Origins
Date: 2015-10-07; view: 603.
The Amazon originates from the Apacheta cliff in Arequipa at the Nevado Mismi, with a sole sign of a wooden cross.
The Amazon river has a series of major river 1 … in Colombia, Peru and Ecuador, some of which flow into the Marañón and Ucayali, others directly into the Amazon proper. Among others, these include the 2 … rivers: Putumayo, Caquetá, Vaupés, Guainía, Morona, Pastaza, Nucuray, Urituyacu, Chambira, Tigre, Nanay, Napo, and Huallaga.
The most distant source of the Amazon was established in 1996, 2001, 2007, and 2008, as a glacial stream on a 3 … 5 597 m (18 363 ft) peak called Nevado Mismi in the Peruvian Andes, roughly 160 km (99 mi) west of Lake Titicaca and 700 km (430 mi) southeast of Lima. The 4 … from Nevado Mismi flow into the Quebradas Carhuasanta and Apacheta, which flow into the Río Apurímac which is a 5 … of the Ucayali which later joins the Marañón to form the Amazon proper. While the Ucayali – Marañón confluence is the point at which most geographers place the beginning of the Amazon proper, in Brazil the river is known at this point as the Solimões das Águas. Shortly downriver from that 6 … the darkly colored waters of the Rio Negro meet the sandy colored Rio Solimões, and for over 6 km (4 mi) these waters run 7 … by side without mixing.
After the confluence of Río Apurímac and Ucayali, the river leaves Andean terrain and is instead surrounded by 8 … . From this point to`the Marañón, some 1 600 km (990 mi), the forested banks are just out of water, and are inundated long 9 … the river attains its maximum flood stage. The low river banks are interrupted by only a few 10 …, and the river enters the enormous Amazon Rainforest.
The river systems and flood plains in Brazil, Peru, 11 …, Colombia and Venezuela, whose waters drain into the Solimões and its tributaries are called the "Upper Amazon". The Amazon River proper runs mostly through Brazil and Peru, it is part of the 12 … between Colombia and Perú, and it has tributaries reaching into Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, and Bolivia.
Words:
A. – floodplain
B. – before
C. – tributary
D. – hills
E. – border
F. – snowcapped
G. – confluence
H. – following
I. – Ecuador
J. – systems
K. – side
L. – waters
Exercise 9. Look through the text above once again and answer the questions given below:
1. The Amazon River has a series of major river systems, hasn't it?
2. Where is the most distant source of the Amazon?
3. Where do most geographers place the beginning of the Amazon proper?
4. The place where the river enters the rainforest is mountainous, isn't it?
5. The waters of the Rio Negro are sandy colored, aren't they?
Exercise 10. Read the following text “Flooding” and write 6 “yes or no” questions to it, then read your questions for other students to answer:
Flooding 
| <== previous lecture | | | next lecture ==> |
| Drainage Area | | | A NASA satellite image of a flooded portion of the river. |