Río Chiriaco

Río Chiriaco Río Imaza
Villa de Jumbilla in the foreground, behind the Río Chiriaco
Data
location	Peru
River system	Amazon
Drain over	Río Marañón  → Amazon  → Atlantic Ocean
Source lake	Laguna Siete Lagunas 6 ° 3 ′ 7 ″  S , 77 ° 34 ′ 34 ″  W
Source height	approx.  3600  m
muzzle	Río Marañón Coordinates: 5 ° 8 ′ 46 ″  S , 78 ° 19 ′ 53 ″  W 5 ° 8 ′ 46 ″  S , 78 ° 19 ′ 53 ″  W.
Mouth height	279  m
Height difference	approx. 3321 m
Bottom slope	approx. 18 ‰
length	approx. 185 km
Catchment area	approx. 3557 km²
Left tributaries	Quebrada Cangasa, Río Shushunga
Right tributaries	Río Tuntungos
Small towns	Villa de Jumbilla , Chiriaco
Communities	Yambrasbamba, Nazareth

The Río Chiriaco , also Río Imaza , is an approximately 185 km long right tributary of the Río Marañón in northern Peru in the provinces of Chachapoyas , Bongará , Utcubamba and Bagua within the administrative region of the Amazon .

River course

The Río Chiriaco rises in a ridge of the Peruvian Central Cordillera not far from the summit Cerro de Campanario . The 3600  m high mountain lake Laguna Siete Lagunas forms the source of the river. The Río Chiriaco initially flows through the district of Granada in the province of Chachapoyas. The first 10 kilometers it runs in a south-southwest direction. It then turns north-northwest and maintains this rough direction of flow up to its mouth. The small town of Villa de Jumbilla , the administrative seat of the province of Bongará, lies west of the river at river kilometer 138 . Up to river kilometer 110 the Río Chiriaco flows through a wide high valley of the central Andean chain . In the lower 110 kilometers, the river runs mainly in narrow gorges. At river kilometer 21 the Río Shushunga flows into the Río Chiriaco from the left. Then the Río Chiriaco cuts through a ridge in a northerly direction. The small town of Chiriaco is located 12 km above the estuary on the left bank of the river. 3 km further downstream, the Río Tuntungos meets the Río Chiriaco from the right. This flows west for the last few kilometers. At the settlement of Nazareth , the Río Chiriaco finally flows into the Río Marañón. About 3 km above the estuary, the Puente Chiriaco road bridge , over which the national road 5NC runs, spans the river.

Catchment area

The 3557 km² catchment area of the Río Chiriaco extends over an eastern area of ​​the Peruvian Central Cordillera south of the lower reaches of the Río Marañón. It borders in the northeast on the catchment area of ​​the Río Nieva , in the southeast on that of the Río Mayo and in the south and west on that of the Río Utcubamba .