GROUP 4 Amazon River

Amazon river

In flood season, the Amazon widens to cover its banks and the islands in the middle of the river, the sediment left by the floods enriches the soil. The Amazon River in South America is the second longest river in the world after the Nile. It is 4,080 miles long and runs from the Andes Mountains in Peru through Brazil to the Atlantic Ocean. It contains more water than any other river in the world- more than the Mississippi, the Nile and the Yangtze combined. In one second the Amazon pours more than 55 million gallons, or 600,000 cubic meters of water, into the Atlantic Ocean, which dilutes the ocean's saltiness for 100 miles from shore.
Uses:
1. The Amazon River makes up for 1/5 of the earth's fresh water. Each year the Amazon River empties tons of solid particles into the Ocean. This contains lots of food for fishes living in the Amazon River.
2. The Amazon Rainforest has been described as the "Lungs of our Planet" as it provides the essential environmental world service of continuously recycling carbon dioxide into oxygen. More than 20 percent of the world oxygen is produced in the Amazon Rainforest.

Problems:
1. Amazon River Basin, where large tracts of rainforest are inundated to depths of 40 feet during seasonal flooding. The lowest flood stage occurs in August and September, the weight of flooded Amazon river causes Earth to sink 3 inches.

2. The Amazon floods the river bank greatly.Since the peak rainy seasons are out of phase, the peak discharges of left bank (Guyana shield) and right bank (Brazilian shield) rivers are somewhat offset, having the effect of moderating high and low water levels on the main stream, but tributaries can have extreme floodings.