Wikipedia

Xingu River

TheXingu River(/ʃiːŋˈɡuː/sheeng-GOO;Portuguese:Rio Xingu[ˈʁi.uʃĩˈɡu];Mẽbêngôkre:Byti[bɯˈti][5]: 73 ) is a 1,640 km (1,020 mi)[1]river in northBrazil.It is a southeast tributary of theAmazon Riverand one of the largestclearwater riversin theAmazon basin,[6]accounting for about 5% of its water.[7]

Xingu River
Rio Xingu(Portuguese)
Xingu River from space, downstream section.
Map of theAmazon Basinwith the Xingu River highlighted
Native nameByti(Kayapó)
Location
CountryBrazil
Physical characteristics
SourceCulueneandSete de Setembroconfluence
• locationMato Grosso
• coordinates12°55′29.7264″S52°49′33.636″W/ 12.924924000°S 52.82601000°W/-12.924924000; -52.82601000
• elevation297 m (974 ft)
2nd sourceSete de Setembro
• locationMato Grosso
• coordinates14°10′13.6956″S52°45′47.6496″W/ 14.170471000°S 52.763236000°W/-14.170471000; -52.763236000
• elevation477 m (1,565 ft)
3rd sourceCuluene
• locationMato Grosso
• coordinates14°46′50.0412″S54°31′7.5324″W/ 14.780567000°S 54.518759000°W/-14.780567000; -54.518759000
• elevation753 m (2,470 ft)
MouthAmazon River
• coordinates
1°31′37.8012″S51°52′8.9616″W/ 1.527167000°S 51.869156000°W/-1.527167000; -51.869156000
• elevation
0 m (0 ft)
Length1,640 km (1,020 mi)[1]
Basin size520,292 km2(200,886 sq mi) 513,313.5 km2(198,191.5 sq mi)[2]
Discharge
• locationNear mouth,Pará State
• average(Period: 1973–1990)9,680 m3/s (342,000 cu ft/s)[3] (Period: 1971–2000)10,022.6 m3/s (353,940 cu ft/s)[2]
Discharge
• locationAltamira,Pará State(Basin size: 449,493 km2(173,550 sq mi)
• average(Period: 1971–2000)8,345.8 m3/s (294,730 cu ft/s)[2](Period: 1970–1996)8,665 m3/s (306,000 cu ft/s)[4]
Discharge
• locationBelo Horizonte,Pará State(Basin size: 277,265 km2(107,053 sq mi)
• average(Period: 1971–2000)5,234.1 m3/s (184,840 cu ft/s)[2] (Period: 1970–1996)5,324 m3/s (188,000 cu ft/s)[4]
Discharge
• locationSão Félix do Xingu,Pará State(Basin size: 250,626 km2(96,767 sq mi)
• average(Period: 1971–2000)4,660.3 m3/s (164,580 cu ft/s)[2] (Period: 1970–1996)4,627 m3/s (163,400 cu ft/s)[4]
Basin features
ProgressionAmazon→Atlantic Ocean
River systemAmazon
Tributaries
• leftCuluene,Curisevo,Tamitatoale,Ronuro,Manissauá-Miçu,Iriri,Pardo,Jaraucu
• rightSete de Setembro,Suia-Miçu,Liberdade,Fresco,Bacaja,Comandante Fontoura River

Description and history

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The first Indigenous Park in Brazil was created in the river basin by the Brazilian government in the early 1960s. This park marks the first indigenous territory recognized by the Brazilian government and it was the world's largest indigenous preserve on the date of its creation. Currently, fourteen tribes live withinXingu Indigenous Park,surviving on natural resources and extracting from the river most of what they need for food and water.[8]

The Brazilian government built theBelo Monte Damon the Lower Xingu, which began operations in 2019 and is the world's fifth-largest hydroelectric dam. Construction of this dam was under legal challenge by environment and indigenous groups, who assert the dam would have negative environmental and social impacts along with reducing the flow by up to 80% along a 100 km (60 mi) stretch known as the Volta Grande ( "Big Bend" ).[9]The river flow in this stretch is highly complex and includes major sections ofrapids.[10]More than 450 fish species have been documented in the Xingu River Basin and it is estimated that the total is around 600 fish species, including manyendemics.[11]At least 193 fish species living in rapids are known from the lower Xingu,[10]and at least 26 of these are endemic.[12]From 2008 to 2018 alone, 24 new fish species have been described from the river.[10][12][13]Many species are seriously threatened by the dam, which will significantly alter the flow in the Volta Grande rapids.[10][14][15]

In the Upper Xingu region was a highly self-organizedpre-Columbiananthropogenic landscape, including deposits of fertile agriculturalterra preta,black soil inPortuguese,with a network of roads and polities each of which covered about 250 square kilometers.[16]

Near the source of Xingu River isCuluene River,a 600 kilometres (370 mi) tributary.[11][17]

