The Monster Inside Trivia Quiz

Answer:

The Amazon River is one of the most fascinating geological features on Earth. It is a global freshwater powerhouse. Scientists estimate that one-sixth of the world's freshwater that drains into the oceans occurs where the mighty Amazon meets the Atlantic Ocean. It flows through four countries: Brazil, Colombia, Peru and Venezuela but its tributaries find their way into nations such as Bolivia, Ecuador, Guyana and Suriname. It also extends into French Guiana (not listed above), an overseas territory of France.

During the dry season, the Amazon can be five to six kilometres in width, but these distances can grow to being as much as fifty kilometres during the wet. This unpredictability is part of the reason why it is nigh on impossible to build bridges across it. Before some roads were built, access to other parts of South America was restricted to planes or boats. In some places, such as Iquitos in Peru, this is still the case.

Whilst the Amazon flows into the Atlantic Ocean, this was not always the case. The river used to flow in the opposite direction i.e. toward the Pacific Ocean, some 65-145 million years ago. It was the rise of that other monster in South America, the great Andes Mountain range, that forced the river to change its course.

Nowadays, this mighty river spills some 200,000 litres of freshwater into the Atlantic Ocean, wait for it... every second. That is phenomenal. This incredible outflow is collected by the Caribbean Current which then, it is estimated, lifts the sea levels in the Caribbean by approximately three centimetres.

Both the river and the surrounding forests were named by the Spanish explorer, Francisco de Orellana, the first European to reach this area. He was confronted by the Pira-tapuya people in battle, where their opponent's women-folk stood shoulder to shoulder with their men in the conflict. It reminded him of the Amazons of Greek mythology, a group of female warriors that had roamed the regions around the Black Sea, and named the river accordingly. Considering how mighty this river is, the name is apt.

Perhaps the biggest ecological issue that confronts the river and the surrounding basins is man. A study that was conducted in 2018 revealed that more than 140 dams had been built on the river's headwaters and that there were proposals in place for a further 160 to be constructed. Whilst these dams provide valuable hydroelectric power to the nations that the river flows through, they have had a negative impact on the environment. One such area is the decline in fish numbers which have the fisherman from the continent up in arms. That said, the fisherman don't have clean hands in this either. They're mainly responsible for the significant decline in the numbers of the remarkable pink river dolphins. Whilst the dams and pollution have played their part, the fishermen have been using the flesh of the dolphins as bait, as it is the most ideal lure for the commercially valuable dorado (goliath) catfish that are in the river.

The Andes is the largest mountain range in the world and it stretches almost 7,000 kilometres (4,000+ miles) from Colombia in the northern end of the continent down to the Tierra del Fuego, at the southern tip. Along the way it passes through Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina.

It possesses the world's highest navigable lake, Lake Titicaca, as well as a diverse range of features such as Mount Aconcagua which, at 6,962 metres (22,840 feet) is the highest mountain in the western hemisphere, down to the amazing Uyuni Salt Flats, the largest on Earth.

Because the range has altitudes that span from sea level to 7,000 metres above, it plays host to a unique and quite diverse ecosystem. It also provides valuable freshwater to millions of people on the continent and feeds great volumes into the mighty Amazon River.

The Andes is also home to a number of active volcanos, such as the Cotopaxi in Ecuador and the Villarica in Chile. It is vulnerable to climate change which, at present, is causing its glaciers to melt at an alarming rate but it too has an effect on the climate, being one of the primary reasons for the "El Nino" weather pattern.

Overall, these two giants of the South American continent are incredible beasts that offer the nations they touch so much and yet, still contain so many mysteries that remain untapped.