Branco River

Last updated
Branco River
Rio Branco sul.JPG
Branco River in Boa Vista city, Roraima state, Brazil. The Macuxi Bridge, 1.2 km (0.75 mi) long, [1] can be seen in the background.
Negroamazonrivermap.png
The Branco River is a tributary of the Rio Negro (highlighted on map)
Native nameRio Branco (Portuguese)
Location
CountryFlag of Brazil.svg  Brazil
Physical characteristics
Source 
  locationconfluence of Takutu and Uraricoera, Roraima, Brazil
  coordinates 3°1′28.5276″N60°29′14.8596″W / 3.024591000°N 60.487461000°W / 3.024591000; -60.487461000
  elevation64 m (210 ft)
2nd source 
  location Uraricoera, Parima Mountains
  coordinates 3°41′42.2484″N64°12′36.018″W / 3.695069000°N 64.21000500°W / 3.695069000; -64.21000500
  elevation1,240 m (4,070 ft)
3rd source 
  location Takutu, Guiana Shield
  coordinates 1°47′48.6492″N60°1′38.2656″W / 1.796847000°N 60.027296000°W / 1.796847000; -60.027296000
  elevation306 m (1,004 ft)
Mouth  
  location
Rio Negro, Roraima, Brazil
  coordinates
1°23′38″S61°50′46″W / 1.39389°S 61.84611°W / -1.39389; -61.84611
  elevation
12 m (39 ft)
Length560 km (350 mi) [2] to 775 km (482 mi) [3]
Basin size192,392.66 km2 (74,283.22 sq mi) [4]
Discharge 
  locationConfluence of Rio Negro, Roraima
  average(Period:1967-2010)5,400 m3/s (190,000 cu ft/s) [4]

(Period: 1980-2006)5,300 m3/s (190,000 cu ft/s) [5]

(Period: 1998-2022)6,469 m3/s (228,500 cu ft/s) [6]
  minimum278 m3/s (9,800 cu ft/s) [6]
  maximum28,697 m3/s (1,013,400 cu ft/s) [6]
Discharge 
  location Caracaraí (400 km upstream of mouth; Basin size: 124,980 km2 (48,260 sq mi)
  average(Period: 1997/01/01-2015/12/31)

3,170.343 m3/s (111,959.6 cu ft/s) [7]

(Period: 1998-2022)3,615.65 m3/s (127,685 cu ft/s) [4]
  minimum178 m3/s (6,300 cu ft/s) (1998/03/24) [4]
  maximum15,735 m3/s (555,700 cu ft/s) (1976/07/10) [4]
Discharge 
  location Boa Vista (Basin size: 97,200 km2 (37,500 sq mi)
  average(Period: 1967-2010)2,436.76 m3/s (86,053 cu ft/s) [4] (Period: 1998-2022)3,129.97 m3/s (110,534 cu ft/s) [4]
Basin features
Tributaries 
  left Takutu, Anauá, Itapará
  right Uraricoera, Mucajai, Ajarani, Univini, Catrimani, Xeruini

The Branco River (Portuguese : Rio Branco; Engl: White River) is the principal affluent of the Rio Negro from the north.

Contents

Basin

The river drains the Guayanan Highlands moist forests ecoregion. [8] It is enriched by many streams from the Tepui highlands which separate Venezuela and Guyana from Brazil. Its two upper main tributaries are the Uraricoera and the Takutu. [9] The latter almost links its sources with those of the Essequibo; during floods headwaters of the Branco and those of the Essequibo are connected, allowing a level of exchange in the aquatic fauna (such as fish) between the two systems. [10]

The Branco flows nearly south, and finds its way into the Negro through several channels and a chain of lagoons similar to those of the latter river. It is 350 miles (560 km) long, up to its Uraricoera confluence. It has numerous islands, and, 235 miles (378 km) above its mouth, it is broken by a bad series of rapids.

Discharge

Average, minimum and maximum discharge of the Branco River at near mouth. Period from 1998 to 2022. [6]

YearDischarge (m3/s)YearDischarge (m3/s)
MinMean Max MinMeanMax
19985,66416,43520114545,00816,815
19991,7929,53822,57620122,1358,38117,944
20002,5069,72528,69720131,3776,49313,229
20017886,55117,79120141,1176,38415,489
20021,2715,21918,76020157723,98310,416
20036404,37513,32020164354,31611,677
20047564,24411,95920172,2587,43716,449
20057297,86819,89320187776,65317,912
20062,4579,89922,64420196255,20515,859
20078457,27115,11820201,5677,21616,564
20082,7397,63017,28020211,7128,82823,180
20094864,31810,73520221,8109,08723,631
20102782,7548,0402786,46928,697

