Marañón
| Río Marañón | ||
 Marañón after the mouth of the Río Santiago near Borja |
||
| Data | ||
| location |
 Peru
|
|
| River system | Amazon | |
| Drain over | Amazon → Atlantic Ocean | |
| Confluence of |
Río Lauricocha and Río Nupe 9 ° 59 ′ 19 ″ S , 76 ° 40 ′ 57 ″ W |
|
| Source height | approx 3310 m | |
| Union | with the Río Ucayali to the Amazon Coordinates: 4 ° 26 ′ 25 ″ S , 73 ° 27 ′ 4 ″ W 4 ° 26 ′ 25 ″ S , 73 ° 27 ′ 4 ″ W |
|
| Mouth height | 88 m | |
| Height difference | 3222 m | |
| Bottom slope | 1.7 ‰ | |
| length | 1905 km | |
| Catchment area | 382,877 km² | |
| Outflow A Eo : 382,877 km² |
MNQ MQ Mq MHQ |
6200 m³ / s 14,900 m³ / s 38.9 l / (s km²) 22,200 m³ / s |
| Left tributaries | Río Chinchipe , Río Santiago , Río Morona , Río Pastaza , Río Tigre | |
| Right tributaries | Río Utcubamba , Río Huallaga | |
| Small towns | Nauta | |
| Communities | Bagua, Barranca, Concordia | |
| Navigable | from balsas | |
 Amazon basin, Marañón river highlighted |
||
 Valley of the Marañón between the provinces of Chachapoyas and Celendín |
||
The Río Marañón is the left and larger of the two headwaters of the Amazon in South America and thus hydrologically the main source river of the Amazon. The longer source river is the Ucayali . The Río Marañón is 1905 kilometers long and has an average water flow of around 15,000 m³ / s.
River course
The Marañón arises from the confluence of the Río Lauricocha and Río Nupe . The latter rises in the Cordillera Huayhuash at an altitude of 5800 m . The origin of the Río Lauricocha north of the Cordillera Raura in three mountain lakes above Lake Lauricocha was determined in 1909 by Wilhelm Sievers as the source of the Amazon. The Río Lauricocha was recognized as the Amazon headwaters until the source of the Río Apurímac was discovered in 1975 .
The Marañón runs through a large part of the Andes in northern Peru and includes the Río Vizcarra near La Unión and the Río Utcubamba near Bagua . As one of the longest rivers in Peru, it flows several hundred kilometers within the Andes, parallel to the mountain ranges to the northwest, before emerging to the east into the Amazon lowlands, where it joins the Río Ucayali to form the Amazon. At the transition to the Amazon basin at river kilometer 674, the Río Marañón flows through the breakthrough valley Pongo de Manseriche . The Marañón flows through high mountains , semi-desert valley floors and subtropical and tropical rainforests .
Economy and culture
The Marañón is navigable from the village of Balsas. An oil pipeline runs parallel to the northern part of the river. In its catchment area there are deposits of lead , zinc and silver , as well as a non-ferrous metal smelter .
The river has been developed for hydropower use since the 2010s. A cascade of hydropower plants is planned along the upper and middle reaches of the Río Marañón. A first hydropower plant went into operation in 2018.
The river forms the background for the novel The Golden Serpent by Ciro Alegría .
Places on the Marañón
- Bagua
- Barranca
- Concordia
- Nauta
The largest tributaries
The largest tributaries include (downstream):
| Left tributaries | Right tributaries |
See also
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ A b Juan Carlo Espinoza Villar et al .: Evolución regional de los caudales en el conjunto de la cuenca del Amazonas para el periodo 1974-2004 y su relación con factores climáticos. Revista Peruana Geo-Atmosférica RPGA (1), 66-89, 2009 ( PDF ( Memento of the original from September 21, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. )
- ^ Kümmerly + Frey Rand McNally : International Atlas . Published by Georg Westermann Verlag ISBN 3-07-508962-1
- ↑ Reader's Digest: World Atlas . Published by The Reader's Digest Association Limited, London ISBN 978-3-89915-385-9
