2014/02/12 by James Contos, Nicholas Tripcevich · 2 citations
Environmental Science · #Fish biology, ecology, and behavior
paper · doi:10.1111/area.12069
openalex publication_date 2014/02/12 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/25
The A mazon R iver (‘ R ío de las A mazonas’) has the highest discharge of any river in the world and is also the longest or second longest. Its source has therefore intrigued scholars and explorers for centuries. A river's source is often defined as the most distant upstream point in the drainage basin. For the past several decades, the longest upstream extension of the A mazon R iver has been held to be the Nevado M ismi area of the R ío A purímac drainage. We overturn this longstanding view by employing topographic maps, satellite imagery, digital hydrographic datasets and GPS tracking data to show that the Cordillera Rumi Cruz (10.7320° S , 76.6480° W ; elevation ∼5220 m) in the R ío M antaro drainage lies 75–92 km further upstream than Nevado M ismi. We compare various methods for measuring each of the R ío A purímac and R ío M antaro lengths, and show that high‐resolution satellite imagery and GPS tracking most closely follow the path of the water. Our results reposition the ‘most distant source’ of the A mazon to a more tropical location, change the uppermost ∼800 km of river to this point, and add 75–92 km to the river's maximal length.