In which countries does the Amazon River flow? Tropical Amazon River - amazing secrets of the flora and fauna of the main waterway of South America
Amazon is one of the most famous rivers peace. Everyone knows where the Amazon is - it practically crosses South America. The river received its name in 1542. It was then that the travelers were forced to engage in battle with Indian warriors led by women. The Spaniards were reminded of the female warriors - the Amazons. It is for this reason that the waterway received the name “River of the Amazons” - Rio de las Amazonas. It is likely that the warriors were not actually women, they simply wore their hair in braids, which confused the Spanish travelers.
Another version claims that the name comes from the Indian expression " big water" - Amazonas. This version is similar to the truth, only the Indians do not use this expression in the names of other rivers. Some researchers believe that "amasunu" is the name of the destructive tidal wave that occurs at the mouth of the river. This version is confirmed by the fact that the Indians This is the name of the river only in the lower reaches, but in the middle it was called Saolimoes.
The modern name of the river is Amazonas (in Russian - Amazon). Where this beautiful river is located, what its main characteristics are and what happens on its banks - all this is worth getting to know the river better.
Source
To find out where the Amazon River is, you should start by studying its source. For a long time it was not known exactly where the river’s waters originate, but now the answer to this question has been found. Apacheta Creek, flowing from the glacier of Mount Misimi, is where the river is born. It is difficult to say where the Amazon is located - in which country - because it flows through the territory of several states. However, it begins in Peru, in the Andes, at an altitude of more than 5 thousand meters.
A little below Apacheta meets the Caruasantu stream, becoming the small Loketu River. On its way, the river is replenished with water from a huge number of different streams, gradually growing into the Hornillos River. Having absorbed the waters of several more rivers, the name Apurimac is born.
After going a long way, at the highlands the stream connects with Mantaro, turning into Yene. After merging with Perene and Urubamba, the upper course of the river becomes calmer and receives the name Ucayali. Downstream, the larger and more powerful Marañon, which originates in Lake Llauricocha, joins the river.
Merging together, the rivers give birth to the one we are talking about - the Amazon.
Estuary
The answer to the question of where the mouth of the Amazon is located is very simple - in Brazil. Despite the fact that the mouth of this river is all located in one country. The area of the Amazon delta is more than 100 thousand kilometers. Two of the largest branches of the river form the largest island, which is surrounded by fresh water - Marajo. The mouth of the Amazon is a fifth of the fresh water of the entire planet.
When observing the river from space, the flow of water that the Amazon gives to the ocean can be discerned almost 400 kilometers from the shore.
River mode
The main reservoir of fresh water on the planet is the Amazon. Where is its source, where does the river get such a huge amount of water? The river gets its food from large quantity tributaries Besides, humid climate gives a large influx of water due to precipitation. Upstream The river is fed by melting snow in the Andes.
The river regime is complex and interesting. Wherever the Amazon is located, you can see a deep river all year round. Tributaries on opposite sides of the river have different flood times. This is explained by the fact that tributaries from the right bank are in the Southern Hemisphere, and from the left - in the Northern Hemisphere. For this reason, floods near the right-bank tributaries occur in October - March, and near the left-bank tributaries - in April - October. The result of these floods is a smoothing of the flow.
The lower reaches of the Amazon River, where its source is located, are largely dependent on ocean tides. The tidal wave rises almost one and a half kilometers upstream. When the water rises, huge areas along the banks of the river are flooded - this is the largest flood. The width of the floodplain can reach 100 kilometers.
Where does it leak
It has long been known where the Amazon River is located - it flows mostly in Brazil, but some parts of the basin include parts of Colombia, Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador.
In the middle course, at an altitude of 3.5 thousand meters above sea level, the river runs along picturesque banks rain forests. There are frequent waterfalls in this area, and the current is stormy, because the river has to make its way through a mountain range. Having descended from the mountain slopes, the Amazon spreads across tropical jungle, across the wide
The river flows along the equator, practically without changing direction from west to east. It is curious that at a depth of 4 thousand meters an underground river flows underneath, feeding groundwater- Hamza.
Navigability
The main channel remains navigable all the way to the foot of the Andes, which is more than 4 thousand kilometers from the source. Ocean-going ships can go as far as the city of Manaus, located just 1,690 kilometers from the mouth. Average length of all waterways is 25 thousand kilometers.
Closer to the source, the width of the Amazon reaches 15 kilometers - here you can’t even see the opposite bank.
