Paraná River
The Paraná River is a river in south Central South America, running through Brazil and Argentina for some 4,880 kilometres. It is second in length only to the Amazon River among South American rivers; the name Paraná is an abbreviation of the phrase "para rehe onáva", which comes from the Tupi language and means "like the sea". It merges first with the Paraguay River and farther downstream with the Uruguay River to form the Río de la Plata and empties into the Atlantic Ocean; the first European to go up the Paraná River was the Venetian explorer Sebastian Cabot, in 1526, while working for Spain. The course is formed at the confluence of the Rio Grande rivers in southern Brazil. From the confluence the river flows in a southwestern direction for about 619 km before encountering the city of Saltos del Guaira, Paraguay; this was once the location of the Guaíra Falls (Sete Quedas waterfalls, where the Paraná fell over a series of seven cascades. This natural feature was said to rival the world-famous Iguazu Falls to the south.
The falls were flooded, however, by the construction of the Itaipu Dam, which began operating in 1984. For the next 200 km the Paraná flows southward and forms a natural boundary between Paraguay and Brazil until the confluence with the Iguazu River. Shortly upstream from this confluence, the river is dammed by the Itaipu Dam, the second largest hydroelectric power plant in the world, creating a massive, shallow reservoir behind it. After merging with the Iguazu, the Paraná becomes the natural border between Paraguay and Argentina. Overlooking the Paraná River from Encarnación, across the river, is downtown Posadas, Argentina; the river continues its general southward course for about 468 km before making a gradual turn to the west for another 820 km, encounters the Paraguay River, the largest tributary along the course of the river. Before this confluence the river passes through a second major hydroelectric project, the Yaciretá Dam, a joint project between Paraguay and Argentina; the massive reservoir formed by the project has been the source of a number of problems for people living along the river, most notably the poorer merchants and residents in the low-lying areas of Encarnación, a major city on the southern border of Paraguay.
River levels rose upon completion of the dam, flooding out large sections of the city's lower areas. From the confluence with the Paraguay River, the Paraná again turns to the south for another 820 km through Argentina, making a slow turn back to the east near the city of Rosario for the final stretch of less than 500 km before merging with the Uruguay River to form the Río de la Plata; this flows into the Atlantic Ocean. During the part of its course downstream from the city of Diamante, Entre Ríos, it splits into several arms and it forms the Paraná Delta. Together with its tributaries, the Rio Paraná forms a massive drainage basin that encompasses much of the southcentral part of South America including all of Paraguay, much of southern Brazil, northern Argentina, the southeastern part of Bolivia. If the Uruguay River is counted as a tributary to the Paraná, this watershed extends to cover most of Uruguay as well; the volume of water flowing into the Atlantic Ocean through the Río de la Plata equals the volume at the Mississippi River delta.
This watershed contains a number of large cities, including São Paulo, Buenos Aires, Asunción, Brasília, La Plata. The Paraná and its tributaries provide a source of income and of daily sustenance for fishermen who live along its banks; some of the species of fish are commercially important, they are exploited for heavy internal consumption or for export. The Parana River delta ranks as one of the world's greatest bird-watching destinations. Much of the length of the Paraná is navigable, the river serves as an important waterway linking inland cities in Argentina and Paraguay with the ocean, providing deepwater ports in some of these cities; the construction of enormous hydroelectric dams along the river's length has blocked its use as a shipping corridor to cities further upstream, but the economic impact of those dams offsets this. The Yacyretá Dam and the Itaipu Dam on the Paraguay border have made the small undeveloped nation of Paraguay the world's largest exporter of hydroelectric power.
