TheHamza River (Portuguese:Rio Hamza) is a recent discovery. Under the ground in theAmazon area is a huge slowly moving waterway.[1] This slowly flowingaquifer inBrazil is about 6,000 kilometres (3,700 mi) long. It is nearly 4,000 metres (13,000 ft) below ground level. Its discovery was announced in 2011.[2][3][4] The Hamza "river" and theAmazon River are a twin-river system flowing at different levels of theEarth's crust.
The Hamza and the Amazon are the two maindrainage systems for theAmazon Basin. The reportedflow rate of the Hamza, at about 3,000 cubic metres (110,000 cu ft) per second, is 3% of the Amazon's.[3] It runs west to east, some 4,000 metres (13,000 ft) below the Earth's surface, and follows roughly the path of the Amazon River.[5] The Hamza empties in theAtlantic Ocean, deep under the surface. Its own water has a highsalt content.
It flows from the Andean foothills to the Atlantic coast in a nearly west-to-east direction like the Amazon River.Seismic data and temperature variation with depth measured in 241 inactiveoil wells helped find the aquifer.
Except for the flow direction, the Amazon and the Hamza have very different characteristics. The most obvious ones are their width and flow speed. While the Amazon is 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) to 100 kilometres (62 mi) wide, the Hamza is 200 kilometres (120 mi) to 400 kilometres (250 mi) in width. But the flow speed is 5 metres per second (16 ft/s) in the Amazon and less than 1 millimetre per second (0.039 in/s) speed in the Hamza.[4]
Several geological factors have played a vital role in the formation and existence of these subterranean water bodies. Water has worn awaycalcium carbonate rocks far under the ground. Water drops to great depths. East-west trendingfaults and thekarsttopography may have some role in supplying water to the "river".
The 153 km-long underground river in Mexico'sYucatán Peninsula,[6] and the 8.2 km-longCabayugan River in thePuerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park in thePhilippines have come into being thanks to the karst topography. Water in these places has dissolved the carbonate rock to form extensive underground river systems.
"The name given to the underground flow is not official," Hamza said.