Shanay-timpishka

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Shanay-timpishka
Mayantuyacu
Data
location Huánuco Region ( Peru )
River system Amazon
Drain over Río Pachitea  → Río Ucayali  → Amazon  → Atlantic Ocean
source Agua caliente
8 ° 48 ′ 51 ″  S , 74 ° 44 ′ 23 ″  W.
muzzle in the Río Pachitea coordinates: 8 ° 48 '2 "  S , 74 ° 42' 32"  W 8 ° 48 '2 "  S , 74 ° 42' 32"  W.

The Shanay-timpishka ( asháninka : "brought to the boil by the sun"), also known as the Mayantuyacu River, is a 6.4 km long river in Peru with a width of up to 25 and a depth of up to 5 m. It is known as the “boiling river” because its average temperature is around 86 ° C. It flows into the Río Pachitea .

Geography and geology

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It flows through the Amazon rainforest in the tribal area of the Ashaninka in the region Huanuco in Peru . The river lies on a partially eroded geological structure, the Agua Caliente Cathedral. The cause for the temperatures of the water between 50 and 90 ° C - in some places 100 ° C is reached - has not yet been explored, the next geologically active zones and volcanoes are approx. 700 km away. Only after heavy rainfall does the river temperature drop below 50 ° C. There are several waterfalls along the river, with the largest falling over 6 meters into a large pond.

The geophysicist Andrés Ruzo of the Southern Methodist University in Dallas studies the river and has shown that the water comes from rainfall and not from deeper layers of the earth's crust. The area where the precipitation falls, which then feeds the river water, is still unknown. One guess made by Andrés Ruzo is that it comes from the Andes . If that can be proven, there would be a hydrological system connecting the Andes and the Amazon.

In and around the river, endemic extremophile animal and plant species have been identified by Ruzo that have adapted to the local conditions.

To the story of the discovery

Andrés Ruzo “discovered” the river. Inspired by stories from his grandfather about the Spanish conquerors and a story by his aunt - who was there herself - he looked for the river during his doctorate and did not find it. Other sources, including official ones, were also unaware of the river. In 2011 he set out again according to his aunt's information and then discovered him.

Current status

The river is endangered because it is located in a region in which rainforests are largely illegally cleared. The catchment area could thus be lost to him. There are also ideas to use the river as an energy source. Ruzo tries to convince the Peruvian government to protect the river as a national monument.

On the river is the Mayantuyacu Center, one of the two centers that deal with traditional medicine and the knowledge of the local people. The methods and procedures of the indigenous people of the Shipibos , Cashibos , Yanesha (also called Amueshas) and Mestizo are researched. The river is an area sacred to the natives, this is where the shamans came for their rituals and for communication with the spirits. The second center is the Santuario Huistin Center, which works with Angela O'Hara, a professor at the University of Toronto . Another focus of this center is to preserve the land and to operate ecotourism to a small extent.

On the summit of the Agua Caliente Cathedral, approx. 2 km south of the river, is the still operating oil and gas field Aqua Caliente PerúPetro Lot 31-D , which has been in operation since 1938 and is therefore the oldest Peruvian oil field in the Amazon region.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b What is behind the boiling Amazon river? , Daniel Lingenhöhl, Spectrum of Science, February 19, 2016, accessed December 12, 2017
  2. ↑ Anyone who falls into the Mayantuyacu River will be cooked , Welt N24, February 18, 2016, accessed December 12, 2017

Web links

literature

  • The boiling river - a journey to the Amazon: TED Books, 2016, Andrés Ruzo (author), Irmengard Gabler (translator), ISBN 978-3-596-03691-2
  • The Boiling River: Adventure and Discovery in the Amazon, 2016, Andres Ruzo, TED Books, ISBN 978-1-4711-5158-3