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New underground river in the Amazon may be the world's largest
Researchers have found a stream to 4 km deep.
Named Hamza, the river rises in the Andes and empties into the Atlantic.
Eduardo Carvalho
Globe Nature, in Sao Paulo
Shows the path of the waters rising higher and far from the Amazon River
Aquifer in the Amazon may be the world's largest, say geologists
Evidence of the existence of an underground river with the same length of the Amazon River, which would be 4,000 meters below the largest watershed in the world, were released this month in a study by researchers at the Department of Geophysics of the National Observatory (ON) in Rio de Janeiro.
Rio Hamza was born in Peru in the Andes, the same region as the Amazon River. "This line remains underground water from its source, only not so far from the surface. Both villages we have reports of that country, installed in the region of Cuzco, who use this river for agriculture. They know that flow under arid and therefore make excavations for wells or plantations, "said the researcher from the Indian researcher Valiya Hamza National Observatory.
McIntyre Lagoon, at the top of the Andes
in Peru: the main source of the Amazon River
(Photo: Play / TV Globo)
The flow of water from this river runs vertically, being drained from the surface up to two thousand feet deep. Then, near the region of Acre, the course is flat and follows the path of the Amazon River, from west to east, past the river Solim?es, Amazonas and Maraj?, to enter the ocean.
"The water Hamza goes up to 150 km into the Atlantic and decreases levels of salinity of the sea. You can identify this phenomenon due to sediments that are found in water, characteristic of freshwater, and marine life existing with fish that would not survive in saltwater environment, "he said.
Features
The discovery is the work of doctoral Elizabeth Pimentel, led by Hamza. It indicates that the river would be 6,000 kilometers long and enter the Atlantic Ocean by the same mouth, which goes to Para Amap? The discovery was made from the analysis temperature of 241 deep wells drilled by Petrobras in the 1970s and 1980.
"The soil temperature is 24 degrees Celsius constant. However, when the water intake occurs, there is a decline of up to 5 degrees Celsius. It was from this point that we begin to develop our study. This may be the largest underground river in the world, "said Hamza.
"There is an aquifer, which is a reserve of water without moving. We see water moving, albeit slowly, the sediment, "said researcher surnamed named the new river.
Hamza River, discovered by Brazilian researchers, is well below the Amazon River, which crosses the northern region of the country, four thousand meters deep (Photo: Rede Globo)
From end to end
Despite being an underground river, the flow (amount of water poured per second) is greater than the S?o Francisco River, which cuts the Brazilian Northeast. While Hamza has flow 3100 m? / s, the S?o Francisco River is 2,700 m? / s. But neither compares to the Amazon River, with 133 000 m? / s.
"The speed of travel Hamza is also lower because the water flow has to overcome the existing rock four thousand feet deep. While the Amazon flows to 2 meters per second, the speed of groundwater flow is 100 meters per year.
Another number that stands out is the distance between the banks of Hamza, reaching up to 400 km from one ledge to another, a similar distance between the cities of Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.
"We will continue our research, because our database needs to be improved. From September we will seek information about the temperature inside land in Manaus (AM) and Rond?nia. Once we determine the exact speed of the water course, "added the researcher of the National Observatory.