Due to its use for oceangoing ships, measurements of the water tables extend back to 1904. The data correlates with the solar cycle; the course of the Paraná is crossed by the following bridges, beginning upstream: Tributaries of the Río de la Plata Paraná River steamers Information and a map of the Paraná's watershed "Paraná". New International Encyclopedia. 1905
Corumbá River
The Corumbá River is the most important river in the Central Plateau region of Brazil. Its source is in the Montes de Pireneus, near Pirenópolis, state of Goiás, near the boundary with the Federal District and its length ifs 567 km, it receives the waters of the São Bartolomeu, which begin in the Federal District. There are plans to build a hydroelectric plant on this section of the river; the Corumbá flows south from its source near Corumbá de Goiás, where there are spectacular waterfalls, is crossed by a major ridge on the Brasília-Goiânia highway east of Alexânia, passing near Pires do Rio and Caldas Novas, south of which it enters the Itumbiara Reservoir, the lake damming up the Paranaíba River, one of the main tributaries of the Paraná. Near Caldas Novas the Corumbá is dammed and forms a large reservoir called Corumbá Lake; the Corumbá receives untreated sewage from several cities in Goiás. Its banks suffer the consequences of removal of gravel in several points; the loss of the natural forest and agricultural activity are responsible for negative impact on all the course of the river.
The Corumbá waterfalls
São Francisco River
The São Francisco River or Rio São Francisco is a river in Brazil. With a length of 2,914 kilometres, it is the longest river that runs in Brazilian territory, the fourth longest in South America and overall in Brazil, it used to be known as the Opara by the indigenous people before colonisation, is today known as Velho Chico. The São Francisco originates in the Canastra mountain range in the central-western part of the state of Minas Gerais, it runs north in the states of Minas Gerais and Bahia, behind the coastal range, draining an area of over 630,000 square kilometres, before turning east to form the border between Bahia on the right bank and the states of Pernambuco and Alagoas on the left one. After that, it forms the boundary between the states of Alagoas and Sergipe and washes into the Atlantic Ocean. In addition to the five states which the São Francisco directly traverses or borders, its drainage basin includes tributaries from the state of Goiás and the Federal District, it is an important river for Brazil, called "the river of national integration" because it unites diverse climes and regions of the country, in particular the Southeast with the Northeast.
It is navigable between the cities of Pirapora and Juazeiro, as well as between Piranhas and the mouth on the ocean, but traditional passenger navigation has all but disappeared in recent years due to changes in the river flow. The river is named for Saint Francis of Assisi, from its first discovery by Europeans on his feast day in 1501; the Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci first saw the river on 4 October 1501. In 1865 the British explorer and diplomat Richard Francis Burton was transferred to Santos in Brazil, he explored the central highlands, canoeing down the São Francisco river from its source to the falls of Paulo Afonso. The course of the river, running through five states, may be divided into four sections, as follows: The high part, from its source to Pirapora in Minas Gerais The upper middle part, from Pirapora, where the navigable part begins, up to Remanso and the Sobradinho Dam The lower middle part, from the Sobradinho dam to Paulo Afonso in Bahia, ending at the Itaparica Dam The low part, from Paulo Afonso to the river's mouth on the Atlantic Ocean The river obtains water from 168 rivers and streams, of which 90 are on the right bank and 78 on the left bank.
The main tributaries are: Paraopeba River Abaeté River Das Velhas River Jequitaí River Paracatu River Urucuia River Verde Grande River Carinhanha River Corrente River Grande River The São Francisco is navigable all through the year between Pirapora and the twin cities of Petrolina and Juazeiro, a length of 1,371 kilometres. However, there are large variations in depth depending on the rainfall; because of the diversity of physical characteristics over the course of the navigable stretch, it may be divided into three substretches, as follows: From Pirapora to Pilão Arcado, a length of 1,015 kilometres. From Pilão Arcado to the Sobradinho Dam. From the Sobradinho dam to Petrolina/Juazeiro, with a length of 42 kilometres and an average depth of 2 metres, sustained by a flow of 1,500 m3/s; until recent years, the São Francisco was navigated by a type of passenger boat called gaiola. These were paddle-wheel steamboats, some of them having been Mississippi riverboats and dating from the time of the American Civil War.
