Message about the Amazon River. Amazon message. Flora and fauna of the world's longest water artery

Amazon river broke many records. This is the most full-flowing river in the world, it collects 40% of the waters of South America. The volume of water thrown off by the river into the ocean is so large that it is equal to 1/5 of the total volume of river water on the planet. Many of its tributaries are in themselves the greatest rivers in the world. Recently, the Amazon is also the longest river in the world. It has the widest river mouth in the world, it is 10 times wider than the English Channel. Not surprisingly, at the mouth of the Amazon is the world's largest river island the size of Scotland.

During the rainy season, it floods forests with an area equal to the territory of England. During the dry season, millions of fish are trapped in its lagoons, a paradise for predators. More species of fish live in the river than in the entire Atlantic Ocean. It takes 4 hours to cross its tropical forests by plane.

Characteristics of the Amazon River

Length of the Amazon River: 6992 km

Watershed area: 7,180,000 km?. For comparison, the area of ​​Australia is 7,692,024 km².

River mode, food: The Amazon is fed by numerous tributaries, and due to the humid climate, the river receives a lot of water from precipitation. In the upper reaches, snow nutrition plays an important role.

The Amazon mode is interesting and quite challenging. It is full of water all year round. The right and left tributaries of the river have different flood times. The fact is that the right tributaries are located in the Southern Hemisphere, and the left ones in the Northern Hemisphere. Therefore, near the right tributaries, floods are observed from October to March (summer of the Southern Hemisphere), and near the left - from April to October (summer of the Northern Hemisphere). This leads to some smoothing of the runoff. Southern tributaries bring more water and in May-July lead to the maximum rise in water level. The minimum flow is observed in August - September. In the lower reaches, ocean tides also play an important role, spreading up the river for 1400 km. When the water rises, the river floods vast areas - this is the largest flood in the world. The width of the floodplain reaches 80-100 km.

Average water flow at the mouth: 220,000 m3/s. The maximum discharge during floods reaches 300,000 m3/s and even more. The minimum flow during the dry season is 70,000 m3/s. For comparison, the water flow in the Volga is 8060 m? / s i.e. almost 28 times less.

Where does it run: The Amazon flows mainly through Brazil, but small parts of the Amazon basin belong to Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia.

The Amazon originates at an altitude of 5 thousand meters from the snow-capped peaks of the Peruvian Andes. Melt water, connecting with other streams, rushes down to the endless jungle. In addition to the great height of the mouth of the Amazon, one must also take into account the fact that it is located at the latitude of the Equator and therefore the climate is changeable here, during the day the hot sun weakens the ice grip and melt water descends. Connecting with each other tons of melted snow, form powerful streams and gain acceleration.

Soon, descending to a height of 3.5 thousand meters, the Amazon falls into the realm of humid forests. Here, waterfalls are often found on the river, and the current of the Amazon is still the same stormy, it has to make its way through the mountain ranges. Descending from the Andes, the Amazon spills over a wide valley (the Amazonian lowland). Here it flows surrounded by tropical jungle.

The direction of the Amazon is predominantly from west to east, and it does not stray far from the equator. Interestingly, under the Amazon at a depth of 4 thousand meters, the underground river Hamza (Hamza) flows, it feeds on groundwater.

The main channel of the Amazon is navigable right up to the foot of the Andes, i.e. at a distance of 4300 km. Ocean-going ships can go up the river for a distance of 1690 km from the mouth, to the city of Manaus. The total length of all waterways in the Amazon Basin is 25,000 km.

After the confluence of the Xingu River, the Amazon is more like a sea. The width of the river reaches 15 km and it is no longer possible to see the opposite bank.

Here you can already feel the proximity of the Atlantic and you can observe the ebbs and flows. The riverbed is divided into many branches that flow into its huge delta. The mouth of the Amazon is the widest river mouth in the world. At the mouth of the Amazon there are thousands of islands, the largest of which has an area equal to that of Scotland. In this gigantic estuary, there is a constant struggle between salt and fresh water. The tides of the Atlantic Ocean make their way deep into the river, sweeping away everything in its path. This phenomenon is called the Amazon tidal wave or vice wave.

Flowing into the Atlantic Ocean, the Amazon forms the world's largest delta with an area of ​​100,000 square kilometers. In this huge delta is the largest river island in the world, Marajo.

