What does the Amazon River look like? The deepest rivers in the world

AMAZONKA (Amazonas), a river in South America, the largest in the world in terms of length, basin size and flow. The Indians call A. Parana Tinga (White River) and Parana Guasu (Great River). A. is formed at the confluence of the Marañon and Ucayali rivers, which originate in the Andes. Length from the source of Maranion approx. 6.4 thousand km, from the source of Ukayali - about 7.1 thousand km. Pl. basin (including the inflow basin Tocantins) 7180 thousand km 2. The main part of the basin is located in Brazil, the southwestern and western regions are in Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia. It flows mainly along the Amazonian lowland in a sublatitudinal direction near the equator, flows into the Atlantic Ocean.

The most abundant left-hand component of Africa, the Maranion River, originates on the eastern slopes of the Western Cordillera in Peru at an altitude of 4,840 m, flows in the mountains parallel to the Pacific Ocean in a deep depression, then turns east, breaks through the Andes, forming a 27-ton. pongo (rocky deep narrow gorges with almost sheer walls). After leaving the mountains, it flows through the Amazonian lowland and, merging with the Ucayali River, which approaches from the right, gives rise to the A. height up to 50 m or more; the middle stage (varzea), part of the floodplain flooded during large floods of A.; lower stage (igapo, or swamp), floodplain flooded during normal river floods. Below the confluence of the Rio Negro, the width of the floodplain is 80–100 km, near the cities of Obidos and Santarém it is slightly narrower. On the floodplain there are numerous branches, channels, lakes and oxbow lakes; along the banks there are low riverbanks. At 350 km from the ocean, A. forms the largest delta in the world (area of about 100,000 km2). The main part of the runoff passes along the northeastern branches, part of the waters - along the eastern branch of the Para; between them is the world's largest river island - Marazho (area 48 thousand km 2).

A. collects water from 40% of the area of South America, receiving more than 500 large tributaries, 17 of which are 1600–3500 km long. Main tributaries: Zhurua, Purus, Madeira, Tapajos, Xingu, Tocantins (right); Napo, Isa, Japura, Rio Negro (left). The tributaries of the Madeira, Rio Negro and Japura. The width of the river after the confluence of Maranyon with Ucayali is about 2 km, in the middle reaches up to 5 km, in the lower reaches up to 20 km, before the mouth 80–150 km; the depth of the channel in the middle reaches is about 70 m; near the town of Obidos it is up to 135 m; at the mouth it is 15–45 m. ), greenish (Tapajos River); there are tributaries with yellow, gray and even reddish water color. A. is the only river in the world with such an abundance of colored waters. The main source of moisture in the Amazon is precipitation brought by air masses from the Atlantic. In the zone of tropical rainforests that cover the A. basin, an average of up to 2000 mm of precipitation falls annually, at the mouth and in the northwest of the Amazon (in the foothills of the Andes) - St. 3000 mm, in some areas of the Andes - up to 6000 mm. The river is full of water throughout the year. The rainy season comes alternately: in the Southern Hemisphere (October - April) - on the right tributaries, in the Northern Hemisphere (March - September) - on the left tributaries, so seasonal runoff fluctuations are smoothed out. High relative air humidity (75–100%) is characteristic, evaporation is low compared to heavy precipitation and high radiation balance (2900–3800 MJ/m 2 ) and rarely exceeds 1200 mm per year. The maximum evaporation rates (1500 mm per year) were noted in the northeast of the Amazon and between the mouths of the A. and the Orinoco River. The Azerbaijan basin is characterized by lateritic, podzolized, reddish-yellow soils that form on weathering crust, which is difficult to distinguish from them in color and structure, with a thickness of tens of meters and high water permeability. The average long-term water consumption of A. at the hydrological. Obidus post (about 900 km from the ocean) 173 thousand m 3 / s (annual flow volume 5460 km 3). Downstream, the A.'s runoff increases by 1,820 km 3 /year as a result of the confluence of large tributaries of the Tapajos, Xingu, and Tocantins, as well as additional water inflow from the surface of the delta and land areas adjacent to the river (due to the excess of precipitation over evaporation). As a result, an average of 7280 km 3 of river water enters the ocean annually (18% of the water flow of all rivers flowing into the World Ocean). The desalination effect of the huge water flow of the Atlantic is felt in the Atlantic Ocean at a distance of up to 900 km from the coast of the delta. The runoff of suspended sediments is about 900 million tons/year. In terms of sediment runoff, A. is second only to the total sediment runoff. ganga and Brahmaputra, entering the common delta of these rivers.

The slope of the water surface of A. is insignificant, therefore, oceanic semi-diurnal tides of 3–5 m in size propagate up the river to a distance of approx. 1000 km (the largest value among the rivers of the world). In the arms of the delta, the tidal wave collapses, a phenomenon occurs boron(in A. it is called pororoka - “thundering water”). In one of the Indian dialects, the pororoka is called "amazunu" (some geographers consider the name of the river to be derived from this word).