After the Sobradinho dam was built in Bahia, the conditions of navigability were altered since the reservoir's large size allowed for the formation of short waves of considerable height. Although the dam has a navigation lock, the waves and currents made traversing the lake difficult for the gaiolas. At the same time and excessive agricultural use of the upper-course waters of the São Francisco and its tributaries reduced the water flow in the middle course, creating sand banks and islands that hindered navigation. In a short time, conditions were such that navigation became impossible for the large gaiolas, although still possible for smaller boats; the shells of those old riverboats can still be seen on the river at Pirapora. As of 2009, a single boat, the Benjamim Guimarães, remains in activity, making short-distance tourist cruises from Pirapora to São Romão and back. More than 200 fish species are known from the São Francisco River basin and it is expected that several additional species will be discovered in the future from the poorly known upper parts of the river.
About 10% of the fish species known from the river basin are threatened and about 13% are important in fisheries. About 64% of the fish species known from the basin are endemic, including Conorhynchos conirostris, Lophiosilurus alexandri, Franciscodoras marmoratus, Pygocentrus piraya, Orthospinus franciscensis, Hasemania nana, Salminus franciscanus. More than 40 annual killifish species are found in the São Francisco River basin from the genera Cynolebias and Hypsolebias. Dams and pollution do pr
Hydroelectricity
Hydroelectricity is electricity produced from hydropower. In 2015, hydropower generated 16.6% of the world's total electricity and 70% of all renewable electricity, was expected to increase about 3.1% each year for the next 25 years. Hydropower is produced in 150 countries, with the Asia-Pacific region generating 33 percent of global hydropower in 2013. China is the largest hydroelectricity producer, with 920 TWh of production in 2013, representing 16.9 percent of domestic electricity use. The cost of hydroelectricity is low, making it a competitive source of renewable electricity; the hydro station consumes no water, unlike gas plants. The average cost of electricity from a hydro station larger than 10 megawatts is 3 to 5 U. S. cents per kilowatt hour. With a dam and reservoir it is a flexible source of electricity since the amount produced by the station can be varied up or down rapidly to adapt to changing energy demands. Once a hydroelectric complex is constructed, the project produces no direct waste, in many cases, has a lower output level of greenhouse gases than fossil fuel powered energy plants.
Hydropower has been used since ancient times to perform other tasks. In the mid-1770s, French engineer Bernard Forest de Bélidor published Architecture Hydraulique which described vertical- and horizontal-axis hydraulic machines. By the late 19th century, the electrical generator was developed and could now be coupled with hydraulics; the growing demand for the Industrial Revolution would drive development as well. In 1878 the world's first hydroelectric power scheme was developed at Cragside in Northumberland, England by William Armstrong, it was used to power a single arc lamp in his art gallery. The old Schoelkopf Power Station No. 1 near Niagara Falls in the U. S. side began to produce electricity in 1881. The first Edison hydroelectric power station, the Vulcan Street Plant, began operating September 30, 1882, in Appleton, with an output of about 12.5 kilowatts. By 1886 there were 45 hydroelectric power stations in the U. S. and Canada. By 1889 there were 200 in the U. S. alone. At the beginning of the 20th century, many small hydroelectric power stations were being constructed by commercial companies in mountains near metropolitan areas.
Grenoble, France held the International Exhibition of Hydropower and Tourism with over one million visitors. By 1920 as 40% of the power produced in the United States was hydroelectric, the Federal Power Act was enacted into law; the Act created the Federal Power Commission to regulate hydroelectric power stations on federal land and water. As the power stations became larger, their associated dams developed additional purposes to include flood control and navigation. Federal funding became necessary for large-scale development and federally owned corporations, such as the Tennessee Valley Authority and the Bonneville Power Administration were created. Additionally, the Bureau of Reclamation which had begun a series of western U. S. irrigation projects in the early 20th century was now constructing large hydroelectric projects such as the 1928 Hoover Dam. The U. S. Army Corps of Engineers was involved in hydroelectric development, completing the Bonneville Dam in 1937 and being recognized by the Flood Control Act of 1936 as the premier federal flood control agency.