From its three hundred kilometer mouth, the river discharges more water into the ocean than all European rivers combined. From space, the flow of its muddy waters is discernible in the ocean for a hundred kilometers. from the shore.

The Amazon River at its mouth.

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. In all respects, this is the greatest, one of the longest rivers in the world. The river is located in the north of South America, starting from the Andes in Peru and ending in the Atlantic Ocean in Brazil. The length of the Amazon ranges from 6259 to 6800 km according to various sources. In this article, you will learn about many interesting facts and admire photographs of a real miracle of nature.

The Amazon is a huge system of rivers and forests that crosses half of Brazil and extends to neighboring states. The Amazon River is the largest in the world in terms of basin size (7.2 million km2) and water content. It is formed by the confluence of two rivers - Maranion and Ucayali. The length of Marañon from the source is 6400 km, Ucayali is over 7000 km. The Amazon flows into the Atlantic Ocean, forming the world's largest inland delta (over 100 thousand km2) and funnel-shaped mouths - sleeves covering the huge island of Marajo.

They say that the Amazon got its name thanks to the Spanish conquistadors, who, fighting on the banks of the great river with the Indians, were struck by the undaunted fury of the Indian women who fought along with the men. Brave and strong warriors reminded the Spaniards of the ancient myth of the Amazons - and thanks to them the river got its name.

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 river is navigable for two-thirds of its length from the Atlantic Ocean.

In the small town of Belene at the mouth of the Amazon, large water shafts 4–5 m high roll up the river with a terrible roar during high ocean tides. Their strength is felt at a distance of 1400 km from the mouth. In the lower reaches, after the confluence of the Xingu tributary.

The Amazon is 80 km wide, and its depth at Obidus is 135 m (approximately the average depth of the Baltic Sea). The Amazon provides about 15% of the total annual flow of all the world's rivers. Together with its tributaries, it forms a gigantic water system over 25,000 km long. The main channel of the Amazon is navigable for 4300 km, and ocean-going vessels rise for 1690 km from the mouth to Manaus.

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. 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. Pink dolphins and bullfish live here, the length of which reaches 4 meters, and the weight is more than 500 kg. The famous predator - piranha fish - is also an inhabitant of these places.
The Pink River Dolphin (Inia geoffrensis), is a freshwater river dolphin native to the Orinoco, Amazon and Araguaia/Tocantins River systems of Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela. bend your neck at 90 degree angles to his body, and skillfully hunt fish in the flooded forest.

And here is the piranha that lives in the waters of the Amazon River

The full flow of the Amazon is simply explained: it flows almost exactly along the equator, and the usual summer rainy season for these places alternately occurs in the northern hemisphere in March-September), on its left tributaries, then in the southern (from October to April) - on the right tributaries .The Great River actually lives in conditions of constant floods.

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. In their calculations, they were based on the results of an expedition carried out last year by scientists from Brazil and Peru. Then the researchers reached the source of the Amazon, located in the Peruvian Andes, at an altitude of 5 thousand meters. 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 most full-flowing, but also the longest in the world, ITAR-TASS notes. 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). The Amazon Basin is one of the most

The Indians call the Amazon "Parana-Thing", which means "Queen of the Rivers". Indeed, this river is in all respects the greatest in the world.

It carries a quarter of all the waters carried into the ocean by the rivers of our planet. And the area of ​​​​its basin - more than seven million square kilometers - allows you to place in it the entire mainland of Australia or a country like the United States.

At the mouth of the Amazon, the width of the Amazon reaches two hundred kilometers, and the depth is one hundred meters! Even near the Peruvian city of Iquitos, three and a half thousand kilometers from the mouth, the depth of the river is more than twenty meters, so ships get here.

The full flow of the Amazon is explained simply: it flows almost exactly along the equator, and the usual summer rainy season for these places alternately occurs either in the northern hemisphere (in March-September), on its left tributaries, or in the southern (from October to April) - on the right tributaries.

Thus, the great river actually lives in a constant flood.

Until recently, it was not known exactly where the origins of the Amazon lie. Its length, together with the main of the two sources, the Ucayali River, was approximately determined at 6565 kilometers, which put the Queen of Rivers in second place in the world after the Nile, which is more than a hundred kilometers longer.

