The Andes Mountain range runs along the western margin of South America for ~7500 km, from the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, next to the Caribbean Sea, to Cape Horn, at the southern tip of the continent. Based on structural differences, the Northern Andes (11ºN-1ºS), Central Andes (1º-47ºS) and Southern Andes (47º-68ºS) have been differentiated. In the Central Andes the mountain range is divided into Western and Eastern Andes, between which the Altiplano, a plateau of 300x500 km and 3800- 4900 m surrounded by peaks that reach 6000 m in altitude. Only the Himalayas and Tibet are higher and larger than Andes-Altiplano. Glaciers are preserved on many peaks of the Andes, and on their slopes, there are moraines revealing a much larger glacial extent in the past. Today, in the deglaciated areas there are extensive periglacial landscapes. However, the extent to which altitude and latitude...