Animal world
The Amazon, home to many plants, is home to a huge number of fish and animals. Thanks to severe water spills, aquatic inhabitants are far from the last place in the huge list of animals in the Amazon. During major floods, you can observe a unique spectacle - entire islands float along the river with many species of plants and animals that did not have time to escape.
One of the most famous fish Amazons - piranha. This fish can sense blood from a great distance. Having learned that there is prey, the flock rushes towards the target with great speed. These predators, in the process of chasing, go so far as to rush at each other. Even the largest animal that falls into the water has no chance of saving its life - piranhas cope with the task in minutes.
The Amazon is home to a large number of unique fish and animals that cannot be found anywhere else on the planet. Scientists all over the world are studying the banks of the river, but it is still impossible to say what about the river, its animals and flora everything is known - the dense forests of the Amazon banks are very difficult to study.
Extending into neighboring countries. Amazon is the world's largest river in terms of basin area (7.2 million km²) and full flow.
The Amazon originates in the south, in a mountainous area, at an altitude of almost 5000 m. The sources merge into, flowing with, changing its name and becoming Ene, connects with Tambo, then with, the current, in turn, merges with, which is further south, there , in fact, this is where the famous Amazon begins. The river here is navigable, it is suitable for moving medium-sized ships, in some places the width reaches 30 km, and the depth is 30 m. The Amazon is replenished with water from an area equal in size to Australia. Covering a distance of 3700 km from west to east northern regions Brazil, the river, flowing into the Atlantic Ocean, forms the largest internal delta on the planet (more than 100 thousand km²) and branches-mouths covering the big one (port. Ilha do Marajó).
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Excursion into history
As legends say, the river received its name more than 500 years ago from the Spanish conquistadors, who made an expedition into the deep forests of the great river, from where they returned greatly impressed by the naked warlike Indian girls who fought alongside men and were armed with bows and arrows. The brave and fearless warriors who amazed the Spaniards were reminiscent of the mythical Amazons from Greek legends, and thanks to them the river got its name.
The longest river on the planet
The Amazon, until now officially considered the deepest river in the world, but recognized as second in length after the Egyptian Nile, according to the Brazilian INPE (National Center for Space Research), it is the longest river on the planet!
The Center's experts studied the waterway of the South American continent using satellite data. Researchers have solved one of the outstanding geographical mysteries by revealing the place where a river flowing through Peru and Brazil originates before flowing into the Atlantic Ocean: this point is located in the mountainous Andes region in southern Peru, at an altitude of 5 thousand meters.
According to today's data, the length of the Amazon is 6992.06 km. (compare: the length of the African Nile is 6852.15 km). That is, the South American Amazon is the deepest and longest river in the world!
The Amazon River with all its tributaries accounts for 20% of all fresh water on Earth. Of the twenty longest rivers on the planet, 10 rivers flow in the Amazon basin.
The Amazon is a special, unique ecosystem, the second of its kind. globe No. A huge variety of diverse fish and the Amazon form a real “underwater jungle”: there are more than 3,000 species of fish alone (this is 10 times more than in all of Europe).
Photo of Amazon from International Space Station(ISS)
Other Amazon records
- During the dry season, the river reaches a width of up to 11 km, covering 110 thousand km² with water, and during the rainy season it swells 3 times, covering 350 thousand km² and spreading to a width of more than 40 kilometers.
- The mouth of the river is also one of the achievements of the Amazon: it is the largest delta on the globe, up to 325 km wide. The river is navigable for 2/3 of its entire length.
- With all its tributaries, the river forms a grandiose water system with a length of more than 25 thousand kilometers! The main channel of the greatest river is navigable for 4,300 km, and ocean liners from the mouth can rise almost 1,700 km - up to.
- The Amazon basin extends from the Andes to the coast Atlantic Ocean, from which the river is replenished with water, reaches 7.2 million km², which is only slightly less than the area of Australia. Taking into account all the tributaries, the Amazon owns 1/4 of all the running water on our planet!
- According to the observations of the astronauts, the river continues its flow in the waters of the Atlantic Ocean, which differs from the shore at a distance of about 400 km. In its lower reaches, the Amazon overflows 150 km in some places, and about 230 km in its funnel-shaped mouth. If you climb 4 thousand km up the river, the width of its main channel ranges from 2 to 4 km, the depth reaches 150 m, and the flow speed is 10 - 15 km/h.
- Only in the Amazon can one observe a unique natural phenomenon - sharp rises of water in the river under the influence of the ocean tide, when a huge water shaft 4-5 m high (““) rushes up the river with a terrifying roar, sometimes reaching places located 1400 km away from the ocean shore.