But an international expedition organized in 1995, having reached the upper reaches of the Ucayali, discovered that this source, in turn, is formed from the confluence of two rivers: Apurimac and Urubamba.

Coming to the source of the Alurimak River, the researchers determined that the total length of the entire grandiose Apurimac-Ucayali-Amazon water system is 7025 kilometers and, therefore, it is she who is the first in the world in length. The Nile with its sources the White Nile, Albert Nile, Victoria Nile, Lake Victoria Kageroy is almost three hundred kilometers shorter.

Seventeen of them are from 1800 to 3500 kilometers long. (This, for comparison, is the length of the Don and the Volga!) The huge mass of river water carried by the Amazon desalinates the sea 400 kilometers from the mouth.

The largest river island in the world, located in the Amazon delta - the island of Marajo, has an area of ​​​​48 thousand square kilometers, that is, more than Switzerland or the Netherlands, and the entire delta is larger than Bulgaria in area.

The river gets its name Amazon after the confluence of the Ucayali with the Marañon River.

Both sources begin in the Andes and break through to the plain through narrow rocky gorges - pongo. At the bottom of these gorges there is no place even for a narrow path - it is a continuous bubbling ferocious stream with stones sticking out here and there, sometimes narrowing to twenty meters.

Particularly wayward character in Maranion. On the way from the mountains, he passes through 27 pongos. The lower, most formidable of them is Pongo de Manserice ("Gate of the Parrots"). Breaking through the last canyon, the river enters the vast plain of the Amazon and becomes navigable.

The Amazonian lowland, or Amazonia, is the greatest lowland on Earth. This is a vast realm of swamps and jungles, where the only roads are rivers.

However, these roads are enough in abundance - after all, the rivers of the Amazon are navigable for eight thousand kilometers.

During floods, when the level of the Amazon rises by twenty meters, low banks are flooded for 80-100 kilometers in the area.

Huge territories then represent an endless sea with trees sticking out of the water.

In normal times, the Amazon does not look like a giant river, because it breaks into many branches separated by islands.

There are also floating islands on the river, slowly moving downstream. They are formed by intertwined plant roots and fallen tree trunks, on which new vegetation has risen.

The slope of the Amazonian lowland is so small that the influence of ocean tides is noticeable here even 1000 kilometers from the mouth of the river.

A special feature of the Amazonian tides is the famous “pororoka”.

From the collision of a mighty river with a tidal wave going towards the Amazon, a high shaft is formed, topped with a foamy ridge. It rolls up the river with a loud rumble, sweeping away everything in its path.

Woe to a ship that does not have time to take shelter in a side channel or in a bay in advance - a roaring six-meter water wall will turn it over and sink it.

From time immemorial, Indians have experienced a superstitious fear of this mysterious and formidable phenomenon, which seemed to them some kind of terrible monster that devastates the coast and terrifies with its bubbling roar.

Hence the name of the formidable shaft - pororoka ("thundering water").

The first end-to-end voyage across the Amazon from the Andes to the ocean was made in 1842 by the Spanish conquistador Francisco Orellana. For eight months, his detachment sailed along the river for almost six thousand kilometers.

Now it is even difficult to imagine what it cost the Spaniards this almost incredible journey across the entire continent without maps, without knowledge of the characteristics of the river and the languages ​​​​of local tribes, without food supplies, on a fragile home-made boat.

Crocodiles and anacondas, piranhas and river sharks - all these “charms” of the Amazon the Orellana squad had to experience, as they say, on their own skin.

More than once on the way, the Spaniards had a chance to face warlike Indians. In one place, at the mouth of the Trombetas River, the fighting was especially fierce.

And most of all, the conquistadors were struck by the fact that tall half-naked women armed with bows fought in the forefront of the Indian warriors.

They stood out for their fearlessness even against the background of their fellow tribesmen. The brave warriors reminded the Spaniards of the ancient myth of the Amazons - female warriors who did not know defeat.

Therefore, Orellana named the river Amazon.

Since then, many scientists and researchers have visited the great river.

The Frenchman Condamine, the German Humboldt, the Englishman Bates and the Russian traveler Langsdorf at the end of the 18th - beginning of the 19th century managed to penetrate the jungle of the Amazon and discovered for science the amazing living world of the Queen of the Rivers and the surrounding humid forests.