The flora and fauna of A. is rich and unique. The largest water lily in the world, victoria regia (leaves up to 2 m in diameter), grows in the oxbows and channels. Up to 2,000 species of fish (one-third of the entire freshwater fauna of the globe) live in the waters of Africa, including the giant arapaima (up to 5 m long and up to 200 kg in weight), electric eel, river stingrays, and predatory river sharks. and piranha. From mammals - manatee (at the mouth), Amazonian dolphin. Common black caiman and the largest of modern snakes - anacondas (length up to 11.4 m).

A. has a significant energy potential (about 280 million kWh per year), but its use is negligible. Together with its tributaries, the Avia forms one of the world's largest systems of inland waterways, with a total length of more than 25,000 km. Navigable for 4300 km from the ocean (up to the Pongo de Manserice gorge); to the city of Manaus (1690 km from the ocean), ocean-going ships rise. On the A. are the ports of Belen (on the Para arm), Santarem, Obidos (Brazil), and Iquitos (Peru). The construction of water reservoirs, in which a huge amount of organic matter accumulates, has the strongest impact on the unique ecosystem of Azerbaijan. These reservoirs become sources of dangerous diseases (eg, visceral leishmaniasis, bankroft filariasis) carried by insects. Massive deforestation of humid tropical forests in the A. basin is ecologically dangerous for the entire globe, since these forests are an important supplier of oxygen to the planet's atmosphere.

The mouth of the river was discovered in 1500 by the Spaniard Vicente Yanes Pinzon, who named A. "Rio Santa Maria de la Mar Dulce" - "the river of St. Mary of the fresh sea" (due to the desalination of the ocean waters by the river). He made his first long voyage along A. in 1541–42 Spanish conquistador F. de Orellana. For 172 days, his detachment swam almost 6 thousand km. On the way, the Spaniards encountered warlike Indian tribes. Near the mouth of the Trombetas River, tall half-naked women armed with bows fought in the forefront of Indian warriors. They reminded the Spaniards of the ancient myth of the Amazons, so Orellana, according to one hypothesis, called the river the Amazon.

The Amazon River is the deepest river in the world. Parana Ting - the Indians solemnly call this river, which means "Queen of all rivers" in translation. The mouth of the Amazon River was discovered by the Spaniard Vincent Yanes Pinson back in 1550, and he also recognized the true royal grandeur of this river.

The history of the discovery of the great river

The very first to enjoy the beauties of the shores of a beautiful pearl in 1541 was the Spaniard Francisco de Orellana. It was he who was the first to swim to find out which river the Amazon was, without being afraid of hostile Indians. During one of the hot battles with the natives, the conquistadors noticed that in the very first ranks of the warriors, half-dressed, tall and strong women were fighting shoulder to shoulder, who skillfully held bows and arrows in their hands. Looking at them, the Spaniards remembered the Amazons, which is why Orellana decided to name this river in honor of them the Amazon. He made a journey starting from the foothills of the Andes, further along the bed of the Napo River and along the Amazon to the very Atlantic Ocean.

After this, notes on the great river were left by Condamine from France, Humboldt from Germany, and also an Englishman named Bates. The latter described thousands of insects that live in the river basin, and the botanist Spruce was able to collect samples of almost 7,000 plants previously unknown to science.

The source of the Amazon River, its tributaries and channel

This river is truly unique. Almost one and a half thousand kilometers from the mouth, the tributaries and the Amazon River itself spill during high tides. The Amazon has over 500 tributaries of various lengths, seventeen of which are longer than 1,500 km. For example, these are Madeira and Tapajos, Xingu and Isa, Rio Negro and others.

Deep in the Andes is the source of the Amazon River, where it is born, and then flows mainly through the territory of Brazil, where this river is called Solimões. The total length of the entire river is 6.4 thousand km, this is together with the tributary of the Maranyon, and the tributary of the Ucayali is seven thousand kilometers.

From a total area of 7190 thousand kilometers, the Amazon collects its waters, and the main part of this basin belongs to the state of Brazil. Already before joining the Atlantic Ocean, the riverbed breaks up and flows between large islands into various branches, creating mouths in the form of funnels. The Amazon River is a navigable river and major ports are located on it.

River regime and seasons

The right tributaries of the river are in the Southern Hemisphere, and the left ones are in the Northern Hemisphere, so their water enters the basins at different times of the year. That is, they have floods at different periods of time. On the tributaries on the right, the flood begins in October and lasts until March, in the left tributaries the flood passes just the opposite: from April to October, that is, in the summer months of the Northern Hemisphere. It is this characteristic feature that causes the amazing fullness of the Amazon River. In a second, the Amazon River releases more than 55 million liters of water into the world ocean, which is created by tributaries, melting snow from the Andes and tropical rains.