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  • The name is the title of a humorousEdith Whartonshort storyfrom 1911.
  • "Xingu" is the title of a song onWaterfall Cities,a 1999 album byOzric Tentacles.
  • The river is also honoured in the albumAguas da Amazonia.
  • Abeerproduced near the river is sold in the international market under the name "Xingu".
  • In the novelRelicbyDouglas PrestonandLincoln Child,the Xingu River is the location of the doomed Whittlesey/Maxwell expedition responsible for discovering evidence of the lost Kothoga tribe and their savage god Mbwun.
  • Xinguis a 2011 Brazilian movie, directed by Brazilianfilm-makerCao Hamburger.The movie tells the story of theVillas-Bôas brothers1943 expedition to the region, which led to the creation of the indigenous reserve twenty years later.
  • TheEmbraer Xinguis a design of twin-engine airplane manufactured in the 1970s by Brazilian company [Embraer]

See also

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References

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  1. ^abZiesler, R.; Ardizzone, G.D. (1979)."Amazon River System".The Inland waters of Latin America.Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.ISBN92-5-000780-9.Archivedfrom the original on 21 October 2013.
  2. ^abcde"Amazon".
  3. ^Théry, Hervé; Maurence, Pascale (1997).HYDROLOGIE DU BASSIN AMAZONIEN(PDF).ISBN2-7011-1532-9.
  4. ^abcMichael, T. Coe; Marcos, Heil Costa; Aurélie, Botta; Charon, Birkett (23 August 2002). "Long-term simulations of discharge and floods in the Amazon Basin".CiteSeerX10.1.1.549.3854.
  5. ^Passos, João Lucas Moraes (2018).Caminhos mẽbêngôkre: andando, nomeando, sentando sobre a terra(Ph.D. dissertation). Brasília: Universidade de Brasília.
  6. ^Perez, M.S."Where the Xingu Bends and Will Soon Break".American Scientist.Retrieved1 October2017.
  7. ^"Waters".Amazon Waters. Archived fromthe originalon 29 June 2018.Retrieved10 October2017.
  8. ^"Xingu - Indigenous Peoples in Brazil".pib.socioambiental.org.Retrieved25 September2023.
  9. ^"Summary and History of the Belo Monte Dam: Rainforest Foundation"(PDF).Summary and History of the Belo Monte Dam: Rainforest Foundation. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 6 January 2011.Retrieved9 March2011.
  10. ^abcdFitzgerald; Perez; Sousa; Gonçalves; Py-Daniel; Lujan; Zuanon; Winemiller; Lundberg (2018)."Diversity and community structure of rapids-dwelling fishes of the Xingu River: Implications for conservation amid large-scale hydroelectric development".Biological Conservation.222:104–112.doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2018.04.002.S2CID53625155.
  11. ^abCamargo, M., T. Giarrizzo and V. Isaac (2004).Review of the geographic distribution of fish fauna in the Xingu River Basin, Brazil.Ecotropica10: 123–147
  12. ^abHyland, T:Race against time.Retrieved 4 June 2014.
  13. ^Sousa, L.M.; M.S. Chaves; A. Akama; J. Zuanon; M.H. Sabaj (2018). "Platydoras birindellii, new species of striped raphael catfish (Siluriformes: Doradidae) from the Xingu Basin, Brazil".Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia.166(1): 1–13.doi:10.1635/053.166.0106.S2CID90673235.
  14. ^Ekström, J. (23 December 2007)Hydroelectric dam constructions in Amazonas.Retrieved 10 February 2013.
  15. ^Survival International (2009).Experts Panel Assesses Belo Monte Dam Viability.Retrieved 10 February 2013.
  16. ^Heckenberger, Michael J.; J. Christian Russell; Carlos Fausto; Joshua R. Toney; Morgan J. Schmidt; Edithe Pereira; Bruna Franchetto; Afukaka Kuikuro (29 September 2008). "Pre-Columbian Urbanism, Anthropogenic Landscapes, and the Future of the Amazon".Science.321(5893). American Association for the Advancement of Science: 1214–1217.doi:10.1126/science.1159769.PMID18755979.S2CID41438038.
  17. ^Junk, Wolfgang J. (1997).The Central Amazon Floodplain: Ecology of a Pulsing System.Plön, Germany: Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.ISBN978-3-64208214-6.
  • Cowell, Adrian. 1973.The Tribe that Hides from Man.The Bodely Head, London.
  • Original text from 1911Encyclopædia Britannica

Further reading

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  • Heinsdijk, Dammis, and Ricardo Lemos Fróes.Description of Forest-Types on "Terra Firme" between the Rio Tapajós and the Rio Xingú in the Amazon Valley.1956.
  • Sipes, Ernest "Brazilian Indians: what FUNAI Won't Tell YOU". 2002.
  • Brazilian Indians: What FUNAI Won't Tell You
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