The Amazon River is the undisputed "king of streams," carrying more water than the next seven largest rivers combined. It has the world's largest drainage basin and an average discharge of approximately 209,000 cubic meters per second (m3/s), which accounts for roughly one-fifth of the total river flow entering the world's oceans. The "High-Fidelity" scale of the Amazon is so vast that its freshwater plume can be detected hundreds of miles out into the Atlantic Ocean, and its flow is powerful enough to push back the sea. While the Nile is often cited as the longest, the Amazon is the "biggest" in terms of volume, depth, and the sheer amount of water it moves. In technical writing, "stream" is often used as a synonym for river, emphasizing the fact of flow; the Amazon's high-fidelity discharge nourishes the Earth's largest rainforest and drives a massive, complex ecosystem that serves as a vital component of the planet's hydrological cycle and climate regulation.