The largest increase in its level begins in spring and ends at the end of July, that is, the flood continues in this place for more than 120 days. For three months the forests in the valley near the river are flooded, then the water gradually disappears. In September and August the water level is quite low.

Which river is longer?

The question is often asked: "Which river is longer: the Volga, the Amazon?" If we compare the Amazon with the great Russian river Volga, then the length of the first river is 6992 kilometers, and the Volga is only 3530 km long, which is also quite a significant indicator. However, it should be noted that the Amazon River is not the longest river in the world, as previously thought, but the most full-flowing.

True, the Volga is the longest river in Europe, and on the territory of Russia it is of great importance not only as a transport highway, but also as a source of life in arid regions. In terms of importance in its region, it is no less important than the great Brazilian river.

seventh wonder of the world

The Amazon is one of the seven most amazing natural wonders of the world. Unique not only for its full flow, it is incomparable with anything else in terms of the exceptional richness of flora and fauna and its bright beauty. Together with its tributaries, it links different countries. It is impossible to unequivocally determine where the Amazon River flows, as it runs in a blue ribbon through the territory of Peru, through Bolivia, crosses Brazil and Venezuela, as well as Ecuador and the territory of Colombia.

Of course, the longest river in the world is the Nile, but in fairness, the Amazon is very little inferior to the African pearl, sharing with it the palm of the most significant rivers on our planet.

Although the latter fact is now disputed. It was recently reported that scientists from Brazil came to the conclusion that the source of the Amazon River is not in the north of Peru, as previously thought, but on an ice-covered mountain called Mismi, at an altitude of five thousand meters. The change in the source makes it possible for the Amazon to “catch up” with the Nile in length. So, perhaps, there will be absolutely nothing to answer the question of which river is longer than the Amazon.

A quarter of all the water that flows from the rivers into the world's oceans is the waters of the Amazon. The mouth of the river placed another record holder - the largest river island on the planet, Marajo. The largest island could accommodate such a country as the Netherlands.

Rainforest and Amazon

All life on our planet depends on whether there will be a tropical rainforest. It is he who regulates the climate on our planet, absorbs all the harmful gases that are contained in the air. Only thanks to the presence on earth of the taiga and the rainforest around the Amazon, global warming did not completely destroy us. That is, the Amazon River with its unique basin is the lungs of our planet.

The amazing thing is that when the rainy season comes, all the trees stand in the waters of the Amazon to the very crown, and do not die. They have long been fully adapted to such a change in water levels in this river. Almost the entire Amazon basin is occupied by the world's largest rainforest tract. Here you can constantly hear the sound of drops of water falling from the leaves, as it rains almost daily.

The jungles of Brazil near the Amazon River have not yet been fully explored, and now plants unknown to science are found there. It is in these forests that almost 50 percent of all plant species of our planet live. A lot of plants from the Amazon rainforest are a real panacea, they are used to make rare medicines for the treatment of various diseases.

Nourishes the entire planet with oxygen

The Amazon Basin is not only home to unique plants and animals. Tropical rain forests supply oxygen to the atmosphere. However, every year people destroy more than one hundred thousand kilometers of unique flora. Moreover, forests are cut down not only in Brazil, but also in other countries. A perfectly functioning ecosystem can perish and push humanity towards disaster. The forest is the main supplier of oxygen, the conditioner of our common planet. If the wealth of the Amazon can be preserved, Brazil will continue to be one of the most beautiful countries in the world.

Home of hummingbirds and flamingos

The Amazon jungle is home to birds with surprisingly bright and rich plumage, such as colorful yellow and green parrots with bright red heads, the famous pink flamingos and the smallest birds in the world - tiny hummingbirds. Millions of colorful butterflies flutter in the air. Scientists say that 1.5 thousand species of various flowers, 760 species of large trees, about 125 mammals and about 400 species of birds grow here. There are about 800 species of palm trees alone near the Amazon.

Monkeys live in the crowns of huge trees. Very funny tapirs walk along the river, which look like a furry pig. There are also formidable jaguars, as well as anacondas.

The famous Victoria regia lily grows in the waters of the river, on the leaf of which a five-year-old child can stand and not drown.

The Amazon is home to 2,000 species of different fish. In all European rivers taken together, there are ten times fewer species. The Congo River, which is also famous for its diversity of species, contains three times less of them. Piranhas have become rather notorious, turning into a common noun, including in our country. By the way, you can see the famous toothy fish in the Sevastopol Aquarium. Naturally, there are in the Amazon and crocodiles, alligators, as well as electric eels, which are noticeably shocked.

aborigines

A very small village of native Indians still lives in the center of Brazil around the land flooded by the Amazon on a tiny hill. More than a hundred people settled in the simplest houses made of local wood. They grow cassava, similar to our potatoes, and fish. A small tribe has not left for centuries, as if guarding the most abundant and beautiful river on earth, thanks to which our entire planet can breathe freely.