The waters of the local rivers are home to 2,000 species of fish - a third of the diversity of the freshwater fish kingdom of the Earth. (In all rivers of Europe - only 300 species.)

Among the unique inhabitants of the Amazon is a giant five-meter pyraruku (or arapaima), reaching 200 kilograms of weight.

A two-meter electric eel that knocks a person down with a discharge of 300 volts of current, huge river rays with a deadly spike on their tail, a dangerous river shark and a small toothy piranha that terrifies the locals.

The aggressiveness of this predatory creature is indescribable. A hunter who has shot a wild boar or a tapir from a boat often does not have time to swim with a trophy in tow to the shore: from a hefty carcass, a flock of bloodthirsty fish leaves one skeleton.

It happens that for the successful passage of the herd across the river, the shepherds have to sacrifice one cow, which, having previously been injured, is brought into the water below the crossing.

While the piranhas deal with the victim, the rest of the animals have time to cross the ford. Even a vicious predator caught on a bait desperately wriggles in the hands of a fisherman, striving to bite off his finger with razor-sharp teeth.

There are also huge manatees in the Amazon - relatives of the sea cow, and river dolphins, and five-meter crocodiles - black caimans, the victims of which are often not only two-meter tapirs or miniature peccary pigs who came to the watering hole, but also careless hunters.

True, the Indians still say that "one big crocodile is better than three small piranhas" ...

But perhaps the most famous inhabitant of the Amazonian waters is the monstrous anaconda water boa. There are anacondas up to 12 meters long and two meters in girth!

However, hunters talk about fifteen - and even eighteen-meter snakes. It is difficult even to imagine such a "living pipe" that could reach the ground, hanging from the roof of a six-story building.

Places where anacondas are found, and experienced Indian hunters bypass. Not a single animal in the selva (as the Amazonian forests are called in Brazil) can resist the two-hundred-kilogram giantess. Sometimes even jaguars swimming across the river become victims of the anaconda.

And on the smooth surface of calm oxbows and bays in the countless arms of the Amazon, one and a half meter leaves of the largest water lily in the world, Victoria Regia, sway. Round, with upturned edges, they resemble some strange green frying pans. On such a sheet, like Thumbelina, a child of twelve or fourteen years old can sit quietly.

The Amazon rainforest is the richest in terms of number of species of all the forests growing on our planet. On ten square kilometers, you can count up to 1,500 different types of flowers, 750 types of trees, more than a hundred different mammals, 400 species of birds and many snakes, amphibians and insects.

Many of them are still unknown and not described.

The largest selva trees reach 90 meters in height and 12 meters in girth. Even their names sound like music: bertolecia, mamorana, cinnamon, cedarella, babasu, rattan, hevea...

Many of them are of great value.

Tall Bertholets are famous for their delicious nuts. In one shell, weighing several kilograms, there are up to two dozen of these nuts.

They are collected only in calm weather, as the “packaging” torn off by the wind can lay down a careless picker on the spot.

The sweet and nutritious juice of the milk tree resembles milk in taste, and cocoa is obtained from the fruits of the chocolate tree.

Everyone, of course, has heard about the fruits of the melon tree - papaya, and about hevea, the main rubber plant of the modern world, and about the cinchona tree, the bark of which gives humanity the only remedy to relieve attacks of malaria, this scourge of tropical forests.

There are many trees in the selva with beautiful colored wood, like the pau-brazil mahogany, which gave the name to the largest country in South America. And the wood of the balsa tree is the lightest in the world. It is lighter than cork.

Indians build giant jangada rafts from balsa, floating timber down the Amazon, Rio Negro, Madeira and other large rivers. Such rafts sometimes reach hundreds of meters in length and twenty in width, so that an entire village is sometimes placed on them.

But most of all in the Amazon of palm trees - over a hundred species! Almost all of them: coconut, babasu, tukuma, mukata, bakaba, zhupati and karana - benefit a person. Some - with their nuts, others - with wood, others - with fiber, fourth - with fragrant juice.

And only the rattan palm is mercilessly cursed by the inhabitants of the selva.

This is the longest tree on earth (sometimes it reaches three hundred meters!) - in essence, a liana. Its thin trunk is all dotted with sharp spikes.

