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Source of the Amazon River identificated - 1996

Source of the Amazon River identificated - 1996

Jacek Pałkiewicz
2006-06-18 21:57:19

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instrument, finds our exact position: 15°31 '05" S, 71 °45'55" W.
Some dozen meters further above, a slightly stressed line can be perceived: the continental divide between the Pacific and the Atlantic. On the other side of the ridge, the Colca -the deepest canyon in the world- can be seen, as well as the characteristic volcanic cones of the Misti, Chachani and Pichu-Pichu, all of them above 6,000 meters. Over the same divide, short and rapid rivers descend towards the Pacific Ocean. On our side, however; the Orinoco and the Amazon are born, with their majestic tributaries which could also compete with the greatest rivers in the world.

I dip my hand with excitement into the frozen, transparent water of that fountain so apparently insignificant but is the source of the most famous river in the world, the river which maintains all world records: in addition to its length (7,100 kms), also its basin (with more than 6,000,000 square kms) and its volume (more than 180 million liters of water per second) are all beyond comparison.

ACCOMPLISHED TASK
After 25 years of voyaging in the strangest and wildest parts of our globe, when it appeared that the mystery of the unknown and adventure of earthly discoveries no longer existed, there was still the great satisfaction which is the reward for time spent and sacrifices made.
My thoughts are interrupted by Serghey's dark voice which reminds me of another important fact, the Amazon River does not spring from a glacier, as it was always thought. With the change in the weather during the last few years, permanent snows and glaciers, remnants of the glacial age, have disappeared for ever: our river simply springs from permafrost.

From this source of water which is welling up at our feet, springs the Apacheta, which in the valley will join a river with great volume, the Carhuasanta, taking the name Lloqueta; later carrying more and more water from successive tributaries will change its name to Challamayo and then to Hornillos until it becomes the Apurimac. Although a furious river which echoes along, the Apurimac can channel itself into the deepest crevices descending to levels of 4,000 meters of unevenness in a 500 kilometer run, five times more than the Colorado in the Grand Canyon of Arizona. Meantime, the original Apachete continues its course, modifying once again its name, until it becomes the Ucayali River; the plain widens and, further ahead, when it joins the Maranon, it gives birth to the magnificent river called Amazon.