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    Amazon River: Delta

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    Peter Newing
    The Amazon River is over 6,200 km long and flows through South America, originating in the Andes Mountains in Peru and emptying into the Atlantic Ocean in Brazil. It has over 200 tributaries and flows through the largest rainforest in the world, home to an immense variety of wildlife including over 2,000 fish species. The river floods vast areas of the surrounding rainforest annually when snowmelt from the Andes combines with heavy rainfall to overflow the river's banks.

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    Amazon River: Delta

    Uploaded by

    Peter Newing
    49 views3 pages
    The Amazon River is over 6,200 km long and flows through South America, originating in the Andes Mountains in Peru and emptying into the Atlantic Ocean in Brazil. It has over 200 tributaries and flows through the largest rainforest in the world, home to an immense variety of wildlife including over 2,000 fish species. The river floods vast areas of the surrounding rainforest annually when snowmelt from the Andes combines with heavy rainfall to overflow the river's banks.

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    Amazon River

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    The Amazon River is over 6,200 km long and flows through South America, originating in the Andes Mountains in Peru and emptying into the Atlantic Ocean in Brazil. It has over 200 tributaries and flows through the largest rainforest in the world, home to an immense variety of wildlife including over 2,000 fish species. The river floods vast areas of the surrounding rainforest annually when snowmelt from the Andes combines with heavy rainfall to overflow the river's banks.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    49 views3 pages

    Amazon River: Delta

    Uploaded by

    Peter Newing
    The Amazon River is over 6,200 km long and flows through South America, originating in the Andes Mountains in Peru and emptying into the Atlantic Ocean in Brazil. It has over 200 tributaries and flows through the largest rainforest in the world, home to an immense variety of wildlife including over 2,000 fish species. The river floods vast areas of the surrounding rainforest annually when snowmelt from the Andes combines with heavy rainfall to overflow the river's banks.

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    AMAZON RIVER

    Continent

    South America

    Countries it flows
    through

    Peru, Brazil, Venezuela, Ecuador,


    Bolivia

    Length

    6275 kilometres

    Number of tributaries

    Over 200

    Source

    Lago Villafro in the Andes Mountains,


    Peru

    Mouth

    Brazil into the Atlantic Ocean (delta)

    Location

    The Amazon is the second longest river in the world. It begins


    as hundreds of tiny little streams high in the Andes Mountains.
    It flows into two main rivers, the Ucayali and the Maranon. It
    then flows east towards its delta in Brazil by the Atlantic
    Ocean. It is joined by over two hundred tributaries which flow
    into the main river.
    The Amazon drainage basin is made up of tributaries,
    rainforest and the river itself. More than 200 tributaries are
    in Brazil. The largest tributaries are over 1600 kilometres in
    length.

    The Amazon deposits more than 3 million tons of sediment in


    its delta, which is over 300 kilometres wide. The brown
    sediment extends as a brown stain 300 kilometres into the
    Atlantic Ocean. The Amazon River also has an estuary.

    Wildlife
    On its course to the sea, the Amazon flows through the
    biggest rainforest in the world. Parrots, toucans, jaguars,
    monkeys and insects live in the rainforest. Over 2000 types of
    fish live in the Amazon itself. They include Angelfish and the
    deadly piranha. Alligators and snakes also live in the river. The
    rainforest has plenty of food, and safe places for animals to
    make their homes.
    The Amazon and flooding
    Every year the Amazon floods a large area
    of the rainforest. This is because there is
    heavy rainfall in the region. When snow melts in the Andes
    Mountains, the river channel can carry no more water. When
    the channel is full, the banks burst.
    Ships and the Amazon
    The Amazon is classed as a navigable river. It is often called
    the Ocean River. It is navigable by ships for two thirds of its
    course. Ocean liners carrying cargo stop at Manaus, nearly
    1600 kilometres from the Amazon's mouth. Ships of 3000 tons
    can reach Iquitos in Peru, nearly 3700 kilometres from the
    mouth. The Amazon is the most navigable river in the world
    because it is so deep, with many long tributaries.

    People and the Amazon


    For many centuries, few white people visited the Amazon and
    its rainforest . It was home to hundreds of Indian tribes who
    found food, shelter and water from the forest. They built
    villages there. But in the 20th century, white people
    discovered oil and precious gems, as well as valuable timber
    (wood) such as rosewood and teak.
    Now, people are chopping down large areas of the forest to
    mine gems and to grow crops. Rainforest wood is used for
    furniture. These changes have meant that the Amazon has
    become more polluted. There has been more erosion to the
    river banks and surrounding land.
    People live in villages by the Amazon, and large towns like
    Manaus which have been built close to the river banks. Some
    people also build their homes on stilts fixed into the river bed
    itself. These homes are very fragile and often get washed away
    when the river floods. There are no bridges crossing the
    Amazon.

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