Underground River Found Under the Amazon

[daveb]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4434366...d-river-discovered-beneath-amazon/?gt1=43001"

I had never heard of anything like this before, except in Journey to the Center of the Earth. Is this something that has been theorized for some time, or is it completely out of the blue?

 

[256bits]

It is not the type of river as you would see flowing above the ground. It flows through the material in the ground material and not through a tube like you think.

As for the quote in the article:
QUOTE
"It is possible that underground river systems of a similar kind exist in other parts of the Earth," Hamza told OurAmazingPlanet.
UNQUOTE
the reporter is showing his ignorance of science, as other underground river systems exist but perhaps to not the extent on this system. The reporter is using "a sound bite" for sensationalism, and he gotcha.

The comment by Kaliph after the article sums it up quite nicely. (Did you bother to read the comments - I guess not )

Comment by Kaliph
... ...

This new found "river" is nothing but a well defined regional ground water flow, defined by the hydrodynamics of the sediment and rocks in which the water flows. The rock at the depth they are referring to is completely saturated with water. Usually salt water. We know this from the countless oil wells drilled to depths of miles. The Amazon basin received sediments from the Andes to the west throughout geological time and still does. So we would expect that there have been a number of "Amazon" rivers flowing in the same region in the same direction over geological time as the sediments accumulated in the basin. As this happened each new Amazon flowed across the sediments laid down by its predecessor as the basin filled with sediments. The older sediments still contain water and if they are compressed and cemented into rock like sandstone or siltstone, they are still capable of transmission of water through their porosity. Most ground water flow mirrors surface flow, along the slope or gradient, usually defined by local topography, but always flowing to the lowest point, sea level. So it only makes sense that this underground regional ground water flow is flowing to the east, away from the highlands to the west, the Andes. It is very probable that the limits of the "river" is defined by the porosity of the previous sediments laid down by the Amazon's predessessors. In actuality, the whole Amazon basin at that depth is saturated, their "river" is just a more distinct, thicker and more dilineable flow. It is not some hollow cavity in which a river is flowing. Reports like this I personally believe are more for the consumption of their credulous countrymen, and are picked up by western press reporters who are just as ignorant of the real scientific facts and report them with breathless and witless amazement. No doubt the editors of Discovery and MSN slept through science class in high school and college.

END OF COMMENT BY Kaliph

 

[Huyen401]

It's fascinating to think about the possibility of hidden rivers and ecosystems beneath the earth's surface. I wonder what other secrets lie beneath the Amazon rainforest. It's amazing how much we are still discovering about our own planet.