Clinging to other trees with them, the rattan palm reaches up towards the sun. Intertwining tree branches and trunks, it forms absolutely impenetrable thorny thickets.

No wonder the Indians call it the "devil's rope."

Animals - inhabitants of the selva - are no less diverse than plants. This is the largest animal of the Amazon - the shy and cautious tapir, and the giant capybara - the world champion among rodents. (Imagine a good-natured “mouse” weighing two pounds!)

There are many monkeys here, and they are completely different from their counterparts from Africa or Asia. Among them is the creepy wakiri, or "death's head", whose white muzzle resembles the skull of a dead man.

This one and a half meter cat is not afraid to attack even two-meter anacondas!

And in December, ocelots arrange mating concerts at night, like our March cats.

The most inconspicuous and inactive beast of the selva is, of course,. He spends his whole life hanging with his back down on the branches of trees and slowly absorbing the foliage around him. In order not to move, he manages to turn his head not even 180, but 270 degrees!

This phlegmatic breathes only once every eight seconds. On land, if it happens to descend to the ground, the sloth moves at a speed of 20 centimeters per minute, as in slow motion filming.

The "agile simpleton", as the Brazilians jokingly call him, is a tasty prey for the jaguar, and for the ocelot, and for the boa constrictor, and even for the harpy eagle. The sloth is saved by the fact that in its wool ... algae start up, coloring its skin in a protective greenish color.

Because of this, the immobile sloth is almost invisible on the branch, and the predator often does not notice it.

Under the canopy of branches in the darkness of the night, vampire bats silently sweep by. Their small thin teeth are so sharp that a person bitten in a dream does not feel pain and only, waking up in the morning, finds that the pillow is covered in blood, and there is a tiny wound on the neck.

Of the hundreds of species of selva birds, the most famous in our country, of course, are tiny, the size of a bee,.

And huge, up to a meter in length, macaw parrots. Their bright plumage, as well as the sparkling wings of numerous butterflies, enliven the monotonous greenery of the forest.

And above the crowns of the trees, the most terrible feathered predator of the Amazon - the crested tropical eagle harpy-monkey-eater soars. Powerful muscles and five-centimeter claws make the harpy a real thunderstorm for small monkeys and sloths.

There are many snakes in the forests of the Amazon basin, including poisonous ones. It is no coincidence that Brazil ranks first in the world in terms of the number of people who die each year from snake bites. But the Indians have long tamed small boas and kept them in huts to protect them from rodents and snakes.

A huge tarantula spider strikes and terrifies.

It feeds on careless hummingbirds caught in its wide, like a fishing net, web. And Indian children, for the sake of mischief, sometimes put a rope loop on this spider and lead it around the village like a dog.

But the worst thing for the inhabitants of the selva is not formidable predators and poisonous snakes and spiders, but small sacasaya ants. They live in large colonies underground, but from time to time they emerge from there in huge hordes and move through the forest in a deadly river, destroying all life in their path.

Amazon (Amazonas) - a river flowing in the northern part of South America.

It is the longest, deepest and largest river in the world.

A quarter of all fresh water on the planet (220 thousand cubic meters) is carried into the ocean by the great Amazon River.

How did the world know about her?

The largest river discovered was the Spanish conquistadors in 1542.

In its jungle, they encountered a tribe of warlike Amazon women, entered into battle with them and were so impressed by their courage that they named the river they discovered the Amazon.

Scientists believe that, most likely, these "Amazons" were Indians with long hair or their wives.

Many expeditions searched for the source of the river, but the huge pool and many tributaries created difficulties in the search.

And only in 1996, with the help of space technology, the real source of the Amazon was found.

Description

The great river originates at an altitude of 5,170 meters in the Andes, located in Peru. It starts from the small Apacheta stream, which, together with other streams and numerous mountain rivers, flows into the largest tributary of the Amazon - the Ucayali River. The length of the "queen of rivers" according to the latest research is 7,100 kilometers, and the Amazon has every right to be called the longest river in the world.
The second place is occupied by the Nile River.

Delta

The river delta occupies an immense area of ​​100 thousand km², its width is 200 km.

It is dotted with many straits and channels, between which there are numerous small and large islands.

The area of ​​the delta, equal to 100 thousand km², is the largest in the world. The Amazon Delta goes inland due to ocean tides, which form a four-meter wave with their power.

