Zapatoca (Spanish pronunciation: [sapaˈtoka]) is a town and municipality in the Santander Department in northeastern Colombia. It is at a high altitude and is a common stop between Bucaramanga and San Gil. It was built in the early 17th century by the Spanish conquistadores.
Zapatoca | |
|---|---|
Municipality and town | |
 | |
.svg) Flag  Seal | |
| Nickname: Ciudad Levitica (Levitical City | |
| Motto(s): Libertad y Orden (Liberty and Order) | |
 Location of the municipality and town of Zapatoca in the Santander Department of Colombia | |
| Country |  Colombia |
| Department | Santander Department |
| Area | |
• Total | 360 km2 (139 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 1,720 m (5,500 ft) |
| Population | |
• Total | 8,929 |
| Time zone | UTC-5 (Colombia Standard Time) |
| Website | www.zapatoca-santander.gov.co |
Climate
edit| Climate data for Zapatoca, elevation 1,810 m (5,940 ft), (1981–2010) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 23.5 (74.3) |
23.9 (75.0) |
23.8 (74.8) |
23.6 (74.5) |
23.5 (74.3) |
23.4 (74.1) |
23.4 (74.1) |
23.7 (74.7) |
23.5 (74.3) |
22.8 (73.0) |
22.6 (72.7) |
22.8 (73.0) |
23.4 (74.1) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 18.6 (65.5) |
18.8 (65.8) |
18.9 (66.0) |
19.0 (66.2) |
19.0 (66.2) |
18.9 (66.0) |
18.8 (65.8) |
18.9 (66.0) |
18.8 (65.8) |
18.4 (65.1) |
18.4 (65.1) |
18.4 (65.1) |
18.7 (65.7) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 13.9 (57.0) |
14.1 (57.4) |
14.4 (57.9) |
14.7 (58.5) |
14.8 (58.6) |
14.5 (58.1) |
14.1 (57.4) |
14.1 (57.4) |
14.1 (57.4) |
14.2 (57.6) |
14.3 (57.7) |
14.0 (57.2) |
14.3 (57.7) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 30.9 (1.22) |
38.6 (1.52) |
74.5 (2.93) |
129.0 (5.08) |
162.0 (6.38) |
109.0 (4.29) |
100.0 (3.94) |
119.4 (4.70) |
157.1 (6.19) |
175.3 (6.90) |
111.4 (4.39) |
48.9 (1.93) |
1,256.1 (49.45) |
| Average precipitation days | 7 | 8 | 11 | 16 | 19 | 16 | 16 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 16 | 9 | 169 |
| Average relative humidity (%) | 86 | 85 | 86 | 87 | 88 | 87 | 86 | 87 | 87 | 89 | 89 | 88 | 87 |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours | 201.5 | 169.4 | 167.4 | 135.0 | 142.6 | 117.0 | 173.6 | 182.9 | 162.0 | 145.7 | 144.0 | 176.7 | 1,917.8 |
| Mean daily sunshine hours | 6.5 | 6.0 | 5.4 | 4.5 | 4.6 | 3.9 | 5.6 | 5.9 | 5.4 | 4.7 | 4.8 | 5.7 | 5.3 |
| Source: Instituto de Hidrologia Meteorologia y Estudios Ambientales[1] | |||||||||||||
Paleontology
edit
Fossils of Early Cretaceous animals from the Valanginian-Hauterivian Rosablanca Formation were collected near Zapatoca.[2] Fossil material include fishes, particularly pycnodonts and hybodontiform Strophodus, ichthyosaurs, elasmosaurids.[2] Remains of turtles,[2] including Notoemys zapatocaensis,[3] possible ornithocheirid pterosaurs[4] and ammonite Saynoceras verrucosum[3][4] also known from this location. There is also a report about metriorhynchoid crocodylomorph from these deposits.[2] During the Valanginian and Hauterivian ages, here was a shallow sea where hybodontiforms and pycnodontiforms played an important trophic role as shell-crushing predators.[2]
Notable people
edit- Miguel Acuña (1788-1847), Franciscan priest and medical practitioner
- José de Jesús Pimiento Rodríguez (1919 - 2019 in Floridablanca) was a Prelate of the Catholic Church. Until his death the age of 100 he was the oldest living cardinal.
- Carlos Toledo Plata (1932 - 1984 in Bucaramanga) was a doctor, politician and co-founder and early leader of the guerrilla movement known as M-19.
References
edit- ^ "Promedios Climatológicos 1981–2010" (in Spanish). Instituto de Hidrologia Meteorologia y Estudios Ambientales. Archived from the original on 15 August 2016. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
- ^ a b c d e Carrillo-Briceño, Jorge D.; Cadena, Edwin-Alberto (2022-06-02). "A new hybodontiform shark (Strophodus Agassiz 1838) from the Lower Cretaceous (Valanginian-Hauterivian) of Colombia". PeerJ. 10: e13496. doi:10.7717/peerj.13496. ISSN 2167-8359. PMC 9167585. PMID 35673391.
- ^ a b Edwin Cadena (2020). "Valanginian occurrence of Pelomedusoides turtles in northern South America: revision of this hypothesis based on a new fossil remain". PeerJ. 8 (e9810): 1-12. doi:10.7717/peerj.9810. PMC 7450993. PMID 32904119.
- ^ a b Edwin Cadena, David M. Unwin, David M. Martill (2020). "Lower Cretaceous pterosaurs from Colombia". Cretaceous Research. 114 (3). Bibcode:2020CrRes.11404526C. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2020.104526. S2CID 224886977.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
6°49′N 73°16′W / 6.817°N 73.267°W
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