US team identifies Andean source of Amazon
Copyright 2000
The Times (London)
December 18, 2000
Gabriella Gamini in Rio de Janeiro
A CRYSTAL stream that trickles down the rock wall of the 18,000ft Nevado Mismi peak in the southern Peruvian Andes has been identified as the source of the Amazon by a team of American-led scientists.
The 22-man National Geographic Society team of explorers confirmed the exact location of the source of the world's largest river, ending decades of speculation and contradictory findings. From the Nevado Mismi the Amazon starts a winding journey through a grass-and-moss-covered Andean valley to be joined by other streams and rivers before meandering towards the Atlantic through the world's largest rainforest.
"It's a pretty spot," said Andrew Pietowski, a mathematics teacher from New York who led the team. "You're standing in a green valley at the base of an impressive, almost black, cliff about 130ft high. It's very silent and serene," he said. The team surveyed the source by using satellite navigation equipment.
"The source of the river can be defined as the most distant point in the drainage basin from which water runs all year round, or the furthest point from which water could possibly flow into the ocean. Nevado Mismi fits both these definitions," said Andrew Johnston, a geographer with the Smithsonian Institution who took part in the trip.
The latest findings were achieved with Global Positioning System equipment and other instruments accurate to a range of about 3ft that will be used to map the source.