Río Caroní
| Río Caroní | ||
 The Río Caroní 8 km above the mouth at Ciudad Guayana |
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| Data | ||
| location |
 Venezuela
|
|
| River system | Orinoco | |
| Drain over | Orinoco → Atlantic Ocean | |
| Confluence of |
Río Cuquenán and Río Yuruaní 4 ° 57 ′ 12 ″ N , 61 ° 15 ′ 13 ″ W |
|
| Source height | approx. 850 m | |
| muzzle | at Ciudad Guayana in the Orinoco coordinates: 8 ° 20 ′ 43 " N , 62 ° 43 ′ 9" W 8 ° 20 ′ 43 " N , 62 ° 43 ′ 9" W |
|
| Mouth height | approx. 8 m | |
| Height difference | approx. 842 m | |
| Bottom slope | approx. 1.1 ‰ | |
| length | approx. 750 km (including Río Cuquenán: 935 km) | |
| Catchment area | 95,000 km² | |
| Outflow at the level at the mouth |
MQ |
5000 m³ / s |
| Left tributaries | Río Carcupí , Río Paragua | |
| Right tributaries | Río Aponguao , Río Caruay | |
| Reservoirs flowed through | Guri , Tocoma , Caruachi , Macagua | |
| Big cities | Ciudad Guayana | |
 The mouth of the Río Caroní into the Orinoco (below in the picture) |
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The Río Caroní is a right tributary of the Orinoco in Venezuela . It has a length of about 750 km. Including the right source river Río Cuquenán , the total length is about 935 km. The English navigator Walter Raleigh reached the tributary of the Río Caroní in May 1595 in search of the legendary El Dorado and was enthusiastic about the beauty and fertility of the landscape, as can be read in his personal notes.
In the Guri reservoir , the river is dammed into one of the largest reservoirs on earth. The Caruachi hydroelectric power station is located just below this, at a second damming, and the Macagua Dam just before it flows into the Orinoco .
River course
The Río Caroní arises 55 km west-southwest of the Roraima-Tepui in the extreme south of Venezuela at an altitude of about 850 m at the confluence of the Río Cuquenán and Río Yuruaní . Its source rivers arise on the southern flank of the Roraima-Tepui. The Río Caroní initially flows mainly in a westerly direction. He takes up the Río Aponguao and Río Caruay from the right. Finally, it leaves the mountainous country and meets the Río Carcupí coming from the south at 500 km and turns north. The Río Caroní runs up to river kilometer 245 along the southern and western borders of the Canaima National Park . Between river kilometers 215 and 95 the Río Caroní is dammed up to the Guri reservoir . The Río Paragua flows into the reservoir from the southwest. Finally, the Río Caroní meets the Orinoco near Ciudad Guayana .
Hydrology and catchment area
The catchment area covers an area of 95,000 km². The mean discharge at the mouth is 5000 m³ / s.
Hydropower plants and reservoirs
Looking downstream, the Caroní is dammed by the following hydropower plants:
| Hydroelectric power plant | operator | Power (MW) | Reservoir | Water surface (km²) | Volume (billion m³) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guri | 10,025 | Guri | 4,250 | 138 | |
| Tocoma | 2,350 | Tocoma | 87 | 1.77 | |
| Caruachi | 2,160 | Caruachi | 238 | 3.52 | |
| Macagua | 3.152 | Macagua | 47.4 | 0.363 |
literature
- Sir Walter Raleigh: The Discovery of Guiana Project Gutenberg eText
