’s sinkholes and isolation shape these unusual forest habitats.
Sandstone: A sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized mineral or rock grains cemented together. The mountain’s sandstone geology governs how its plateau weathers and collapses.