A Glacier above Equatorial Farms

A Glacier above Equatorial Farms is an original illustration set in Avenue of the Volcanoes, Ecuador. It lies in equatorial latitudes, where the climate is oceanic — mild, wet through the year.

A massive symmetrical Andean cone rises behind a high intermontane basin, with a brilliant ice cap above a belt of cloud. Small rectangular fields, hedges, grazing plots, and clustered farmsteads climb unusually high on the lower slopes beneath dark volcanic ridges.

Why do patchwork farms climb toward a glacier almost directly on the equator?

Near the equator, intense year-round sunlight would normally suggest warmth, but temperature falls rapidly with altitude. Ecuador's high Andes therefore stack cultivated valleys, cool páramo, bare volcanic ground, and tropical ice within one view. The equatorial latitude, glacier-capped cone, and densely farmed high basin together point to the Avenue of the Volcanoes rather than a high-latitude mountain range.

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