Determination of the age of the Amazon

2009/07/09 Kortabitarte Egiguren, Irati - Elhuyar Zientzia

• Biologia

The Amazon River was born 11 million years ago and occupied the current riverbed 2.4 million years ago. These are the most outstanding results of a study conducted by the Brazilian oil company Petrobas. For this they have made two holes in the mouth of the Amazon.

This is the first time they analyze the origin of the Amazon sediment bed. The sediment thickness is 10 kilometers. In these perforations carried out by the company Petrobas sedimentary and paleontological studies have been carried out, one of them 4,5 kilometers deep above sea level.

This research will allow us to know the South American paleogeography and the evolution of the marine organisms of the Amazon and the Atlantic coast. The study of river sediments also provides information on the historical stages of the climate and geography of the region.

Image courtesy of: ANDÉN