Hydroelectric power stations continued to become larger throughout the 20th century. Hydropower was referred to as white coal for its plenty. Hoover Dam's initial 1,345 MW power station was the world's largest hydroelectric power station in 1936; the Itaipu Dam opened in 1984 in South America as the largest, producing 14,000 MW but was surpassed in 2008 by the Three Gorges Dam in China at 22,500 MW. Hydroelectricity would supply some countries, including Norway, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Brazil, with over 85% of their electricity; the United States has over 2,000 hydroelectric power stations that supply 6.4% of its total electrical production output, 49% of its renewable electricity. The technical potential for hydropower development around the world is much greater than the actual production: the percent of potential hydropower capacity that has not been developed is 71% in Europe, 75% in North America, 79% in South America, 95% in Africa, 95% in the Middle East, 82% in Asia-Pacific.
The political realities of new reservoirs in western countries, economic limitations in the third world and the lack of a transmission system in undeveloped areas result in the possibility of developing 25% of the remaining technically exploitable potential before 2050, with the bulk of that being in the Asia-Pacific area. Some countries have developed their hydropower potential and have little room for growth: Switzerland produces 88% of its potential and Mexico 80%. Most hydroelectric power comes from the potential energy of dammed water driving a water turbine and generator; the power extracted from the water depends on the volume and on the difference in height between the source and the water's outflow. This height difference is called the head. A large pipe delivers water from the reservoir to the turbine; this method produces electricity to supply high peak demands by moving water between reservoirs at different elevations. At times of low electrical demand, the excess generation capacity is used to pump water into the higher reservoir.
When the demand becomes greater, water is released back into the lower reservoir through a turbine. Pumped-storage schemes provide the most commercially important means of large-scale grid energy storage and improve the daily capacity factor of the generation system. Pumped storag
Rio Grande (Paraná River)
Rio Grande is a river in south-central Brazil. It rises in the Mantiqueira Mountains in the state of Minas Gerais and descends inland, west-northwestward, its lower course marks a portion of the Minas Gerais-São Paulo border. At the Mato Grosso do Sul state border, after a course of 1,090 km, it joins the Paranaíba River to form the Upper Paraná River. Major tributaries of the Rio Grande are: Rio Aiuruoca; the basin of the Rio Grande belongs to the Paraná River basin. It has a total area of 143,000 km2, of which 86,500 km2 are located within Minas Gerais, equivalent to 17.8% of the state territory. The basin of the Rio Grande is responsible for about 67% of all energy generated in the state; the Grande is interrupted by several reservoirs. The river plays a major role in production of electricity and, due to rapids and waterfalls, absence of locks, is only navigable by small craft in limited stretches; however the Estrada de Ferro Oeste de Minas operated a passenger and freight steam navigation service between 1889 and 1963.
The EFOM met the Rio Grande at Ribeirão Vermelho, from where the service ran down the river for 208 km, as far as Capetina. There were six stations on the river between Ribeirão Vermelho and Capetinga, the railway operated a fleet of 6 stern-wheel paddle steamers, together with barges and launches; the service was halted by the completion of the Furnas Dam. Luiz Barreto Dam Marimbondo Dam Água Vermelha Dam Furnas Dam Parana River steamers Rio Grande at Wikimapia, Google terrain view, centered on the site of the photo above
Brazil
Brazil the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At 8.5 million square kilometers and with over 208 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area and the fifth most populous. Its capital is Brasília, its most populated city is São Paulo; the federation is composed of the union of the 26 states, the Federal District, the 5,570 municipalities. It is the largest country to have Portuguese as an official language and the only one in the Americas. Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean on the east, Brazil has a coastline of 7,491 kilometers, it borders all other South American countries except Ecuador and Chile and covers 47.3% of the continent's land area. Its Amazon River basin includes a vast tropical forest, home to diverse wildlife, a variety of ecological systems, extensive natural resources spanning numerous protected habitats; this unique environmental heritage makes Brazil one of 17 megadiverse countries, is the subject of significant global interest and debate regarding deforestation and environmental protection.
