The rivers They are fresh water currents that flow on the continents, from the higher altitudes to the lower parts. In this way, the relief is the factor that most determines the characteristics of the river, an element that is present both in the smallest streams to the rivers with the largest flow in the world.
The river flow It is not usually constant, and all of them usually flow into seas, lakes and sometimes into the ocean itself, through estuaries or other hydrographic formations that allow the space through which the water passes to be greatly expanded: through these semi-closed bodies of water A very particular aquatic environment is created, due to the complex physical and biological processes that are unleashed there.
There are occasions, on the other hand, that the river only flows into another river, which is the case of the so-called tributary rivers. The point at which hydrographic formations divide (or merge) is called the confluence, and the flow of the river that receives tributaries is always less than that of its predecessor.
Rivers of South America
The largest river in the world, the Amazon which is located in South America, has 6,800 kilometers and its route is crossed by more than 1,000 tributaries, some 25 rivers with more than 1,000 kilometers in length. The magnitude of the Amazon River is remarkable, covering by itself 40% of South America.
As in North America, in South America there is a Mountain chain that crosses the West of the continent from North to South, the Andean chain. In South America this chain is called the Andes Mountains, and it is fundamental for the purposes of the hydrographic formations that are formed on that continent.
The biome of the southern subcontinent is mostly tropical, in particular a humid forest biome: the aforementioned Amazon River basin it runs most of its journey through that region. The other biomes that form around the South American rivers include tropical evergreen forests, tropical forests with seasons, tropical savannas formed with natural grasslands, or mountain forests on the slopes of the Andes.
Examples of rivers in South America
The following list includes some names of rivers in South America, with a brief description of some of them.
- Amazon River. Its source occurs in Peru, at the confluence of the Marañón and Ucayali rivers. Its immensity is made evident when seeing that it is the longest, most powerful, widest, deepest river and with the most extensive basin on earth.
- Orinoco river. It is the third largest river in the world. It occurs at large floods, due to torrential tropical rains that generate significant floods. It receives practically 200 rivers with more than 500 tributaries.
- Parana River. River that is part of the extensive La Plata basin. It is classified as an alluvial river, because it carries and drags sediment in its flow.
- Paraguay River. It was born in the Brazilian State of Mato Grosso, and serves as a limit in three cases of countries; between Brazil and Bolivia, between Brazil and Paraguay, and between Paraguay and Argentina. It is the main river artery of Paraguay.
- Silver river. River with an estuary, formed in Argentina and Uruguay by the formation of the Paraná and Uruguay rivers. It has the peculiarity of being the widest river in the world.
- Uruguay River
- San Francisco River
- Tocantins River
- Essequibo River
- Xingu River
- Purús River
- Mamoré River
- Madeira River
- Ucayali River
- Caquetá River
- Black river
- Magdalena river
- Marañón River
- Pilcomayo River
- Apurímac River