The Amazon is a river that is familiar to every person almost from school. It annually receives thousands of tourists, scientists and ecologists, just nature lovers. None of them leave disappointed, taking home the brightest and most colorful impressions.

The Amazon is one of the largest rivers in the world. At the same time, its river basin is one of the least explored on Earth. There are still places in the Amazon where no human foot has ever set foot. In this article you will find a brief overview of the Amazon, as well as learn about the main stages of its economic development.

Amazon River: characteristics, description (brief)

The most remarkable natural object in all of South America, of course, is the Amazon River. The area of the basin of this huge water artery of the planet is about 7.2 million km 2. This territory, full of so-called "white spots", is usually called in one word - Amazonia. Of course, quite deservedly, the Amazon in 2011 was included in the list of seven natural wonders of our planet.

The territory of the Amazon is divided among themselves by eight states: Brazil (about 65%), Colombia, Bolivia, Peru, Venezuela, Suriname, Guyana and Ecuador. The river system of the Amazon is located in the 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 such a European state as Bulgaria!

The river system of the Amazon is very well developed due to abundant rainfall. On its way, the river receives many tributaries, the largest of which are Jurua, Madeira, Topajos, Tocantes, Isa and Rio Negro.

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 for 4,300 kilometers upstream. The main ports on the river are Santarém, Obidos, Iquitos, Manaus.

An amazing discovery was made by scientists in 2011. The fact is that under the Amazon basin flows the world's largest underground river, four kilometers long. She was named Hamza, after the Indian scientist who discovered the miracle river.

Most of the Amazon is occupied by selva. This is a unique natural ecosystem consisting of wet rainforests. The selva is characterized by very high air humidity, a large species diversity of plants, high waterlogging of the territory and acidic, very poor, soils. It is through such territories that the South American Amazon River flows.

Economic use of the river - what is it today? And how was the Amazon developed by man throughout history? This will be discussed further.

Amazon: economic use of the river

Amazonia is often referred to as 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?

Brazil made the first attempts to develop this region. In general, there are three main historical stages 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 Brazil's 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 regularity. The economic use of the Amazon River at that time was completely regulated by the state, and the project itself even got its name "Operation Amazon". It included the integrated agricultural development of the region, the creation of transport infrastructure, and, as a result, the mass settlement of this territory.

The third stage of the development of the Amazon begins in the 80s of the twentieth century. It can be called "mineral raw material". During this period, quarries and factories for processing raw materials open in the river basin, and the development of oil fields begins.

Ecological problems of 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 selva;
contamination of soils and waters with heavy metals, etc.

One way or another, all these problems are closely related and require an integrated approach to their solution.

Finally

The Amazon river system occupies 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 a slight human impact 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. It is formed by the confluence of the Maranion 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 over 1500 km long. The most significant tributaries: on the right - Zhurua, Purus, Madeira, Tapajos, Xingu, Tocantins; on the left - Isa, Japura, Rio Negro.
Together with its tributaries, the Amazon forms a system of inland waterways with a total length of more than 25,000 km. Amazon deep water river. At the place 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 column reaches 20 meters, so for ocean ships, the waters of this river are their home. The last river port that receives sea vessels is located in the city of Manaus, 1700 km. from the mouth. River water transport darts back and forth along the Amazon at a vast distance of 4300 km. Main ports (from bottom to top): Belém, Santarem, Obidos, Manaus (Brazil), Iquitos (Peru).

The river is located in the north of South America, begins its journey from the Andes to 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 account for 20% of the world's fresh water. Of the 20 longest rivers in the world, 10 are in the Amazon.
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 detachment
allegedly saw a tribe of legendary Amazons and entered into battle with them. Today it is believed that they were either Indian women - who fought next to 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 fight 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. Flowing mostly along the Amazonian lowland in a 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 for 320 kilometers.
The full flow of the Amazon is explained by the fact that its northern and southern tributaries are located in different hemispheres; accordingly, floods occur at different times of the 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 in the rainy season it triples, covering 350 thousand square meters. km and spilling over 40 km or more.
Another achievement of the Amazon is the mouth of the river, the largest delta in the world, which reaches a width of 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 come into conflict with the mighty streams of the river. In this struggle, the cosmic forces of the moon prevail over the forces of the earth's surface. The sea tide begins to push fresh water - it drives it back to 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 wave height gradually decreases, the speed decreases, but this happens far from the border with the ocean. The impact of the tide is felt even at a distance of more than 1000 km from the mouth of the river.
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 into the river, which do not feed with bread, but let them flounder in fresh water. These terrible predators rise up the Amazon for 3500 km.
The rainy season here begins in March and lasts until May. Heavy rainfall causes rivers to flood. 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, in some places it changes its course.

