GROUP 2

Amazon River .

Manaus , the largest city on the Amazon as seen from a NASA satellite image , surrounded by muddy Amazon River and th dark Rio Negro .

Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Manaus-Amazon-NASA.jpg.htm#Source

A satellite image of the mouth of the Amazon river , looking south .

Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Amazon-river-delta-NASA.jpg

Map showing the Amazon drainage basin with the Amazon River highlighted .

Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Amazonrivermap.png

Brief Description : The Amazon River(occasionally River Amazon; Spanish , Portuguese: R Amazonas) of South America is one of the longesttwo rivers on Earth , the Nile river in Africa , carrying more water than Mississipi , Nile and Yangtze river combined . It also has largest drainage area of any river system .

Source : http://schools-wikipedia.org/images/711/71149.jpg.htm

2 Uses Of The Amazon :

a . Drainage Area

The Amazon basin is the largest drainage basin in the world , covers and area of 40 % of South America . Its most remote sources are found on the inter - Andean plateau , just a short distance from the Pacific Ocean . . The area covered by water of the river and its tributaries more than triples over the course of a year . At its widest point of the Amazon river can be 11 km wide during the dry season , but during the rainy season when the Amazon floods the surrounding plains it can be up to 45 km . The Amazon is responsible for a fifth of the total volume of fresh water entering the oceans worldwide .

b . Cruising

They built luxuries and traditional cruises that takes visitors or foreigners along the Amazon River . In this way , people can get to know more about the Amazon River .

2 Problems Faced :

a . Flooding

Not all of the Amazon's tributaries flood at the same time of the year. Many branches begin flooding in November, and may continue to rise until June . The rise of the Rio Negro starts in February or March, and it also begins to recede in June. The Madeira rises and falls two months earlier than most of the rest of the Amazon . The average depth of the river in the height of the rainy season is 40 metres and the average width can be nearly 40 km . Smaller riverboats can reach 780 kilometres higher as far as Achual Point . Beyond that, small boats frequently ascend to the Pongo de Manseriche , just above Achual Point .

b . 20Th Century Concerns

Cattle farming became a major impetus in deforestation with military governments in the 1960s and 1970s heavily subsiding the creation of large ranches . By the 1980s , the rate of destruction of the rain forest was dizzying and it is estimated that over a fifth of the total area of the rain forest has now been clear cut . The preservation of the remaining forest is becoming an ever more prominent concern .

The construction of the new capital Brasilia in the interior 1960s also contributed to the opening up of the Amazon basin . A large scale colonization program solve families from north eastern Brazil relocated to the forest and encourage by promise of cheap land . Many settlements grew along the road from Brasilia Belem but rain forest soil prove difficult to cultivate .

The End .

Thank You .

By : Haqeem (Group Leader)

Iqraq (Assistant Group Leader)

Reena (Group Member)

Rabbani ( Group Member)

Desmond ( Group Member)