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Making up about one fourth of the continent's surface, it is the second largest drainage basin in South America (after the Amazon basin) and one of the largest in the world. [5] The main rivers of the La Plata basin are the Paraná River, the Paraguay River (the Paraná's main tributary), and the Uruguay River. [6]
- Overview
- Physical features
- Physiography of the Alto Paraná basin
Río de la Plata, (Spanish: “River of Silver”) a tapering intrusion of the Atlantic Ocean on the east coast of South America between Uruguay to the north and Argentina to the south. While some geographers regard it as a gulf or as a marginal sea of the Atlantic, and others consider it to be a river, it is usually held to be the estuary of the Paraná and Uruguay rivers (as well as of the Paraguay River, which drains into the Paraná).
The Río de la Plata receives waters draining from the basin of these rivers, which covers much of south-central South America; the total area drained is about 1.2 million square miles (3.2 million square kilometres), or about one-fifth of the surface of the continent. Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay, is located on the northern shore of the estuary, and Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina, is on the southwestern shore.
The Paraná River (Spanish: Río Paraná; Portuguese: Rio Paraná), together with its tributaries, forms the larger of the two river systems that drain into the Río de la Plata. The Paraná—meaning “Father of the Waters” in the Guaraní language—is 3,032 miles (4,880 kilometres) long and extends from the confluence of the Grande and Paranaíba rivers in southern Brazil, running generally southwestward for most of its course, before turning southeastward to drain into the Río de la Plata. The Paraná customarily is divided into two segments: the Alto (Upper) Paraná above the confluence with the Paraguay River and the Paraná proper (or lower Paraná) below the confluence.
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The Grande River rises in the Serra da Mantiqueira, part of the mountainous hinterland of Rio de Janeiro, and flows westward for approximately 680 miles; but its numerous waterfalls—such as the Marimbondo Falls, with a height of 72 feet (22 metres)—makes it of little use for navigation. The Paranaíba, which also has numerous waterfalls, is formed by many affluents, the northernmost headstream being the São Bartolomeu River, which rises just to the east of Brasília.
From its origin in the Grande-Paranaíba confluence to its junction, some 750 miles downstream, with the Paraguay, the Alto Paraná receives many tributaries from both the right and the left. The three most important tributaries—the Tietê, Paranapanema, and Iguaçu rivers—all join the Alto Paraná on its left bank and have their sources within a few miles of the Atlantic coast of Brazil.
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The Alto Paraná first flows in a southwesterly direction down a deep cleavage in the southern slope of the ancient Brazilian Highlands, the configuration of which determines its course. Just before it begins to run along the frontier between Brazil to the east and Paraguay to the west, the river has to cut through the Serra de Maracaju (Mbaracuyú), which in the past had the effect of a dam, until the Itaipu hydroelectric dam project was completed there in 1982; the river once expanded its bed into a lake 2.5 miles wide and 4.5 miles long, with Guaíra, Brazil, standing on the southern shore. The river’s passage through the mountains was, until 1982, marked by the Guairá Falls (Salto das Sete Quedas), which had eight times the water volume of the Niagara River of North America. Since the completion of the Itaipu project’s first stage, the falls and lake have been submerged, and a reservoir now extends upstream for some 120 miles and covers more than 700 square miles.
The Iguaçu River (Iguaçu meaning “Great Water” in the Guaraní language) joins the Alto Paraná at the point where Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina converge. Rising in the Serra do Mar near the Brazilian city of Curitiba (for which reason it is sometimes called the Rio Grande de Curitiba), the Iguaçu flows about 380 miles from east to west, during which some 70 waterfalls reduce the river’s elevation by a total of about 2,650 feet. While the Ñacunday Falls are 131 feet high, the spectacular Iguaçu Falls, on the frontier between Brazil and Argentina, 14 miles upstream from the Iguaçu–Alto Paraná confluence, have a height of about 270 feet—almost 100 feet higher than Niagara Falls. As the river approaches the falls, it widens before plunging over the crescent-shaped edge, producing horseshoe-shaped cataracts more than two miles wide. Below the falls, the river passes for several miles through a gorge (Garganta del Diablo; literally, “Devil’s Throat”) that is only 164 feet wide between heights varying from 65 to 328 feet.
Drainage basin. Satellite image of the Paraná and Uruguay rivers emptying into the Río de la Plata. Due to the relatively calm surface of the estuary and the angle of the Sun relative to the satellite, the current of the river flowing out into the Atlantic is visible.
Jun 12, 2024 · Carving a vast and imposing presence along the southeastern coastline of South America, the Río de la Plata stands as a monumental estuary and drainage basin, a tapering intrusion of the Atlantic Ocean stretching its embrace between Uruguay and Argentina.
The Rio de la Plata river basin, also known as a drainage basin, is the second largest in South America. The Parana River and the Uruguay River are the two main river systems that drain into the Rio de la Plata and empty into the Atlantic Ocean.
Jul 23, 2018 · Its entire basin stretches from southern Brazil across to the Andes, taking in the entirety of Paraguay, Uruguay, and a large part of Argentina. The major rivers which feed the de la Plata are the Paraguay, Uruguay and the Paraná. Together, they form one of South America’s most important river systems.
The Rio de la Plata River Basin, one of the largest transboundary river basins in the world, is feeling the pressure of climate change.
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