When Rivers And Their Cargo Traffic Run Dry
When Rivers And Their Cargo Traffic Run Dry
Subject: Geography
Section: Places in news
Context:
- Shrinking rivers are now posing a major challenge to the global shipping sector.
Details:
- The Amazon river in the Brazilian rainforest is at its lowest level in over a century due to a severe drought.
- The depleted levels of the Amazon river at its critical passage points renders maritime operations unfeasible at the Brazilian port of Manaus.
- Shipping companies are considering levyinga revised low-water surcharge on all cargo from or to Manaus port.
- The Panama Canal has an annual drought season lasting from January to May. To counter this and keep the canal navigable, water is usually drawn from the Alajuela and Gatun lakes. But climate change, including shifting rain patterns, have resulted in extended periods of extremely low water levels in the canal.
- Previously, the Rhine River and Mississippi river also faced a similar situation.
The Amazon River
- Coming a close second after the Nile as the world’s longest river, the Amazon River sets the record in terms of the sheer volume of water that it carries – a mind-boggling average discharge of 219,000 m3/sec of water.
- It is estimated that approximately one-sixth of all fresh water that drains into the world’s oceans goes through the 320-km-wide delt of the Amazon, where it meets the Atlantic Ocean.
Major roles of the Amazon River
As the drainage system of the Amazon Basin, the Amazon River and its approximately 1,100 tributaries play major roles in the ecology of the basin.
Before roads and airstrips started appearing in the basin, these waterways were the major access routes to the interior areas of Brazil and the northern half of South America.
For example, the only way you can get to Iquitos, Peru, which is right on the Amazon River, is to board a plane or a boat. There are no roads to get there.
Origins and course of the river
The Amazon River has its source high in the Peruvian Andes, at an elevation of 5,598 m. There, at a mere 192 km from the Pacific Ocean where it once flowed into, the Amazon River begins as a small tributary called the Carhuasanta.
As it heads east, it flows into and becomes the Hornillos, which merges into the Apurimac, a major tributary that eventually joins the Ene, the Tambo and then the Ucayali.
After an initial drop in elevation, the Amazon River steadies its descent towards the Atlantic Ocean at a rate of 1.5 cm for every kilometre over a distance of over 6,400 km. In some places, the river reaches a width of 10 km, as far as 1,600 km upriver, and large ships can dock all the way up to Iquitos, Peru
Drainage:
It has the largest drainage area of any river system.
Its watershed spans the countries of Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, and Bolivia.
Roughly two-thirds of the Amazon’s main stream and by far the largest portion of its basin are within Brazil.
Tributaries:
It has more than 1,100 tributaries, of which seventeen measures over 1,500-kilometers long.
Notable tributaries include the Rio Negro, the Madeira River, Xingu River, etc.
Port of Manaus:
- It is a riverport located on the Rio Negro in Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil.
- It is the main transport hub for the entire upper Amazon basin.
Source: Archyde