- Some tributaries of the river carry the purest water from the majestic, snow-capped peaks of the Andes, others - muddy moisture from the slopes of the hills, and still others - clear, the color of strong tea, water from numerous swamps.
The Amazon is one of the largest rivers on the globe. At the same time, its river basin is one of the least studied on Earth. There are still places in the Amazon where no human has ever set foot. In this article you will find a brief overview of the Amazon, and also learn about the main stages of its economic development.
Amazon River: characteristics, description (brief)
Most notable natural object all South America, of course, is the Amazon River. The pool area of this huge water artery planets - about 7.2 million km 2. This territory, full of so-called “white spots”, is usually called in one word - Amazonia. Of course, deservedly so, Amazon was included in the list of seven in 2011 natural wonders of our planet.
The Amazon territory is divided among eight countries: Brazil (about 65%), Colombia, Bolivia, Peru, Venezuela, Suriname, Guyana and Ecuador. The Amazon river system is located in equatorial and subequatorial latitudes, and the river itself flows from west to east, where it flows into the Atlantic Ocean, forming a vast delta. The size of this delta is comparable in area to a European state like Bulgaria!
The Amazon river system is very well developed due to its abundant rainfall. On its way, the river receives many tributaries, the largest of which are the Jurua, Madeira, Topajos, Tocantis, Isa and Rio Negro.
About the scale of this river system can be judged by such an indicator as the average annual flow. For the Amazon River, it is over 7 thousand km 3 of water (which is approximately equal to 15% of the entire planet).
The Amazon is navigable 4,300 kilometers upstream. The main ports on the river are Santarem, Obidus, Iquitos, and Manaus.
Scientists made an amazing discovery in 2011. The fact is that under the Amazon basin flows the largest underground river in the world, four kilometers long. It was named Hamza, after the Indian scientist who discovered the miracle river.
Most of the Amazon is occupied by jungle. This is a unique natural ecosystem consisting of humid rain forests. The selva is characterized by very high air humidity, a large species diversity of plants, high swampiness and acidic, very poor soils. It is through such territories that the South American Amazon River flows.
Economic use rivers - what is it like today? And how was the Amazon developed by humans throughout history? This will be discussed further.
Amazon: economic use of the river
The Amazon is often called the "green lungs" of the planet. How did the development of this region take place and at what level is the economic use of the Amazon carried out today?
The first attempts to develop this region were made by Brazil. In general, three main historical stages can be distinguished that marked the economic use of the Amazon River.
The first stage can be conditionally called “rubber”. It began at the end of the 19th century and continued until the 20s of the 20th century, when the “rubber boom” on the continent began to decline. At that time, rubber confidently occupied the second position in the structure of Brazilian exports (after coffee).
The second stage of the development of the Amazon began in the 60s of the twentieth century and was distinguished by its scale and systematic nature. The economic use of the Amazon River at this time was completely regulated by the state, and the project itself even received its name “Operation Amazon”. It included the comprehensive agricultural development of the region, the creation of transport infrastructure, and, as a result, the mass settlement of this territory.
The third stage of development of the Amazon begins in the 80s of the twentieth century. It can be called "mineral raw material". During this period, quarries and raw material processing plants open in the river basin, and the development of oil fields begins.
Environmental problems in the Amazon
The economic use of the Amazon River could not but entail certain environmental problems. The most acute among them are the following:
- soil degradation and erosion;
- uncontrolled;
- destruction of rare and endangered species of flora and fauna of the Brazilian jungle;
- contamination of soil and water with heavy metals, etc.
One way or another, all these problems are closely interconnected and require an integrated approach to solving them.
Finally
The Amazon river system covers over 7 million square kilometers of territory, being the largest river in the world. The economic use of the Amazon River today is not so great, but even such insignificant human influence provokes a number of acute environmental problems.
The Amazon (port. Amazonas) is a river in South America, the largest in the world in terms of basin size, full flow and length of the river system. Formed by the confluence of the Marañon and Ucayali rivers. The length of Marañon from the source is 6400 km, Ucayali is over 7000 km. The Amazon is also fed by numerous tributaries; about 20 of them are more than 1500 km long. The most significant tributaries: on the right - Jurua, Purus, Madeira, Tapajos, Xingu, Tocantins; on the left - Isa, Japura, Rio Negru.