Flora and fauna of the Amazon

In essence, the Amazon is a jungle and swamps that stretch parallel to the equator, so the climatic conditions are almost the same throughout the lowland. The temperature here is high and stable. The whole year keeps 25-28 ° Celsius. Even at night, the temperature almost never drops below 20° Celsius.
Only 30% of the studied flora lives here. 25% of all medicinal substances in the world that are used in medicine are extracted from the plants of the Amazonian forest. 1800 species of birds, 250 different mammals, 1500 different types of fish - all this makes up the flora and fauna of the Amazon.
Many secrets are hidden in the forests: even today, many large tributaries of the Amazon 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, of which some are famous, others are rare, and others are on the verge of extinction, includes the jaguar, tapir, peccary, spider monkey, sloth, armadillo, Caiman crocodile, freshwater dolphin, boa, anaconda.
Among the forest birds are toucan, parrot, macaw, caliber, and also gaviao. Among insects there are more than 1800 species of butterflies and over 200 species of mosquitoes. Fish such as piranha, tucunare, piraracu, anuana, piraiba, poraque (electric eel) exist in such a variety that biologists cannot identify the catch in the markets of Belem.

Underground river Hamza

According to the Department of Geophysics of the Brazilian National Observatory, in the same direction as the Amazon, but at a depth of 4 thousand meters, an underground river flows, fed by groundwater. Its runoff is estimated at 3,000 m³/s.
The river, originating in the foothills of the Andes, stretches 6 thousand kilometers from west to east to the coast of the Atlantic Ocean almost under the Amazon basin. This scientific discovery became public in August 2011 after a presentation 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 discoverer Valia Hamza (port. V. Hamza), born in India, who has been exploring the river for more than 45 years.
The study found that, with the exception of the direction of flow, the Amazon (land) and Hamza (underground) rivers have significantly different characteristics, the most obvious of which are their width and flow rate. While the width of the Amazon River varies from one to one hundred kilometers, the underground river Hamza reaches a width of 200-400 kilometers. However, the flow rate in the Amazon is five meters per second, while 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 Hamza reaches 400 km, and the water flow is approximately 3900 m³ / s. The speed of the Hamza is only a few meters per year. This is even slower than the glaciers move, so it can be called a river rather conditionally. Hamza flows into the Atlantic Ocean at great depths and the water of the Hamza River has a high salinity level.

So, is this Great Amazon River the longest river on our planet? The Brazilian National Center for Space Research (INPE) claims 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 solved one of the greatest geographic 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 of 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 that moment, the Amazon was officially recognized as the most full-flowing river, but in length it was always considered the second after the Nile (Egypt).

By materials. latino-america.ru

The word "Amazon" has been known to mankind since ancient times. This was the name of female warriors who lived on the Black Sea coast in ancient times. They were extremely hardy, skillful and fearless in battle. Legends were made about their courage and courage, and the male warriors who tried to subdue these beasts shamefully fled from the battlefield, abandoning their weapons, horses, carts and rejoicing only that they were alive.

In the early 40s of the 16th century, the Amazons were no longer heard of. Matriarchy ordered to live long 400 years before the birth of Christ, and the power of men was established everywhere on the planet, who forgot to think that once the other sex was the head of everything on earth.

Such a disregard for ancient legends played a cruel joke not with anyone, but with the Spanish conquistadors themselves, who had already become famous in the lands of South America for their cruelty, unscrupulousness and pathological greed.

At the end of 1541, one of these detachments of selected thugs fearlessly deepened into the lands of the South American continent. Led it Francisco de Orellana(1505-1546). He set himself the goal of crossing the mainland from west to east and reaching the shores of the Atlantic.

At first, the Spaniards made their way through the jungle on foot, but soon they came to the banks of a full-flowing river and, having built boats, sailed along it. Sometimes, along the way, they came across villages nestled at the edge of muddy water. The invaders immediately landed on the shore in order to check the material wealth of people and announce to them that they now received the status of subjects of the Spanish crown.

Amazon

The path was long, difficult, the landscape around was monotonous, but be that as it may, in the spring of 1542 the conquistadors found themselves near a large village, spread widely along both banks of a wide river. Having climbed onto a high wooden floor, the subjects of the King of Spain looked around. In the distance loomed several puny figures of long-haired Indians. Severe men confidently moved along the boards, plaintively creaking under the weight of their powerful bodies, towards these pitiful natives.

The course of further events inscribed several shameful pages not only in the history of the Spanish kingdom, but also in the history of the entire male race. The frail Indians did not want to demonstrate their material wealth, nor to recognize the authority of the king of Spain. They did not even want to tolerate the presence of strangers in the territory of their village.

