The Amazon is the largest river system on the planet. The total number of its tributaries is hundreds. But we will tell only about one of them. In the article you will find a detailed description of the Madeira River. Do you know where its source is located, what cities are located on its wild shores?
Amazon Pool: A Miracle of Miracles
7180 thousand square kilometers - this is the area of the Amazon. This is roughly comparable to the territory occupied by the state of Australia. The Amazon is the longest and most full-flowing river on Earth. Every day it carries about 20 cubic kilometers of water to the Atlantic Ocean. Therefore, it is not surprising that in 2011 the Amazon along with its pool was included in the list of seven natural wonders of the world.
This is not a complete list of records. In the river basin is the largest and oldest tropical rainforest of the planet. It is believed that his age is about 100 million years. By the way, many of the products that we eat almost daily come from here - these are potatoes, bananas, chocolate and corn.
Madeira River: source and mouth
The Amazon feed its waters over 200 rivers. And these are only first-order tributaries. Madeira River is one of the largest Amazonian tributaries. We will talk about him in more detail in the article.
Madeira is the second largest tributary of the Amazon. The total length of the watercourse is 3230 kilometers. The source of Madeira is considered to be the point of confluence of two smaller rivers - Mamor and Beni. This location is shown in the satellite image below. They, in turn, originate on the slopes of the Andean mountains.
In the upper reaches, the Madeira River serves as the state border between Brazil and Bolivia. But after a hundred kilometers, it turns north-east and flows through the territories of two Brazilian states - Rondonia and Amazonas. Madeira flows into the Amazon near the town of Itacuatiara with two independent sleeves.
The catchment area of the river is 1.5 million square meters. km The main tributaries of Madeira: Abuna, Abakashis, Zhiparana, Kanuman.
Madeira River: 8 interesting facts
Facts about the pond:
- In length, Madeira is ranked 19th among all the rivers of the planet. If only inflows are taken into account, then it will take 4th place in the ranking, losing only to Purus, Missouri and Irtysh.
- The name of the river comes from the Portuguese word madeira, which translates as wood.
- The first European to describe Madeira was the Portuguese explorer Francisco de Melo Pallet. He gave her such a name, surprised at the myriad of wood floating in the water.
- The maximum width of the river bed reaches one kilometer.
- Gold is mined in the middle and upper reaches of the reservoir, and oil deposits have been discovered in the lower reaches.
- In the jungles adjacent to Madeira, rubber and Brazil nuts are actively mined.
- An unusual plant grows on the shores of Madeira - a rough gunner whose leaves reach a diameter of two meters and are capable of withstanding significant weight.
- In the waters of Madeira lives the Amazonian freshwater dolphin (another name - inia). Locals consider these amazing animals to be reincarnations of souls of people drowning in a river.
Water regime and river nutrition
The Madeira River in South America is entirely located within the equatorial climate zone. This means that its basin is characterized by year-round rainfall. In other words, the whole year the river is full. Nevertheless, seasonal fluctuations in the level in the channel are also characteristic of it, and they reach 10-12 meters. The highest water level in Madeira is observed from October to May - in the so-called rainy season.
The average water discharge at the mouth of Madeira is 536 square meters. km / year, which in turn is equal to 7.5% of the total runoff of the Amazon. For comparison: this is ten times more than the flow of the European Dnieper River.
During the rainy season, the water level in Madeira can rise by 15 meters. During this period, ocean-going vessels are able to pass up the riverbed 1000 kilometers from its mouth. At the same time, shipping is not possible in the upper reaches of Madeira due to the presence of numerous rapids.
Flora and fauna
About half of the Amazon rainforests are concentrated in the Madeira basin. The local multi-tier forests are distinguished by an amazing variety of flora and fauna. There are up to 4000 forms and varieties of trees alone. And the flora of the river basin totals about 40 thousand species of various plants.
About 800 species of fish and over 60 species of amphibians live in the waters of the Madeira River and its tributaries. In particular, anaconda is found here - a huge snake, reaching a length of 5-6 meters. In addition to fish and reptiles, she often eats the meat of animals living on land: bakers, tapirs and capybaras.
Cities and industry
On the shores of Madeira there are a number of cities and towns: Porto Velho, Manicore, Umaita. The largest of them is the city of Porto Velho, which is the capital of the state of Rondonia. Today, over 400 thousand people live in it. Porto Velho was founded at the beginning of the last century during the construction of the Madeira Mamore railway. Today it is the most important transport and trade center of eastern Brazil.
In 2007, the Brazilian government decided to build two hydroelectric power stations in Madeira - Girau and Santo Antoniu, with a capacity of more than 3 GW each. According to officials, this will increase the country's energy potential by 8-10%, as well as significantly improve transport infrastructure in the Amazon region. Despite the numerous protests of environmentalists, livestock advocates and local indigenous tribes, power plants were still commissioned in 2017.