Brazil was inhabited by numerous tribal nations prior to the landing in 1500 of explorer Pedro Álvares Cabral, who claimed the area for the Portuguese Empire. Brazil remained a Portuguese colony until 1808, when the capital of the empire was transferred from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro. In 1815, the colony was elevated to the rank of kingdom upon the formation of the United Kingdom of Portugal and the Algarves. Independence was achieved in 1822 with the creation of the Empire of Brazil, a unitary state governed under a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary system; the ratification of the first constitution in 1824 led to the formation of a bicameral legislature, now called the National Congress. The country became a presidential republic in 1889 following a military coup d'état. An authoritarian military junta came to power in 1964 and ruled until 1985, after which civilian governance resumed. Brazil's current constitution, formulated in 1988, defines it as a democratic federal republic. Due to its rich culture and history, the country ranks thirteenth in the world by number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
Brazil is considered an advanced emerging economy. It has the ninth largest GDP in the world by nominal, eight and PPP measures, it is one of the world's major breadbaskets, being the largest producer of coffee for the last 150 years. It is classified as an upper-middle income economy by the World Bank and a newly industrialized country, with the largest share of global wealth in Latin America. Brazil is a regional power and sometimes considered a great or a middle power in international affairs. On account of its international recognition and influence, the country is subsequently classified as an emerging power and a potential superpower by several analysts. Brazil is a founding member of the United Nations, the G20, BRICS, Union of South American Nations, Organization of American States, Organization of Ibero-American States and the Community of Portuguese Language Countries, it is that the word "Brazil" comes from the Portuguese word for brazilwood, a tree that once grew plentifully along the Brazilian coast.
In Portuguese, brazilwood is called pau-brasil, with the word brasil given the etymology "red like an ember", formed from brasa and the suffix -il. As brazilwood produces a deep red dye, it was valued by the European textile industry and was the earliest commercially exploited product from Brazil. Throughout the 16th century, massive amounts of brazilwood were harvested by indigenous peoples along the Brazilian coast, who sold the timber to European traders in return for assorted European consumer goods; the official Portuguese name of the land, in original Portuguese records, was the "Land of the Holy Cross", but European sailors and merchants called it the "Land of Brazil" because of the brazilwood trade. The popular appellation eclipsed and supplanted the official Portuguese name; some early sailors called it the "Land of Parrots". In the Guarani language, an official language of Paraguay, Brazil is called "Pindorama"; this was the name the indigenous population gave to the region, meaning "land of the palm trees".
Some of the earliest human remains found in the Americas, Luzia Woman, were found in the area of Pedro Leopoldo, Minas Gerais and provide evidence of human habitation going back at least 11,000 years. The earliest pottery found in the Western Hemisphere was excavated in the Amazon basin of Brazil and radiocarbon dated to 8,000 years ago; the pottery was found near Santarém and provides evidence that the tropical forest region supported a complex prehistoric culture. The Marajoara culture flourished on Marajó in the Amazon delta from 800 CE to 1400 CE, developing sophisticated pottery, social stratification, large populations, mound building, complex social formations such as chiefdoms. Around the time of the Portuguese arrival, the territory of current day Brazil had an estimated indigenous population of 7 million people semi-nomadic who subsisted on hunting, fishing and migrant agriculture; the indigenous population of Brazil comprised several large indigenous ethnic groups. The Tupí people were subdivided into the Tupiniquins and Tupinambás, there were many subdivisions of the other gro
River mouth
A river mouth is the part of a river where the river debouches into another river, a lake, a reservoir, a sea, or an ocean. The water from a river can enter the receiving body in a variety of different ways; the motion of a river is influenced by the relative density of the river compared to the receiving water, the rotation of the earth, any ambient motion in the receiving water, such as tides or seiches. If the river water has a higher density than the surface of the receiving water, the river water will plunge below the surface; the river water will either form an underflow or an interflow within the lake. However, if the river water is lighter than the receiving water, as is the case when fresh river water flows into the sea, the river water will float along the surface of the receiving water as an overflow. Alongside these advective transports, inflowing water will diffuse. At the mouth of a river, the change in flow condition can cause the river to drop any sediment it is carrying; this sediment deposition can generate a variety of landforms, such as deltas, sand bars and tie channels.
Many places in the United Kingdom take their names from their positions at the mouths of rivers, such as Plymouth and Great Yarmouth. Confluence River delta Estuary Liman
