Rio Purus
| Rio Purus - Río Purús | ||
 The Rio Purus in Peru |
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| Data | ||
| location |
 Peru , Brazil
|
|
| River system | Amazon | |
| Drain over | Amazon → Atlantic Ocean | |
| Confluence of |
Río Curiuja and Río Cujar 10 ° 44 ′ 56 ″ S , 71 ° 47 ′ 15 ″ W |
|
| Source height | approx. 330 m | |
| muzzle |
Amazon coordinates: 3 ° 40 ′ 55 ″ S , 61 ° 28 ′ 31 ″ W 3 ° 40 ′ 55 ″ S , 61 ° 28 ′ 31 ″ W |
|
| Mouth height | 13 m | |
| Height difference | approx. 317 m | |
| Bottom slope | approx. 0.1 ‰ | |
| length | 3210 km | |
| Catchment area | 371,042 km² | |
| Discharge at the mouth of the A Eo : 371,042 km² |
MQ Mq |
11,000 m³ / s 29.6 l / (s km²) |
| Right tributaries | Rio Iaco , Rio Acre , Rio Ituxi | |
| Medium-sized cities | Boca do Acre , Lábrea | |
| Small towns | Alerta , Canutama | |
| Communities | Santa Rosa do Purus , Manoel Urbano , Pauini , Tapauá , Beruri | |
 Beach on the Rio Purus |
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 Map of the Amazon Basin, Rio Purus highlighted |
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The 3,210 kilometer long Rio Purus ( Portuguese spelling; in Spanish Río Purús ) is a right tributary of the Amazon , the largest river in South America .
River course
The river arises in a low mountain range east of the Peruvian Andes from the confluence of the Río Curiuja (left) and Río Cujar (right) in the Sierra de Contamana . Their sources are located in the Peruvian region of Ucayali , around 320 kilometers north of Cuzco . From there the Purus flows in a north-easterly direction to Brazil , where it flows into the great Amazon in a very strongly meandering river course and with only a slight gradient. Its mouth is about 150 km west of the city of Manaus .
Orographically , the Purus is very similar to the Rio Madeira (see map). It flows roughly 200 kilometers to the west, largely parallel to it and has almost the same length. Its course follows approximately the air line between the Amazon springs of the Ucayali and the center of the Amazon basin near Manaus. The straight line from its source to the mouth is only around 1450 kilometers, including all meanders, its length is estimated at around 3200 km. The catchment area has an area of 371,042 square kilometers. Its mouth is located in the Brazilian state of Amazonas . With a water flow of 11,000 m³ / s, the Purus contributes a good five percent to the water of the Amazon at its mouth. On the banks of the Purus there are around 40,000 km² of floodplains ( Várzea ); in addition, a multitude of lakes form from the old meanders. These two factors mean that the Purús is an extremely productive river in terms of fish economy and ensures most of the fish supply for the city of Manaus .
The Purus is navigable for most of its length; over the Rio Acre , one of its tributaries, to Bolivia .
history
Between 1861 and 1865 the English explorer William Chandless drove up to the source areas of the Purus for the first time. In 1871 an expedition followed by Pereira Labre , after whom the city of Lábrea was later named.
At the upper reaches of the Rio Purus, geoglyphs of a previously unknown pre-Columbian culture were discovered in 2008 with the help of satellite images .
The largest tributaries
The largest tributaries include (downstream):
- Río Chandless (right)
- Rio Laco (right)
- Rio Acre (right)
- Rio Inauini (left)
- Rio Pauini (left)
- Rio Sepatini (right)
- Rio Ituxi (right)
- Rio Mucuim (right)
- Rio Tapauá (left)
- Rio Itapapaná (right)
- Rio Ipixuna (right)
See also
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Agência Nacional de Águas (ANA) e Secretaria Nacional de Recursos Hídricos ( data overview )
- ↑ Angelika Franz: Forgotten Builders of the Jungle on Spiegel Online from January 12, 2010
- ^ Kümmerly + Frey Rand McNally : International Atlas . Published by Georg Westermann Verlag ISBN 3-07-508962-1