Amazon River is present in South America. The river originates from the Andes mountains in Peru. It runs through 3 different countries, Peru, Brazil, and Columbia. Its source is Rio Mantaro. It is the widest river in the world. The mouth of the amazon is over 200 miles. Its length is almost 7000 miles. Its basin size is almost 2,722,020 sq miles.
The amazon discharges 209,000 cubic meters every sec, which is greater than the total discharge of the next 7 largest rivers, together. The river is made up of 1,100 tributes.
The following are the facts about the Amazon River.
5. Fresh Water Provided by the Amazon River
Amazon River is attributed to flowing 20% of the Earth's freshwater into the Atlantic Ocean. Freshwater enters the Atlantic ocean. Due to its lighter weight, it flows on top of seawater. Due to its vast dimensions, it is sometimes called "The River Sea". The freshwater escorted by the amazon also dilutes the salinity and changes the color of the ocean's surface over the area of 1,003,865 sq miles.
4. Species Found in the Amazon River
There are over 30 to 60 species of Pirhanas, omnivorous fish that attack livestock and even humans. Anacondas are the largest snakes in the world and are found in the Amazon River. There are over 5,600 known species of fish living in the Amazon and they are still being discovered. Boto is the largest species of river dolphin and is also known as the Amazon River Dolphins are found in the Amazon River. The River is also known as the home of the Electric eel.
3. Amazon River Shrinks and Expands
Amazon river expands in winter and shrinks in summer. In Amazon Basin, fluctuations are at their most extreme. The largest city which comes in way of the amazon is Manaus which has a 1.5 mil population. In the wet season, mostly due to rainfall water level rises up to 10 to 15 meters and causes a flood.
It expands greatly in width, during the wet season it expands up to 48 km and during the dry season it shrinks up to 3 km to 10 km.
2. The Amazon Reef
In April 2016, an extensive coral reef system present in the amazon river also known as The Amazon Reef was discovered. It is one of the largest coral reef systems in the world with a length of 1000 km and an area of 9,300 sq km. Researchers have discovered many species of fish, sea stars, and coral. They also discovered sea sponges that were as heavy as a small elephant.
1. Twin of Amazon River
There is an underground river that flows 2.48 miles below the surface of the Amazon. Its name is Hamza river. It was discovered in 2011 and many people don't know about it. It is present in Brazil. Its length is almost 6000 km which is almost the same as Amazon. Its length and flow are equal to amazon and flows just below the surface of amazon so that's why it is called a twin of the amazon river. Scientists are not sure but it is believed that it is four times wider than the Amazon river.
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