Amazon River estimated to be 11 million years old
Jul 20th, 2009 by wwftravel
© Elissa Poma / WWF-US
South America’s Amazon River is more than 11 million years old, according to a July 2009 study published in the scientific journal Geology.
Following an examination of two boreholes drilled into the mouth of the Amazon, a team of researchers from the Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics determined that the Amazon formed its current shape approximate 2.4 million years ago.
This is the first time that researchers have been able to estimate the river’s age. The sediment column surrounding the river is more than 6 miles thick, making it extremely difficult for scientific operations to drill and thus access the terrestrial material locked deep below the earth’s surface. The IBED researchers reached their conclusion from a sediment sample taken from 2.8 miles down.
The Amazon River Basin is one of WWF’s 19 Priority Places for protection.
• Visit the Amazon with WWF in March 2010.