After a short and furious skirmish, the fearless conquistadors shamefully fled. The defeat was doubly insulting, as their opponents were women. There was not a single man among them, but judging by the frenzied courage with which these ladies attacked strangers armed to the teeth, they did not need the support of the opposite sex.

Francisco de Orellana made a couple more armed attempts, but the resistance of women not only was not broken, but on the contrary, these tactical attempts by the conquistadors made the warriors so furious that the subjects of the king of Spain were forced to hastily retreat. They ran down the wide river with all possible speed, so as not to end up at its bottom as food for the caimans.

Having counted the losses and licked their wounds, the Spaniards experienced a feeling of involuntary admiration for these courageous inhabitants of the impenetrable jungle. At the end of the journey, Francisco de Orellana named the river on which the brave women lived, the Amazon. Everyone liked the name, and after Cieza de Leon, a Spanish priest, geographer and historian, published his book Chronicles of Peru in 1553, where he uses the same word in the designation of the river, Amazon became the official name of the deepest river in the world.

Source of the Amazon River

Today, the great river is also considered the longest, although more recently, the Nile occupied the first place in this parameter. It stretches across the African continent for almost 6700 km. It seemed that no one could surpass such a distance. The Amazon River occupied, albeit an honorable, but second place. Its length was 6400 km. It was taken from a group of lakes located at an altitude of 5700 meters above sea level in the Peruvian Andes. From this place it was very close to Lima - only 230 km to the south-west.

This location of the source of the Amazon was announced at the beginning of the 18th century by the Jesuit Samuel Fritz. He was ardently supported by the Italian naturalist Antonio Raymond in the second half of the 19th century. He stated that the great river begins its thorny path in the cordillera (an accumulation of parallel ridges and mountain ranges) Raura, where it receives the first life-giving drops of moisture from the melting snows from the top of the Yarup. Here she timidly makes her way through the small stream of Gaytso to the lakes of Santa Ana and Lauritsohu.

From them comes the mountain river Marañon. Its rapid streams reach the Pongio de Manserish canyon, flow through it, descend into the valley. Here they turn into a wide, majestic and slow river, which solidly and slowly carries its waters to the east. As much as 1800 km it flows in splendid isolation. Having passed this path, Maranion meets the Ucayali River. The latter is clearly inferior to the former in width: it is three times narrower. Reunited, these two streams form the great Amazon, ending its journey in the waters of the Atlantic.

At first glance, everything is clear and clear: found source of the Amazon River, its main tributary is the Marañon. According to the logic of things, this issue should be considered resolved and safely closed. But the ways of the Lord are inscrutable, and the convolutions of human souls are unknown and triple mysterious.

In 1934, a certain Colonel Gerardo Dianderas made a statement to the Peruvian Geographical Society. The essence of his somewhat excited speech was that the priority is not the Marañon River, but Ucayali, which starts from the Apurimac River, and that, in turn, originates on the slope of Mount Huagry. Such a bold and daring vision of the problem did not impress the venerable researchers, although there was a reason for the colonel's statement.

It so happened historically that narrower and shallower rivers are always given the green light. If we take the Kama and the Volga, then at the place where they meet, the Kama is more full-flowing, but the river that has merged into a single whole is called the Volga. The same can be said about the Angara and the Yenisei. The purest and broadest Angara is reunited with the muddy and narrow Yenisei. It would seem that all the trump cards are in the hands of the river flowing from Baikal, but it is the Yenisei that flows into the Arctic Ocean. Mississippi and Missouri did not escape this fate. In all respects, Missouri is in first place, but for some reason the pride of North America is Mississippi.

The Ucayali River, in its size, did not stand close to the Marañon, a large navigable river. This, probably, by analogy with other rivers, was the reason that many researchers began to zealously search for the sources of the Ukayali River.

In 1953, the Frenchman Michel Perron went to the Peruvian Andes. After 15 years, an American married couple Frank and Helen Schreider visited there. In 1969, the great and serious work "The General Geography of Peru" was published. It said that the original source of the Amazon River begins on Mount Misli, in southern Peru, 220 km west of Lake Titicaca.

Thus, the great river was moved to the east and made much longer. But where exactly it originates - no one knew about it yet. In 1971, the American photographer Laurent McIntyre headed up the Apurimac River. After a long and difficult journey, he came to the conclusion that the source of the Amazon River is the Caruasantu stream, located at around 5160 meters above sea level.

But the stubborn American was not the last. After him, other researchers went to the Andes, who named other streams, for example, such as Yanokocha or Apacheta. The question hung in the air until 1996. It was at this time that an international expedition was created, which was faced with the task of finding the true source of the Amazon River and finally putting all the dots over the “I”.