Together with its tributaries, the Amazon forms a system of inland waterways with a total length of more than 25 thousand km. The Amazon is a deep-sea river. At the point where it flows into the ocean, its depth reaches 100 meters and very slowly decreases its value upstream. Even at a distance of 3000 km from the mouth, the water thickness reaches 20 meters, so for ocean-going ships, the waters of this river are their home. The last river port accepting sea vessels is in the city of Manaus, 1700 km away. from the mouth. River water transport darts back and forth across the Amazon over a vast distance of 4,300 km. Main ports (from bottom to top): Belem, Santarem, Obidus, Manaus (Brazil), Iquitos (Peru).
The river is located in the north of South America, begins its journey from the Andes in Peru and ends in the Atlantic Ocean in Brazil. The length of the Amazon ranges from 6259 to 6800 km according to various sources. The Amazon River and its tributaries provide 20% of all fresh water in the world. Of the 20 longest rivers in the world, 10 are in the Amazon Basin.
The Amazon was discovered by the conquistador Francisco de Orellana, the first European to cross South America in its widest part. In the summer of 1542, his squad allegedly saw a tribe of legendary Amazons and entered into battle with them. Today it is believed that these were either Indian women who fought alongside men, or squire-mistresses, or simply long-haired Indians whom the Spaniards mistook for women. Initially, de Orellana wanted to name the river after himself, but after the battle he settled on the “Amazon” option.
Most of the Amazon basin belongs to Brazil, the southwestern and western regions belong to Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia. Leaking for the most part Along the Amazon Lowland in the sublatitudinal direction near the equator, the Amazon flows into the Atlantic Ocean, forming the world's largest delta.
The Amazon River is the most water-bearing river in the world, carrying one-fifth of the world's fresh water to the ocean. The flow of water is so huge that, pouring into the Atlantic Ocean, the Amazon changes the salt composition and color of the ocean over a distance of 320 kilometers.
The abundance of the Amazon is explained by the fact that its northern and southern tributaries are in different hemispheres; Accordingly, floods occur in different times year: on the right tributaries - from October to April (summer season in the Southern Hemisphere), on the left - from April to October (summer season in the Northern Hemisphere).
During the dry season, the Amazon River reaches a width of 11 kilometers, covering 110 thousand square meters with water. km, and during the rainy season it increases three times, covering 350 thousand square meters. km and spreading over 40 km or more.
Another achievement of the Amazon is the mouth of the river, the largest delta in the world, the width of which reaches 325 km. The Amazon Delta does not protrude into the waters of the Atlantic, but, on the contrary, is shifted inland. This is most likely due to the powerful ocean tides, which constantly clash with the powerful currents of the river. In this struggle, the cosmic forces of the Moon prevail over the forces earth's surface. The sea tide begins to squeeze fresh water - drives it back into the mouth.
The result of such opposition is a huge shaft of water, which reaches a height of four meters. It rolls in a wide front upstream at a speed of 25 km/h. The height of the wave gradually decreases, the speed decreases, but this happens far from the border with the ocean. The impact of the tide is felt even more than 1000 km from the river mouth.
Here the freshwater flow is so great that it dilutes the sea salt for almost 300 km. from the mouth. This attracts many species of sharks to the river, which you don’t feed with bread, but let them flounder in fresh water. These scary predators rise upstream of the Amazon for 3500 km.
The rainy season here begins in March and lasts until May. Heavy rainfall causes river flooding. In the Amazon, the water level rises by 20 meters, flooding everything around for tens of kilometers. The flood lasts 120 days, then the river retreats to its original banks, sometimes changing its course in some places.
Flora and fauna
Essentially, the Amazon is jungle and swamps that stretch parallel to the equator, so throughout the lowlands climatic conditions almost identical. Temperature here is high and stable. The temperature stays at 25-28° Celsius all year round. Even at night, the temperature almost never drops below 20° Celsius.
The flora that lives here is only 30% studied by scientists. 25% of all medicinal substances in the world that are used in medicine are extracted from plants in the Amazon forest. 1800 species of birds, 250 different mammals, 1500 different species of fish - all this makes up the flora and fauna of the Amazon.
There are many secrets hidden in the forests: even today many major tributaries The Amazons have not been explored. Of the approximately 15,000 species of Amazonian animals, thousands of birds and fish, as well as hundreds of mammals, are unclassified. An approximate list of animal species, some known, others rare, and others on the verge of extinction, includes the jaguar, tapir, peccary, spider monkey, sloth, armadillo, Caiman crocodile, freshwater dolphin, boa, anaconda.