Water chemistry

As suggested by its name, the Branco (literally "white" in Portuguese) has whitish water that may appear almost milky due to the inorganic sediments it carries. [11] It is traditionally considered a whitewater river, [12] [13] although the major seasonal fluctuations in its physico-chemical characteristics makes a classification difficult and some consider it clearwater. [14] [15] Especially the river's upper parts at the headwaters are clear and flow through rocky country, leading to the suggestion that sediments mainly originate from the lower parts. [11] Furthermore, its chemistry and color may contradict each other compared to the traditional Amazonian river classifications. [14] The Branco River has pH 6–7 and low levels of dissolved organic carbon. [15]

Alfred Russel Wallace mentioned the coloration in "On the Rio Negro", a paper read at the 13 June 1853 meeting of the Royal Geographical Society, in which he said: "[The Rio Branco] is white to a remarkable degree, its waters being actually milky in appearance". Alexander von Humboldt attributed the color to the presence of silicates in the water, principally mica and talc. [16] There is a visible contrast with the waters of the Rio Negro at the confluence of the two rivers. The Rio Negro is a blackwater river with dark tea-colored acidic water (pH 3.5–4.5) that contains high levels of dissolved organic carbon. [15]

River capture

Until approximately 20,000 years ago the headwaters of the Branco River flowed not into the Amazon, but via the Takutu Graben in the Rupununi area of Guyana towards the Caribbean. [17] Currently in the rainy season much of the Rupununi area floods, with water draining both to the Amazon (via the Branco River) and the Essequibo River. [10]

Citations

Notes

  1. UOL. Turismo em Boa Vista. Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine Access on Feb 17 2012.
  2. Ziesler, R.; Ardizzone, G.D. (1979). "Amazon River System". The Inland waters of Latin America. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. ISBN   92-5-000780-9. Archived from the original on 8 November 2014.
  3. "Branco-River". Archived from the original on 2023-02-17. Retrieved 2023-03-10.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Amazon basin water resources observation service". Archived from the original on 2023-09-08. Retrieved 2023-03-10.
  5. Seyler, Patrick; Laurence Maurice-Bourgoin; Jean Loup Guyot. "Hydrological Control on the Temporal Variability of Trace Element Concentration in the Amazon River and its Main Tributaries". Geological Survey of Brazil (CPRM). Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 24 July 2010.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "River Discharge and Reservoir Storage Changes Using Satellite Microwave Radiometry". Archived from the original on 2023-03-10. Retrieved 2023-03-10.
  7. Jamie, Towner (2019). "Assessing the performance of global hydrological models for capturing peak river flows in the Amazon basin" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2023-10-14. Retrieved 2023-03-10.
  8. Sears, Robin, South America: Southern Venezuela, northern Brazil, western Guyana, and eastern Colombia (NT0124), WWF: World Wildlife Fund, archived from the original on 2020-09-22, retrieved 2017-04-01
  9. "Map of the Branco or Parimé River and of the Caratirimani Uararicapará Majari, Tacutú and Mahú Rivers". World Digital Library. Archived from the original on 14 December 2013. Retrieved 27 April 2013.
  10. 1 2 Quinn, J.A.; S.L. Woodward, eds. (2015). Earth's Landscape: An Encyclopedia of the World's Geographic Features. Vol. 1. Bloomsbury Academic. p. 142. ISBN   978-1-61069-445-2.
  11. 1 2 The Alfred Russel Wallace page: On the Rio Negro. Archived 2015-06-02 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 10 October 2017.
  12. Venticinque; Forsberg; Barthem; et al. (2016). "An explicit GIS-based river basin framework for aquatic ecosystem conservation in the Amazon". Earth Syst. Sci. Data. 8 (2): 651–661. Bibcode:2016ESSD....8..651V. doi: 10.5194/essd-8-651-2016 .
  13. Val, A.L.; V.M.F. de Almeida-Val; D.J. Randall, eds. (2013). Fish Physiology: The Physiology of Tropical Fishes. p. 27. ISBN   978-0-12350-445-6.
  14. 1 2 Ríos-Villamizar, E.A.; M.T.F. Piedade; J.G. da Costa; J.M. Adeney; J. Junk (2013). "Chemistry of different Amazonian water types for river classification: A preliminary review". Archived from the original on 2021-02-14. Retrieved 2017-12-11.
  15. 1 2 3 de Souza kodra, A.; M.N. Fernandes; W.L. Paxiúba Duncan (2014). "Effect of clearwater on osmoregulation of cururu ray, Potamotrygon sp. (Chondrichthes; Potamotrogonidae), an endemic species from blackwater river". Scientia Amazonia. 3 (1): 15–24.
  16. "Alexander von Humboldt, Personal Narrative of Travels to the Equinoctial Regions of America During the Years 1799-1804, (chapter 25). Henry G. Bohn, London, 1853". Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2015-05-13.
  17. Cremon, É. H. (2016). Evolução quaternária do Rio Branco - norte da Amazônia - com base em dados orbitais e geológicos. Tese (Doutorado em Sensoriamento Remoto) - Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais (INPE), São José dos Campos.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

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References