| Amazon River | |
|---|---|
 | |
|
Countries |
Brazil, Colombia and Peru |
|
Region |
South America |
|
Source |
Andes Mountains |
|
Mouth |
Atlantic Ocean |
The Amazon River in South America is generally regarded as the second-longest river in the world (the longest river is the Nile river in Africa) and is by far the largest by water flow with an average of about 209,000 cubic meters per second (7,381,000 cu ft/s), greater than the next seven largest rivers combined (not including Madeira and Rio Negro, which are tributaries of the Amazon). The Amazon, which has the largest drainage basin in the world, about 7,050,000 square kilometers (2,720,000 sq mi), accounts for approximately one-fifth of the world's total river flow.
Amazon River and Amazon basin.
In the movie[]
In Rio 2, as Blu and his family arrive at Manaus, the city gateway to the Amazon, they take a boat to travel the rest of the way, traveling down the Amazon River to reach the jungle. They spend the night there, and that's when Nigel intended to attack. The next morning, they leave to enter the jungle.
In another scene, the Big Boss is also arriving at the jungle by boat. Amazon River Dolphins also appear in the movie, swimming in the river.
Piranhas been seen in the film as well. One time in Tulio's and Linda's research in the forest, when a butterfly appeared and the piranha jumped to eat it (and Linda said to spit it out). There were also piranhas out in the river during a carnival audition, in which a group of Capybaras tried to perform, but got eaten from the fish. Then Linda and Tulio continue down the river, which leads to a waterfall (but remain alive).
Origins[]
The Amazon River has a series of major river systems in Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, some of which flow into the Marañón and Ucayali, others directly into the Amazon proper. Among others, these include the following rivers: Putumayo, Caquetá, Vaupés, Guainía, Morona, Pastaza, Nucuray, Urituyacu, Chambira, Tigre, Nanay, Napo, and Huallaga.
The most distant source of the Amazon was established in 1996, 2001, 2007, and 2008, as a glacial stream on a snow capped 5,597 m (ca. 18,363 ft) peak called Nevado Mismi in the Peruvian Andes, roughly 160 km (ca. 99 mi) west of Lake Titicaca and 700 km (ca. 435 mi) southeast of Lima. The waters from Nevado Mismi flow into the Quebradas Carhuasanta and Apacheta, which flow into the Río Apurímac which is a tributary of the Ucayali which later joins the Marañón to form the Amazon proper. While the Ucayali–Marañón confluence is the point at which most geographers place the beginning of the Amazon proper, in Brazil the river is known at this point as the Solimões das Águas. Further downriver from that confluence the darkly colored waters of the Rio Negro meet the sandy colored Rio Solimões, and for over 6 km (3.73 mi) these waters run side by side without mixing.
After the confluence of Apurímac and Ucayali, the river leaves Andean terrain and is surrounded by floodplain. From this point to the Marañón, some 1,600 km (ca. 994 mi), the forested banks are just out of water and are inundated long before the river attains its maximum flood stage. The low river banks are interrupted by only a few hills, and the river enters the enormous Amazon Rainforest.
The river systems and flood plains in Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela, whose waters drain into the Solimões and its tributaries, are called the "Upper Amazon". The Amazon River proper runs mostly through Brazil and Peru. It is part of the border between Colombia and Perú, and it has tributaries reaching into Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, and Bolivia.
Flooding[]
Not all of the Amazon's tributaries flood at the same time of the year. Many branches begin flooding in November and may continue to rise until June. The rise of the Rio Negro starts in February or March and begins to recede in June. The Madeira River rises and falls two months earlier than most of the rest of the Amazon.
The depth of the Amazon between Manacapuru and Óbidos has been calculated as between 20 and 26 meters (66 to 85 ft). At Manacapuru the Amazon's water level is only about 24 meters (ca. 79 ft) above mean sea level. More than half of the water in the Amazon downstream of Manacapuru is below sea level. In its lowermost section, the Amazon's depth averages 20 to 50 meters (66 to 164 ft), in some places as much as 100 meters (ca. 328 ft).
The main river is navigable for large ocean steamers to Manaus, 1,500 kilometers (ca. 932 mi) upriver from the mouth. Smaller ocean vessels of 3,000 tons or 9,000 tons and 5.5 meters (ca. 18 ft) draft can reach as far as Iquitos, Peru, 3,600 kilometers (ca. 2,237 mi) from the sea. Smaller riverboats can reach 780 kilometers (ca. 485 mi) higher as far as Achual Point. Beyond that, small boats frequently ascend to the Pongo de Manseriche, just above Achual Point.
Annual flooding is caused by tidal waves called "pororoca". The waves occur in late winter at high tide, when the Atlantic Ocean overlaps into the river. The resulting waves can be up to 4 meters high and travel 13 kilometers inland.
Geography[]
At some points the river divides into anabranches, or multiple channels, often very long, with inland and lateral channels, all connected by a complicated system of natural canals, cutting the low, flat igapó lands, which are never more than 5 meters (ca. 16 ft) above low river, into many islands.
From the town of Canaria at the great bend of the Amazon to the Negro, vast areas of land are submerged at high water, above which only the upper part of the trees of the somber forests appear. Near the mouth of the Rio Negro to Serpa, nearly opposite the river Madeira, the banks of the Amazon are low, until approaching Manaus, they rise to become rolling hills. At Óbidos, a bluff 17 m (ca. 56 ft) above the river is backed by low hills. The lower Amazon seems to have once been a gulf of the Atlantic Ocean, the waters of which washed the cliffs near Óbidos.
Only about ten percent of the Amazon's water enters downstream of Óbidos, very little of which is from the northern slope of the valley. The drainage area of the Amazon Basin above Óbidos city is about 5,000,000 square kilometers (1,900,000 sq mi), and, below, only about 1,000,000 square kilometers (390,000 sq mi) (around 20%), exclusive of the 1,400,000 square kilometers (540,000 sq mi) of the Tocantins basin. The Tocantins River enters the southern portion of the Amazon delta.
In the lower reaches of the river, the north bank consists of a series of steep, table-topped hills extending for about 240 kilometers (ca. 149 mi) from opposite the mouth of the Xingu as far as Monte Alegre. These hills are cut down to a kind of terrace which lies between them and the river.
On the south bank, above the Xingu, a line of low bluffs bordering the floodplain extends nearly to Santarém in a series of gentle curves before they bend to the southwest, and, abutting upon the lower Tapajós, merge into the bluffs which form the terrace margin of the Tapajós river valley.
Gallery[]
- Main article: Amazon River/Gallery