Forest birds include toucan, parrot, macaw, calibri, and gaviao. Among insects, there are more than 1,800 species of butterflies and over 200 species of mosquitoes. Fish such as piranha, tucunare, pyraracu, anuana, piraiba, porace (electric eel) exist in such diversity that biologists cannot identify the catch in the markets of Belem.
Hamza underground river
According to the Department of Geophysics of the Brazilian National Observatory, an underground river fed by groundwater flows in the same direction as the Amazon, but at a depth of 4 thousand meters. Its flow is estimated at 3 thousand m³/s.
The river, originating in the foothills of the Andes, is 6 thousand kilometers long and stretches from west to east to the coast of the Atlantic Ocean almost under the Amazon River basin. Given scientific discovery became public in August 2011 after a report made at a meeting of the Brazilian Geophysical Society in Rio de Janeiro. The river is unofficially named Hamza (port. Rio Hamza) in honor of the pioneering scientist Valiya Hamza (port. V. Hamza), born in India, who spent more than 45 years exploring the river.
The study found that, with the exception of flow direction, the Amazon (aboveground) and Hamza (underground) rivers have significantly different characteristics, the most obvious of which are their width and flow speed. While the width of the Amazon River varies from one to one hundred kilometers, the underground Hamza River reaches a width of 200-400 kilometers. However, the flow speed in the Amazon is five meters per second, and the speed in the underground river does not exceed 1 millimeter per second.
So, the Hamza River flows extremely slowly at a depth of about 4 thousand meters underground through porous soils parallel to the Amazon. According to preliminary calculations, the width of the Hamza reaches 400 km, and the water flow is approximately 3900 m³/s. The speed of the Hamza current is only a few meters per year. This is even slower than glaciers move, so it can be called a river rather conditionally. The Hamza flows into the Atlantic Ocean at great depths and the water of the Hamza River has high level salinity.
So, is this Great River Is the Amazon the longest river on our planet? The Brazilian National Center for Space Research (INPE) states that the Amazon is the longest river in the world. The center's experts studied the waterway flowing in the north of the South American continent using satellite data. They have solved one of geography's greatest mysteries by finding the birthplace of a river that crosses Peru, Colombia and Brazil before reaching the Atlantic Ocean. This point is located in the mountains in the south of Peru, and not in the north of the country, as previously thought. At the same time, scientists installed several satellite beacons, which greatly facilitated the task for experts from INPE. Now, according to the National Center for Space Research, the length of the Amazon is 6992.06 km, while the Nile flowing in Africa is 140 km shorter (6852.15 km). So this makes the South American river not only the deepest, but also the longest in the world. Until this moment, the Amazon was officially recognized as the deepest river, but in length it was always considered second after the Nile (Egypt).
Rivers of the Amazon Basin and deserve attention in their own right. Suffice it to say that there are 20 tributaries more than 1500 km long. The largest left tributary of the Amazon is the Rio Negro (sometimes called the Rio Negro). Translated from Spanish, Rio Negro means black river and the name is well deserved. The Rio Negro does not flow from the Andes, so there is no silt in its waters white, the waters of the river are rusty black. The river gets its color from the toxins of decaying plants.
See map of the Amazon basin.
They live in Rio Negro amazing fish. The leaf fish lives here, it is impossible to see it in the water full of rotting leaves.
But red neons, on the contrary, do not pay any attention to camouflage and become prey to predators that they do not notice.
The matamata turtle is also different from other turtles original look. I think it just needs to be seen and not described.
The local pipa toad also distinguished itself by its originality. She lays eggs directly on her back. Video of the process of “hatching” little frogs.
Of particular interest is the confluence of the Rio Negro River and the Amazon. It's like mixing black coffee and milk with cream. Locals They call this miracle of nature the wedding of waters. These two streams flow for a long time without mixing and only after 20 km. The Rio Negro finally dissolves into the Amazon. The wedding of the rivers is clearly visible from space. The Amazon also has a third type of tributaries. In addition to white rivers full of silt descending from the mountains and black rivers like the Rio Negro, clean transparent rivers such as the Xingu River also flow into the Amazon.
And this is what the wedding of the rivers looks like from space:
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The most important and large rivers The Amazon basin is: the right tributaries - Jurua, Purus, Madeira, Tapajos, Xingu, Tocantins; and the left tributaries Isa, Japura, Rio Negro.
PS: amazing animals are found not only in Rio Negro; the underwater world of the Amazon is no less interesting.