The researchers completed the task. Nowadays, all schoolchildren, all schools in the world know that The Amazon River originates in the Peruvian Andes at an altitude of 5170 meters. Coordinates of this point: 15° 31′ 05″ S and 71° 43′ 55″ W. This is where Apacheta Creek begins its journey. It merges with the Caruasantu stream, and together they form the Loketu stream.

The latter gains strength from many mountain streams and passes into the Hornillos River, which, in turn, merging with a couple of the same mountain rivers, turns into a swift and turbulent stream Apurimac. His long path runs through the highlands, and only when he reaches the valley, having absorbed many other waters, he calms down, spreads along the lowlands and becomes Ucayali.

Ukayali a large river. Its width is less than a kilometer. She calmly carries her waters until she meets the even more powerful Maranion River. And now the two rivers merge into one. Further, the purebred Amazon is already flowing. Now its length is 7100 km, and, being the longest river in the world, it deserves the title of queen of rivers.

Amazon River Delta

Her River Majesty ends her movement in the waters of the Atlantic Ocean. 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 into the river, which do not feed with bread, but let them flounder in fresh water. These terrible predators rise up the Amazon for 3500 km.

The river delta occupies a huge area of 100 thousand km², its width is 200 km. It is dotted with many straits and channels, between which there are small, large and simply huge islands. Huge - these are the islands of Mashian, Kaviana, Zhanauku and a number of others. The wide straits: Perigozu, South, North - they cut the land into pieces, depriving it of the opportunity to move into the sea, which is characteristic of the deltas of large rivers.

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 come into conflict with the mighty streams of the river. In this struggle, the cosmic forces of the moon prevail over the forces of the earth's surface. The sea tide begins to push fresh water: it drives it back to 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 wave height gradually decreases, the speed decreases, but this happens far from the border with the ocean. The impact of the tide is felt even at a distance of more than 1000 km from the mouth of the river.

Amazon deep water river. At the place 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 column reaches 20 meters. Therefore, for ocean ships, the waters of this river are their home. The last river port that receives sea vessels is located in the city of Manaus, 1700 km. from the mouth. River water transport darts back and forth along the Amazon at a vast distance of 4300 km.

Amazon river basin

The queen herself, of course, is impressive, but we must not forget that more than 200 tributaries flow into it. And almost half of them are navigable rivers. Some of these rivers are very full-flowing and stretch inland for more than 1500 km. All of them, together with the Amazon itself, create the greatest formation, the like of which is nowhere else on the planet. it Amazon river basin.

It has not just a huge, but a gigantic area. It is equal to 7180 thousand km², the lands of such South American countries as Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia fall within its borders. The area of the entire mainland is 17.8 million km², which is only 2.5 times the royal possessions of the Amazon, and such a part of the world as Australia would be perfectly placed on this territory.

The river basin almost coincides with the Amazonian lowland, which is called Amazonia.. Its area is 5 million km²: from the Andes to the Atlantic Ocean and from the Guiana to the Brazilian plateau. There is a huge forest area - a tropical rainforest. In terms of its size, it has nothing equal on Earth and produces a gigantic amount of oxygen, which is why it is called lungs of the planet.

The rainy season here begins in March and lasts until May. Heavy rainfall causes rivers to flood. 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, in some places it changes its course.

Animal world of the Amazon

Given such climatic conditions, there is a huge amount of different living creatures in the river, some of which are not found in other parts of the world. Of the predatory fish, sharks come across here. Basically it is a blunt-nosed shark (bull shark). Its dimensions are more than three meters, and its weight reaches 300 kg. She can attack a person, but given his bony constitution, this type of food is not a priority for her.

Known for the Amazon River and bloodthirsty piranhas. These are small fish, the sizes of which range from 16 to 40 cm depending on the species (two dozen species in total). Their weight does not exceed one kilogram. In youth, their small bodies are silver-blue in color with dark speckles. Color changes with age. Lived piranhas are olive-silver with a purple or red tint. A well-defined black stripe appears along the entire edge of the caudal fin.

A distinctive feature of small predatory fish is their teeth. They are triangular in shape, 4-5 mm high. The jaws of piranhas are designed so that when they close, the upper teeth clearly fit into the grooves between the lower teeth. This provides the fish with a death grip. They can bite both a bone and a stick. Pieces of meat instantly find themselves in the voracious mouth of such a beast. In just a few minutes, a flock of piranhas can gnaw the carcass of a horse or pig, leaving only a bare skeleton from it.

Amazonian dolphins hunt piranhas effectively. These are medium sized individuals. Their length rarely exceeds two meters, weight, as a rule, is from 100 to 200 kilograms. Caimans also feast on piranhas, but in general they prefer other food, since the amount of meat on the bodies of these small predators is much inferior to the amount of meat on the fatter bodies of other animals.

