Hamza River facts for kids
The Hamza River (in Portuguese: Rio Hamza) is a giant, slow-moving waterway found deep underground in the Amazon area. This huge underground river, called an aquifer, is in Brazil. It's about 6,000 kilometers (3,700 miles) long and nearly 4,000 meters (13,000 feet) below the surface. Scientists announced its discovery in 2011. Think of the Hamza "river" and the Amazon River as a twin-river system. One flows on the surface, and the other flows far beneath the Earth's crust.
Contents
What is the Hamza River?
The Hamza and the Amazon are the two main ways water drains from the Amazon Basin. The Hamza flows from west to east, just like the Amazon River. It is about 4,000 meters (13,000 feet) below the Earth's surface.
The Hamza River also empties into the Atlantic Ocean. It does this deep under the ocean's surface. The water in the Hamza has a lot of salt in it. This means it is very salty.
How was it found?
Scientists used information from seismic studies to find the Hamza River. Seismic studies use sound waves to map what is underground. They also looked at temperature changes in 241 old oil wells. These wells helped them understand the ground deep below.
Hamza vs. Amazon River
The Hamza and Amazon rivers are very different, even though they flow in the same direction.
- Width: The Amazon River is usually 1 to 100 kilometers (0.6 to 62 miles) wide. The Hamza, however, is much wider, from 200 to 400 kilometers (124 to 248 miles) wide.
- Speed: The Amazon River flows very fast, about 5 meters (16 feet) per second. The Hamza River moves incredibly slowly. It flows at less than 1 millimeter (0.04 inches) per second. This is why it's called a "slowly moving waterway."
How the Hamza River Formed
Several natural factors helped create this underground river. Water has slowly worn away calcium carbonate rocks deep below the ground. Calcium carbonate is a common type of rock. Water can drip down to great depths.
Underground cracks in the Earth, called faults, may also help water reach the "river." The type of land called karst topography might also play a role. Karst topography is an area where soft rocks like limestone have been dissolved by water. This creates caves and underground channels.
Other Underground Rivers
Other underground rivers exist because of karst topography. For example:
- A 153-kilometer (95-mile) long underground river is in Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula.
- The 8.2-kilometer (5.1-mile) long Cabayugan River is in the Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park in the Philippines.
In these places, water has dissolved carbonate rock. This forms large systems of underground rivers.
See also
In Spanish: Río Hamza para niños
