The fastest river in the world is the South American Amazon, which is born from the confluence of the two rivers Ukayali and Maranyon. It is considered one of the longest rivers on Earth. If we count from the source of the Ukayali river to the mouth, then its length exceeds 7 thousand kilometers, and from the source of Maranyon to the confluence with the Atlantic Ocean, the length is 6.9 thousand kilometers. According to the results of satellite imagery, it is longer than the Nile, which has always been considered the largest river in the world.
"The most-most" Amazon
It is one of the largest rivers in terms of the area of the water basin, which is ± 7 thousand km 2, and full flow. The depth in some places reaches 135 meters. The Amazon is a long, deep, full-flowing and fastest river in the world, has many features that give it the right to be considered the most mysterious and little explored. She is even recognized as one of the wonders of the world.
The Amazon is considered the widest river in the world. In the driest season, its width is more than 10 km, and during the spill it reaches 40 km. During high tides, ocean water rises 1400 km up the river, forming a prophet or pine forest (high tidal wave). There is not a single bridge along the entire length of the Amazon.
The water stream that it brings to the ocean is so powerful that it changes the salt composition of coastal waters within a radius of three hundred kilometers. Its path lies along the Amazon lowland, not far from the equator. Many tributaries flow into the river, which form a branched water system together with the main branch. In addition to being the longest, deepest and widest, it is believed that it is also the fastest.
Which countries flows
The main part of the Amazon carries its waters in Brazil, as well as four other Latin American countries: Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia. It originates in the spurs of the Andes, and ends its course, flowing into the Atlantic Ocean.
At the same time, its delta is the widest in the world. The mouths in the form of funnels frame Marajo, which is the largest river island in the world.
Amazon is the fastest river in the world
Any river in the channel has several currents, which are divided into upper, middle and lower. From the source, the channel goes with a certain bias. As a rule, most rivers originate in mountains or hilly areas, so their upper stream is faster than the lower, which has a larger volume of water.
The speed of the current in different parts of the river cannot be the same - somewhere it is less, somewhere more. Therefore, the average value of the speed of movement is calculated. For this, measurements are taken in different places. Values are summarized, divided by the number of measurements, and the average speed of water in the river is obtained. The Amazon is the fastest river in the world; its speed is 4.5–5 m / s. During the onset of the rainy season, it increases many times.
There are rivers that have the same speed, and sometimes higher, than the Amazon. For example, in our country in the Altai, the Katun River flows, the speed of which at the time of melting snow reaches 5-6 m / s. This is really the fastest river in Russia.
In turn, the lowland rivers do not flow very fast. For example, in Russia the course of the largest Lena River is 1-2 m / s, which is three times less than in Katun. Therefore, we can consider them the fastest and slowest river in Russia.
Reverse flow
Amazon has a reverse flow. It is caused by ocean tides, when water at a huge speed - 7 m / s, tends back to the channel. In this case, a huge wave is formed, having a height of 4-5 meters. She moves with incredible strength, destroying everything in her path. The further the river goes deeper into the mainland, the less damage. The maximum length of the "prophets" is 1400 km.
The Indians called it the prophets, which means "booming water." This phenomenon is also observed in other rivers, where the wave is called “bora”, but there is no such large-scale reverse flow anywhere.
Discovery History and Names
The first of the Europeans to see the Amazon, the fastest river in the world, the Spaniard Francisco de Orellana. He crossed it at the place of greatest breadth. It happened in 1542. Orellana came up with her name, calling him the Amazon, in honor of the female tribe, supposedly living on the banks of this river. He described the battle with the warlike Amazons. For a long time it was taken on faith. But confirmation of this theory was not found. Scientists agreed that the Spaniards mistook the women for long-haired Indians or their wives who fought with men.
In 1639, the first European, Portuguese Pedro Teixeira, sailed from mouth to source, and the Jesuit de Akunya accompanying him made the first description.
Currently, Brazilian scientists have announced the presence of an underground river under the Amazon, located under it at a depth of 4 km. It flows from the Andes to the Atlantic Ocean. It moves very slowly, about 1 mm / s. It bears the name Hamza in honor of the Brazilian scientist Valiy Hamza, who discovered it.
