Brazilian scientists from the National Observatory have found signs for the movement of water 4000 m underneath the Amazon River. They estimate the underground river to be about 6000 km long. It seems that studies are still in the preliminary stage, but current information was shared last week in Rio de Janeiro at a meeting of the Brazilian Geophysical Society, where Elizabeth Tavares Pimentel presented her team’s research.
The team discovered the underground river by studying temperature variations at 241 inactive oil wells drilled in the 1970s and 1980s by Brazil's state-run oil company, Petrobras.
They decided to name the underground River the “Hamza”, in tribute to the scientist of Indian origin Valiya Mannathal Hamza, who has been studying the region for more than four decades and is supervising the research.
According to Elizabeth the water flow is allmost vertical the first 2000 meters, and then quickly turns into an allmost horizontal flow.
Even though the two rivers cover a similar path they have differences. The underground river flows at a far slower pace and empties into the ocean deep underground.
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| Valiya Mannathal Hamza |
The underground river has a flow rate calculated at about 2,700 cubic meters per second (about 2-3 percent of that of the Amazon River itself).
"It is likely that this river is responsible for the low level of salinity in the waters around the mouth of the Amazon," Hanza explains.
Geologist Olivar Lima, from the University of Bahia, who was present at the conference, noted that the preliminary results look good but that more research is necessary before the flowing aquifer can be classified as a river.
If found to be an official river, the Amazon rain forest would have not one, but two drainage systems.
Two years ago Italian scientists also discovered an underground river under Rome (longer then the Tiber, 392 km) (See here) using the same techniques.