Río Magdalena
The Río Magdalena (Magdalenenstrom, Magdalena) is a river 1612 km in length in the west of Colombia in South America . Its catchment area is 263,858 km² and is therefore roughly as large as that of the Rhine .
Surname
etymology
The name of the river has to do with its discovery by the Spanish conquerors. Its discoverer, Rodrigo de Bastidas , and his men landed on April 1, 1501 with their ships at the estuary. As was customary at the time, they named the rivers and places after a saint . The saint of the day on April 1st was Mary Magdalene .
Names and surnames
The full name of the Río Magdalena is: Río Grande de la Magdalena . Translated from Spanish it means “Great River of the (Mary) Magdalena”.
The Indians had given the river various names. The Carib Indians on the lower reaches called the Río Magdalena Caripuana , which translated means "great water". Some Indian peoples in the upper reaches called their part guacacallo for "river of graves". Likewise, the name Yauma or Yuma for "friend of the river" is passed down. Hence the name Rio Yuma .
geography
location
course
The entire lower course of the Río Magdalena cuts through the so-called lowlands of the Río Magdalena , which extends in the east to the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta and in the west to the Caribbean .
The Río Magdalena rises in the Central Cordillera and is surrounded there by extinct volcanoes , such as. B. Alto del Purutal or Cerro de la Pelota . After that, the river flows east through the San Agustín archaeological zone . In this area, stone statues a few meters high have been discovered, the origin of which is a mystery. The current measures just 1.7 m at the narrowest point. The Magdalena then flows north into the plain that separates the Central Cordillera from the Eastern Cordillera. So he practically divides the mountains. The river flows north through cities such as B. Neiva or Barrancabermeja . Near El Banco , the Magdalenenstrom leaves the mountain area and it comes together with its largest tributary, the Río Cauca . From here it flows to the northwest. Finally it flows north and at Barranquilla into the Caribbean Sea .
source
The Río Magdalena rises in the Central Cordillera at the mountain junction of Las Papas in the Departamento del Huila . The mountain lake Laguna del Buey (also known as Laguna Magdalena ), located about 40 km west of the small town of San Agustín , about 3450 m high, is its origin.
muzzle
From the 11th parallel at Barranquilla, the Río Magdalena begins to divide into several estuary arms and to form a large estuary delta . Here are islands that are covered with primary tropical rainforest and are exposed to severe flooding. In the 1930s the estuary was expanded and now Barranquilla is right at the mouth. The fresh water of the Río Magdalena is still noticeable kilometers after it flows into the Caribbean Sea .
Tributaries
The largest tributary of the Río Magdalena is the Río Cauca . While the river above Honda receives only small tributaries because its valley is narrow, it receives more important ones further down, such as the Río Carare , Río Sogamoso and Río Cesar from the east and the Río Quali , Río Nare and Río Cauca from the west. The Río Magdalena receives the Río Cauca through the Brazo de Loba . Above Honda there are small tributaries such as the Río Sombrerillos or Río Matanzas from the east and the Río Mazamorras to the west. In total, the Río Magdalena has thousands of tributaries, but most of them are relatively small.
channels
Of the individual canals, the Canal del Dique, leading to Cartagena , used to be the most important. This branches off to the west 110 km above the mouth near the town of Calamar . The 114 km long canal to the Bahía de Cartagena was built in 1514 by local slaves under the direction of the Spanish conquistadors. The mean discharge is 299 m³ / s.
Later, the north-going canal, which flows into the Antilles Sea below Sabanilla, was of greatest importance. There is a dangerous bar at its mouth .
Hydrology
The catchment area of the Río Magdalena covers an area of 257,438 km² (according to other sources: 263,858 km²). The mean discharge is 7232 m³ / s. The annual sediment load is 144 million tons.
fauna
The fauna of the Río Magdalena is very different from that of other South American rivers. Some fish families typical of other South American rivers such as the Sägesalmler , the Wolfssalmler and the Helogeninae are completely absent, as are all South American, primary freshwater fish that do not belong to the Ostariophysi group , as well as the electric eel .
The fish fauna of the Río Magdalena is more similar to the freshwater fauna on the Pacific side of Panama and the Colombian and Ecuadorian rivers that flow into the Pacific, as well as the fauna of the Río Atrato , partly also with that of Lake Maracaibo . Typical representatives of this fauna are the two types of Hechtsalmlergattung Ctenolucius that Barbensalmlergattung Ichthyoelephas , the Real Salmler Argopleura and Gephyrocharax , and catfish genera Charidolus , Crossoloricaria and Dasyloricaria and Priapichthys from the group of livebearing carp . The freshwater snails show a similar fauna relationship and distribution.
The only cartilaginous fish of the Río Magdalena are the freshwater stingray Potamotrygon magdalenae and the common sawfish ( Pristis pristis ), actually a sea creature, but often found in rivers. A total of 122 species of fish were identified for the Río Magdalena.
There are two species of crocodile in the river, the pointed crocodile and the crocodile caiman .
population
Indians
The kings of Malambo used to live on the lower reaches. The Caribs were settled in this area , a people who were said to have cannibalism and from whose name the word cannibalism may be derived. The Kogi live in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta , a mountain range near the mouth. Almost no Indians have lived directly on the lower reaches for decades.
Indians still live nearby on the upper reaches. These include the Andaquíes , who live in the primeval forests, especially in the Amazon basin . The Uitoto live further south . Some researchers consider their ancestors to be the builders of the mysterious stone sculptures of San Agustín. From around 1200 to 1540 the Muisca also lived on the upper reaches .