In total, there are 2,500 species of a wide variety of fish in the Amazon. What is only an electric eel. This snake-like creature is 2 meters long, and the magnitude of the voltage of its electric charge is 300 volts. A large abundance in the river and ornamental fish. Many of them have long settled in home aquariums in all parts of the planet. For example, the same swordsmen and guppies are probably known on all continents.

The wealth of the underwater world of the queen of rivers would not be complete without the existence in it of such a terrible creature as anaconda. The water boa, the largest snake in the world, reaching a length of 8-9 meters, is what an anaconda is. Her skin is grayish-green in color with two rows of large brown spots of a rounded or oblong shape, which serves as an excellent disguise both in the selva and in the muddy waters of the great river.

The anaconda has practically no opponents. She can destroy both the caiman and the jaguar. Her throw is lightning fast, her grip is deadly. The snake wraps its strong muscular body around the victim and strangles. Then she opens her mouth, which can stretch to an incredible size, and slowly puts herself on the carcass of a strangled prey. Namely, it does not swallow the same caiman or caliban, but pulls on it like a glove on a hand. After that, the anaconda lies lazily in warm water or selva and waits for the victim to be digested.

There are a great many legends, stories, stories about anacondas, most of which are beautiful fiction. Some European researchers consider the anaconda to be an absolutely safe and cowardly animal. There are many stories about how fearless travelers grabbed a water boa constrictor panickingly crawling into the jungle by the tail, pulled it into the light of day and stunned it with a blow to the head with a fist.

Maybe once there were such heroes, but today neither photography nor film has recorded anything like this. For your information, it should be noted that the jump of the anaconda takes a fraction of a second. The unfortunate one will not even have time to gasp, as he will be entwined with beautiful colorful rings, which are powerful clumps of muscles. They will begin to squeeze the body with terrible force - a couple of minutes, and the victim turns into an ordinary piece of meat, quite suitable for internal consumption.

anaconda attack

Something similar happened in the mid-90s in one of the narrow tributaries of the Queen of Rivers. Three French travelers were sailing in a boat through calm, troubled waters. A weak breeze blew, the selva rustled friendly green foliage, the weak rays of the sun pleasantly caressed people's faces. It seemed that the whole world around was in a relaxed and peaceful state.

The idyll was broken immediately and instantly. The man in the stern let out a weak cry. The comrades who looked around managed to notice a snake of enormous size, which quickly emerged from the water, wrapped itself twice around the body of their friend and plunged with him into the depths.

The boat swayed mercilessly, so several precious minutes passed while the travelers restored the balance of the ship. In this section of the river, it was about three meters to the bottom. The French began to circle over the site of the tragedy, but it was impossible to see anything through the liquid muddy thickness. After an hour, realizing the futility of their pastime, they were forced to go to the nearest settlement.

A detachment of armed people was equipped, who could only arrive in this dangerous zone two days later. Searches for a human body and a huge snake turned up nothing. Nothing like this has ever happened in the area before. The rescue team began to doubt the sincerity of the travelers. It was decided to curtail the search, but, suddenly, one of the people in the boat noticed an incomprehensible shadow that flashed by the surface of the river. We decided to check what it could be.

Having blocked a section of the river with a net, the search engines began to pull it up to the shore. Suddenly, a huge snake head appeared from the water. It was about half a meter across. Then the body also surfaced, the thickness of which reached a meter, but it was impossible to determine the length, since the entire back of the body was hidden in the water. The monster quickly rushed to the people sitting in the boat. They froze, paralyzed with terror.

Having hit the metal side of the ship with its whole mass, the giant snake crushed it like a tin can. The lost net plunged into the river, frightened to death people ended up in the water. The monster wagged its long tail and disappeared into the muddy abyss. While the rescuers got out on solid ground, while they came to their senses, the terrible monster was gone.

For a whole month after that, reinforced detachments of armed people combed all the nearby waters. No traces of this huge anaconda have been found. The fact that it was an anaconda was indicated by the color of the skin, which all eyewitnesses examined very well. Only its size, according to all data, exceeded the size of an ordinary snake by three times.

No traces of this monster were later discovered; none of the people ever saw him again. The whole incident could be mistaken for a mass hallucination, but this is hardly possible. The mystery that emerged from the muddy water instantly disappeared into it, showing only a small piece of its being to a small group of eyewitnesses.

The indigenous people of the Amazon are the real Amazons.

The great Amazon River abounds with such surprises, leading people to a sense of complete bewilderment and confusion. But the mysterious world of these waters is not going to be revealed to those who ruthlessly cut down the selva, destroy the animal world, thoughtlessly destroy the richest flora and fauna of the most unique formation on Earth - the Amazon, which rightfully bears the honorary title of the lungs of the planet..

The article was written by ridar-shakin
Based on materials from foreign and Russian publications