A huge wave rolls up the river at a speed of 25 km / h, which decreases as it travels. Local residents feel the tide even 1,000 km from the ocean.

mouth

At the mouth of 250 km, the river branches into three branches, which, washing three islands, carry the waters of the Amazon to the Atlantic Ocean.

One of the islands of Moraio, with an area of ​​19,270 km², is considered the largest river island in the world.

The depth of the deepest river in the world reaches 100 meters at the mouth.

In the lower reaches of the river, not only river steamers go, but also ocean liners. The Amazon includes about 100 navigable rivers, some of which stretch for 1,500 km.

Amazonia

More than 500 tributaries, rivers and streams, which are spread over the vast territory of the mainland, fill the Amazon with water. All of them, together with the great river, create a unique pool, which has no equal on planet Earth. The Amazon River Basin has a truly vast area - 7,180 thousand square kilometers. The borders of this giant water system include countries such as Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Bolivia and Ecuador.

The basin is located in the Amazonian lowland - Amazonia, - the area of ​​\u200b\u200bwhich is 5 million km². A tropical rainforest grows here - the largest forest in the world. It consumes a gigantic amount of carbon dioxide and releases an equally huge amount of oxygen. No wonder the Amazon is called the "green lungs" of the planet Earth.

The territory of the Amazon is located on the equator, so the climate here pleases with its constancy. The air temperature throughout the year is stable during the day within 25–28 °, and at night not lower than 20 ° Celsius. The rainy season lasts from March to May. Rivers flood due to heavy rains. Water in the Amazon, rising by 20 m, floods the forests around for several tens of kilometers. After the end of the rains, the river returns to its course.

Vegetable world

Ideal climatic conditions contribute to the development of lush and most diverse vegetation in the Amazon forests in the world. The composition of the Amazonian rainforest is amazing with countless plant species. There are about 4,000 species of trees alone. You can list the most interesting of them.

• Hevea is the most famous rubber plant.
• Chocolate tree.
• Cinchona.
• Papaya.
• Palm trees up to 60 meters high.
• Red tree.

On the lower tier of the tropical jungle grow various types of ferns, bromeliads, bananas. A wide variety of orchids amaze with their bright colors and beauty.

And on the surface of the waters you can see the largest water lily in the world - Victoria Regia. Its leaves in diameter reach two meters and can withstand a weight of about 50 kilograms. Large fragrant flowers, blooming, gradually turn from white to purple. Its seeds are edible and have a pleasant taste. Due to the vast territories and sometimes impenetrable jungle, 30% of the flora has not been studied.

Animal world

The humid environment of the rainforest, where heavy rains alternate with periods of heat, as well as a numerous network of large rivers and small streams, created excellent conditions for the appearance in the waters of the Amazon of the richest and most diverse aquatic fauna on the planet.

Amazing aquatic life

Ichthyologists have found 2,500 species of fish in the river - one-third of all freshwater species. This diversity is due to the fact that many Amazon rivers originate in different areas with different conditions, which is why their water chemistry varies greatly. Therefore, each of them has its own special species of fish and amphibians.

• Bull shark, or blunt shark, up to 3 m long and weighing up to 300 kg.
• Cayman crocodile.
• Small piranha fish. The whole world knows her bloodthirstiness. Locals say it's better to meet one caiman than three small piranhas.
• Pink Amazonian dolphin. Likes to hunt piranha.
• Electric eel up to 2 m long and with a discharge of 300 volts.
• The regulars of aquariums are ornamental fish. The most famous of them are guppies and swordtails.
• Living fossil - arapaima fish up to 2 meters long and weighing about 100 kg. Lives in the Amazon for 400 million years.
• Anaconda is a water snake up to 12 meters long. The largest and most dangerous snake in the world.

A wide variety of wildlife lives in the tropical jungle of the Amazon - 250 species of mammals, 1,800 species of feathered creatures and the same number of beautiful butterflies, 200 species of mosquitoes and hundreds of different species of animals that have not yet been classified. Some channels in the impenetrable forests of the Amazon have not yet been explored. Among the animals of the Amazonian rainforest there are species that are not found in any other part of the planet.

Rare birds and animals

• Tiny, butterfly-sized birds - hummingbirds. They feed on the nectar of flowers and have a bright unique plumage.
• The smallest monkeys in the world are marmosets. They weigh 100 grams or less.
• Howler monkeys with a voice that deafens the whole neighborhood.
• A giant capybara the size of a large dog, but related to rodents.