San Agustín - archeology zone
The famous archeology zone of San Agustín was discovered in 1857 by the Italian Agostino Codazzi . He saw dozens of stone sculptures. These sculptures are several meters tall and depict people, e.g. B. a priest with a snake or a ball player. The Germans Eduard Seler and Konrad Theodor Preuss were among the best-known researchers who looked for such sculptures there .
Places on the river
About 80% of the entire Colombian population live in the catchment area (with tributaries) of the Río Magdalena. The largest city on the river is Barranquilla , which is near the mouth of the Magdalena River on the Caribbean Sea. Barranquilla is also Colombia's most important seaport. The city and its agglomeration have 1.3 million inhabitants, making it the fourth largest city. Other cities are also among the 50 largest cities in the country, such as Neiva with 348,920 (15th place), Soledad with 320,115 (18th), Barrancabermeja with 202,167 (27th) and Girardot with 124,520 (40th) inhabitants. With 72,000 inhabitants, La Dorada is also one of the larger cities.
In the upper reaches of the still small Magdalenenstrom flows through several small places. The first big city is Neiva. Then there are small towns again, like La Palmita or Purificación , until Girardot follows. After Guataquil and Cambao comes Honda, one of the main river ports on the river. The place is also important for shipping. Shortly afterwards, the Río Magdalena flows through La Dorada, which even has an airport. Now only small towns follow for a long stretch, including Puerto Gutiérrez , Puerto Boyacá , Puerto Olaya or Puerto Carare . The river is now a stream, followed by Barrancabermeja, an important industrial city. Until Mompós there are again only smaller places, such as B. San Pablo , La Gloria , El Banco and Guamal .
The Río Magdalena, which already received the Río Cauca, now flows through the cities of Santa Ana , Plato , Calamar and Salamina . Calamar has an important river port.
At the mouth are the cities of Sitionuevo , Soledad and finally Barranquilla.
history
The Spaniard Rodrigo de Bastidas from Seville , together with the cartographer Juan de la Cosa, explored the largely unknown northern coast of South America with two ships in 1501. From the east they came on April 1, 1501 to the mouth of the "great river", the Rio Grande de la Magdalena . Bastidas and Cosa did not go up the river, but continued west.
Only the Portuguese dared to investigate more closely . On behalf of the Portuguese Queen Joanna of Castile , Jerónimo de Melo sailed up the river. There they met the legendary kings of Malambo.
Deputy Governor Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada sailed the river in 1536 with 600 men in search of the source of the Rio Magdalenas. The source, it was believed, is in the gold land of Piru . Gonzalo de Quesada and his team only got as far as Barrancabermeja.
In 1539 Colombia's first river port was built on the Rio Magdalena near the city of Guataqui.
From April 6 to June 15, 1801, the German researcher Alexander von Humboldt visited the river on his trip to South America. He mapped the course of the river in his diary and created the first qualified map of the river.
Economy and Infrastructure
Raw materials industry
The valley of the Río Magdalena, including that of the Río Cauca, is rich in oil and natural gas . These raw materials are promoted. Many major cities in the vicinity have oil refineries such as B. Barrancabermeja (center of oil production) or Neiva.
Barranquilla is a major industrial center with aluminum , glass and wood industries .
shipping
About 1000 kilometers from the Río Magdalena, from the Caribbean coast to the inland port of Honda , are navigable and the main route into the interior of Colombia. After the rapids at Honda, another 240 kilometers are navigable. From Neiva (437 m above sea level) the river is navigable, but above Honda (200 m above sea level) cataracts interrupt the navigability for 150 km. Steam ships traveled the lower Magdalena 800 km to Honda and from 1875 (Moltke steamer) also the route above the rapids to Neiva.
The natives still navigate the Río Magdalena with boats called Champán . These champánes are made of cedar wood and are 15 to 20 m long. In the middle there is a semicircular palm cane roof . They are moved with oars or stakes . They were the only means of transport on the river before the steamships. It takes almost three months to go all the way up with these boats.
The first ships were steamers , as on the Mississippi River in the 19th century. They were introduced by the German immigrant Johann Bernhard Elbers . On July 2, 1823, he received the sole right to sail on the Río Magdalena. In January of the next year the first ship called Fidelidad sailed on the river. Because of the large amount of driftwood in the water, the paddle wheels had to be relocated on the ships. However, most ships sank for various reasons (engine failure, draft or the ship was too unstable) and so more and more competitors came who also wanted the right to ship. There were several lawsuits until the Colombian President Simón Bolívar declared steamship navigation on the river free on January 28, 1837.
literature
- Michael Jacobs : The Robber of Memories: A River Journey Through Colombia . Berkeley: Counterpoint Press, 2013
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g Juan D. Restrepo, Björn Kjerfve: The Pacific and Caribbean Rivers of Colombia: Water Discharge, Sediment Transport and Dissolved Loads . Hydrochemical Aspects of Major Pacific and Caribbean Rivers of Colombia. January 2004. Retrieved March 15, 2019.
- ↑ Nuestro Rio ( Memento of the original from August 8, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Spanish)
- ↑ a b c d e Terra X - The ghosts from the river of graves, ZDF / ZDF E., 2004, pp. 8–33
- ↑ Beauty at second glance, but then all the more beguiling . sueddeutsche.de. Accessed January 10, 2017
- ↑ Las abejas y las garzas bees and storks (Spanish)
- ↑ Petru Banaescu: Zoogeography of Fresh Waters . Pages 1227-1230, AULA, Wiesbaden 1990, ISBN 3-89104-480-1
- ↑ Fishbase Species in Magdalena ( Memento of the original from December 22, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Colombia - Largest Cities . geonames.org. Accessed January 10, 2017 (English)
