Referred to as the backbone of the Amazon forest and the entire Amazon region, the Brazil Amazon river is a river giant among rivers. The rivers beginning can be traced from the Peruvian Andes which lie some 1oo miles within the Pacific Ocean and it swells from the rivers that feed it, it descends to some 5,000 meters to the Atlantic Ocean. Along the way the giant river takes several names it winds its down. Before it even enters Brazil, the Amazon is referred to as Solimoes and as it is joined by the Negro River, it now becomes the might Amazon.
As the Solimoes is joined by the Negro River, there is a beautiful spectacle that can be observed. The two rivers continue to flow side by side for about 6 miles without mixing. The phenomenon is caused by the differences in the temperature, density and composition of the two rivers. While controversy exists as to the length of the mighty Brazil Amazon River, one thing remains undisputed about this river giant among rivers. The Amazon?s average discharge of 7,000,000 cubic feet per second of water is greater than that of the Yangtze, Nile and Mississippi rivers combined. Of all of the Earth?s fresh water that flows into the world?s oceans, 15 and 20 percent of it comes from the Brazil Amazon River. It is estimated that if the Amazon?s river was tapped for only 30 seconds, the Earth?s population would each have one liter of water per person. What a large volume of water the Amazon must drain into the Ocean!
The large flow of water at its mouth literally ?pushes? the sea and allows for a 125 miles long stretch of fresh water into the Atlantic Ocean. Going inland, the Brazil Amazon has other amazing features. During floods, some parts are so wide that if you were on one side of the bank, you would barely see the other side. In some areas, the river can reach up to 30 miles wide! What about the depth. Again, some parts of the river average about 420 feet. Another amazing feature of the Amazon that tides generated at its mouth from the Ocean can be felt far upstream, sometimes up to 500 miles from the river?s mouth. This is because the Amazon has a very slight slope that is about one and a quarter inches per mile. Indeed, you cannot help but be amazed by the mighty Brazil Amazon river.