Is the Amazon river freshwater or saltwater?

The Amazon, like almost all the rivers in the world, is freshwater. It discharges more freshwater into the ocean than any other river. There are many types of fish that inhabit the Amazon, and there are even several species of river dolphins that live there. The Amazon empties out into the Atlantic Ocean.



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Answer and Explanation: No, the Amazon River's water is not safe for humans to drink, as it is far too muddy and has too many biological components; a person who drank this water would likely get sick.

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The Amazon River basin and the waters in the Atlantic Ocean into which the Amazon flows are home to the world's most diverse ecosystems. This region embodies a rich history of scientific discovery.

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The Amazon flows into the Atlantic Ocean forming an estuary that is 240 kilometres wide. It discharges so much water into the Atlantic, that, more than 160 kilometres into the open sea, opposite the river mouth, you could still drink freshwater from the ocean.

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The Amazon River flows for more than 6,600 km, and with its hundreds of tributaries and streams contains the largest number of freshwater fish species in the world. Equally impressive are the unfathomable numbers of mammals, birds, amphibians, and reptiles4 found across the biome.

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Coming a close second after the Nile as the world's longest river, the Amazon River sets the record in terms of the sheer volume of water that it carries – a mind-boggling average discharge of 219,000 m3/sec of water.

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The Amazon River in South America is the largest river by discharge volume of water in the world, and the disputed longest river system in the world in comparison to the Nile.

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Travelling the world and the Amazon on a cruise is usually safe, and the majority of trips pass without incident. The worst thing that may happen to you while on a ship may be to feel seasick for a while, even after the trip is over.

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The Amazon is one of the cleanest rivers on earth; its chemical purity is near that of distilled water better than that of most public water supplies in the United States.

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The Congo is the deepest river in the world. Its headwaters are in the north-east of Zambia, between Lake Tanganyika and Lake Nyasa (Malawi), 1760 metres above sea level; it flows into the Atlantic Ocean.

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The Everglades is the world's slowest-moving river. When rain fills Lake Okeechobee, in south-central Florida, the lake overflows into the 50-foot wide, 1.5 million acre water filtration system and flows about one meter an hour toward the Gulf of Mexico, at the southern tip of the Sunshine State.

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The Amazon, for much of its 4,300-mile (6,920 kilometers) length, meanders through areas that are sparsely populated, meaning there are very few major roads for any bridge to connect to.

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The Amazon River is by far the world's largest river by volume, carrying more than five times the volume of the Congo or twelve times that of the Mississippi. It drains an area nearly the size of the forty-eight contiguous United States and has over 1,100 tributaries, 17 of which are longer than 1000 miles.

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The Amazon river carries a lot of sediment (particles of mud and sand), which gives the water a muddy-brown color. Its largest tributary (branch), the Rio Negro, or black river, is filled with chemicals washed out of soil and plants, making the water very dark.

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The dark color comes from humic acid due to an incomplete breakdown of phenol-containing vegetation from sandy clearings. The river was named because it looks black from a distance. Much has been written on the productivity of the Rio Negro and other blackwater rivers.

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Every day, some 1.3 million tons of sediment pour from the mouth of the Amazon River into the Atlantic Ocean. The abundance of sediment—bits of rocks, soil, and clay carried by currents or resting on the bottom—is what gives much of the main stem of the Amazon River its milky brown color.

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