Venezuelan Andes can be divided in two sections: They have a common geological origin, which dates back to the Eocene period of the early Tertiary era, about 40-50 million years ago, coincides with the beginning of the contact of the three tectonic plates (Nazca, Caribbean and South American) that began their orographic rise.

A northwest-southwest oriented direction of compression produces vertical and horizontal deformation components, with the formation of thrusts align the Andean borders, and strike-slip faults.

The split of Venezuelan Andes apparently began in the Late Eocene, and its present height was probably attained before the Quaternary.

The glaciated area in Cordillera de Mérida during the Last Glacial Maximum was approximately 600 km2[6][7][8][9] In the Sierra de Perijá, the existence of moraines has been mentioned at altitudes between 2,700 and 3,100 m. In the absence of more detailed data, these have been tentatively assigned to the Late Stade of the Mérida glaciation.

[10] Evidence of Late Holocene morainic sedimentation are based on palynological and radiocarbon analyses, which established a cold phase between the 15th and middle-19th centuries, which can be correlate with the Little Ice Age.