Landforms
The Amazon Basin
Also Known As Amazonia
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The drainage basin of the Amazon River, the largest river drainage system on Earth by discharge and by area, covering most of the northern two-thirds of South America across Brazil, Peru, Colombia and smaller portions of four other countries. It holds the largest single expanse of tropical rainforest in the world, and its river system discharges roughly a fifth of all the fresh water that reaches the world's oceans.
Facts
Area (sq km) Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
Demonstrates
The Amazon's river system and rainforest, the largest drainage system on Earth, is a defining working example of continental-scale evaporation, transpiration and runoff.
On Continent
Shaped By
The basin's floodplain geography has been built by the deposition of river-borne sediment over geologic time.
Sources
1. National Geographic Atlas of the World
National Geographic Society, 2019
2. Amazon Basin (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationInfobox coordinatesQuote, Infobox coordinates
3°S 60°W / 3°S 60°W / -3; -60
2. Amazon Basin (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationAssociated With: Colombia, LeadQuote, Associated With: Colombia, Lead
The Amazon drainage basin covers a large area spreading across the countries of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela
2. Amazon Basin (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationDemonstrates: The Carbon Cycle, Climate change sectionQuote, Demonstrates: The Carbon Cycle, Climate change section
In a typical year, the Amazon absorbs 1.5 gigatons of carbon dioxide; during 2005 instead 5 gigatons were released.
Encyclopaedia Britannica
United States Geological Survey
United States Geological SurveyShaped By: Deposition and SedimentationView the Source Brazil (Wikipedia)
Peru (Wikipedia)
New Study Shows How Amazon Trees Use Recent Rainfall (The Conversation)
The ConversationDemonstrates: Water Cycle, Article bodyQuote, Demonstrates: Water Cycle, Article body
the forest rapidly recycles the rain: it falls, infiltrates shallow soil, is absorbed by roots and is released back into the atmosphere, fuelling new rainfall.
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