All the rare animals that settle in the fertile selva cannot be counted. And how many of them are still unknown to science in this unique diversity of life in the Amazon?

The role of the Amazon in the Earth's ecosystem

The unique ecosystem of the Amazon basin plays an extremely important role in the global climate balance on the planet. It affects the chemical composition of the atmosphere.

"Green lungs" process harmful emissions, thereby reducing the risk of the greenhouse effect for the Earth. With reasonable use, the rich Amazonian forest can provide the inhabitants of the planet with inexhaustible resources of food, technical raw materials, and valuable timber. 25% of all medicinal substances in the world are extracted from the green wealth growing in the Amazon.

Ecological problems

In recent years, this most important natural region has been threatened on a global scale.

Unfortunately, the Amazon ecosystem is very vulnerable, especially when it is invaded by humans. New territories are being explored. Dams are being built to prevent fish migration. Animals are being destroyed.

Deforestation

But the main trouble for the tropical selva is uncontrolled deforestation, and not only because of the wood. In the countries of South America, agriculture and cattle breeding are spreading more and more, for which forests are thoughtlessly cut down. The soil of the rainforests is rapidly depleted, farmers are looking for new territories and again irresponsibly cutting down the precious forest.

In addition, large areas of the forest are being cleared for rubber, sugar cane, bananas, and coffee.

Most often, felling is done by slash-and-burn method. After cutting down trees, young growth, stumps and bushes are completely burned out.

Torrential rains wash away the top humus layer of the soil, unprotected by vegetation, after which the cut down area of ​​​​the forest will never recover.

And if the forest is cut down on the slopes, then the precipitation that falls in the mountains, without barriers in the form of forest vegetation, rushes from the mountains in powerful streams of water and wash away the soil layer into the waters of the Amazon.

The soil that gets into the river causes its silting and shallowing.

The destruction of forests threatens the disappearance of the unique gene pool of animals, aquatic fauna, and medicinal plants.

For a normal existence, the animal world needs large forest areas. With the deforestation of tropical forests, the plants that provide food and shelter for most of the forest inhabitants of the Amazon are disappearing.

In 2000, Brazil began to implement an economic development plan called "Avansa Brazil", which includes the construction of infrastructure: power plants, roads, power lines, gas pipelines and much more. If this plan is implemented, about 40% of the forest will be cut down.

Environmental scientists are sounding the alarm. If the Brazilian authorities do not take measures to protect this most important region of the Earth, then an environmental catastrophe on a planetary scale will not be far off.

The fight for the environment

Nevertheless, the authorities of the countries that are located on the territory of the Amazon are making many efforts to protect their unique region.

• There is a fight against poachers.
• With the help of the police, illegal logging is stopped.
• Reserves and national parks are being created. For example, in Brazil, there is the Jau National Park.
• Rare species of fish and animals are bred in nurseries.
• Information work is carried out among the population.
• Research and development is underway to save the Amazon.

Unfortunately, there are no quick wins in the field of nature protection. There is no doubt that the development of new territories by man requires a careful approach and coordinated measures to protect the unique nature and restore what has already been lost. In 1992, in Rio de Janeiro, at the World Environmental Forum, the participating countries signed a document called "Agenda for the 21st Century." This is essentially a global plan to save the planet Earth. I would like to believe that it will be carried out.

Mission of Humanity

The Amazon River is an incomprehensible and beautiful world with all its immense diversity of life. An amazing harmony of flora and fauna reigns here. She is very fragile and vulnerable and requires an extremely careful and respectful attitude towards herself. And the preservation of this precious connection depends only on us - after all, we are also in the same chain with it.

In the 21st century, humanity will have to tackle environmental problems at the most serious level. We have no choice if we want to live happily ever after on a healthy planet. There is a lot of work ahead - the preservation of tropical forests and fertile lands, the maintenance of biodiversity and endangered species, the solution of problems of industrial and domestic pollution, the depletion of mineral reserves, and the restoration of the ozone layer. And nature, including the Amazon, will be saved.

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 women's resistance was not only 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. This is 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.

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.

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 significantly 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 that. 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 appeared 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, mindlessly 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