AMAZON RIVER

Particulars

Description

Rises from

The river originates from a glacial stream from a peak, called Nevado Mismi found an elevation of 18,363 feet (5,597 meters) in the Peruvian Andes.

Length

The Amazon River is the second longest river in the world and is about 4,000 miles (6400 km) long.

Width

During the dry season, the width of the Amazon River can be 4 km to 5 km.

Discharge into

• The Amazon River has an average discharge of roughly 7,381,000 cubic feet per second (209,000 cubic meters per seconds) with an outflow into the Atlantic Ocean.
• Due to the vast amount of water as well as sediment that are deposition, the color and salinity of the Atlantic Ocean are modified for nearly 200 miles (320 km) from the delta.

Basin

• Flowing through South America, the countries of Brazil, Peru, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Guyanaare in its catchment basin.
• It occupies about 38 percent of the total area of South America, covering a total of 2.67 million square miles (6.9 million square km).

Tributaries

• The Amazon River consists of over 1,100 tributaries, the main ones including Madeira, Rio Negro, Japura, Purus, Madeira, Solimoes , and Xingu rivers.
• The Amazon is the only river basin in the world that has three tributaries (the Purus, the Juruá and the Madeira) longer than 3,000 km.

Biodiversity

• The Amazon River is home to more than 5,600 known species of fish, including 100 species of electric fish and up to 60 species of piranhas.
• The Giant Royal Water Lily also found here.
• The Amazon River dolphin, also known as the pink river dolphin or boto, is the largest species of river dolphin in the world.
• The Amazonian Manatee is the largest aquatic mammal in the Amazon Basin.
• The largest-known snake in the world is the Anaconda, or Eunectes murinus, of South America found here.
• A huge 3,600 sq mile (9,300 sq km) coral reef system has been found in 2016 below the muddy waters off the mouth of the river Amazon.

Features

• Oxbow lakes are common in the floodplains of Amazon river.
• They are formed when bends in the river get cut off from the main river.

Recent Research Findings

• The Amazon River basin is experiencing an unprecedented drought, with water levels plummeting to historic lows across the region.
• In Tabatinga, a Brazilian town bordering Colombia, the Solimoes River, a major tributary of the Amazon, has reached its lowest level on record.
• Lake Tefe, where over 200 freshwater dolphins perished during 2023 drought, The lake has now dried up entirely, depriving the endangered pink dolphins of a crucial habitat.
• This environmental crisis points to the immediate and intensifying effects of climate change.

PRACTICE QUESTION

Q.Most of the Amazon River flows through which of the following countries?

A. Peru

B. Brazil

C. Venezuela

D. Ecuador

Answer: B

Explanation:

Brazil has almost two-thirds of the Amazon's mainstream and by far the majority of its basin.