Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter
  • Published:

Sediment loads in the Amazon River

Abstract

ESTIMATES published in the past 20 years of the sediment load delivered to the sea by the Amazon River range from 4 to 10 × 108 tonnes yr−1 Estimates published around 1960, when few data were available on either the sediment concentration or the river discharge, were in the range 9–10 × 108 tonnes yr−1 (refs 1, 2). Estimates published in 1967 and 1968, after significant new data had been collected, were in the lower range of 4–5 × 108 tonnes yr−1 (refs 3, 4). Our more comprehensive data collected mostly since 1970 (and especially in 1977) suggest that the earlier higher estimates may have been more nearly correct. We show here that the mean annual load of suspended sediment at Óbidos, Brazil is between 8 and 9 × 108 tonnes yr−1. Most of this sediment is discharged onto the continental shelf.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. NEDECO, River Studies and Recommendations on Improvement of Rivers Niger and Benue North Holland (Amsterdam 1959).

  2. Strakhov, N. M. Sovremennye osadki morei i oceanov 5–27 (Izdat. Akad. Nauk SSSR, Moscow, 1961).

  3. Gibbs, R. J. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. 78, 1203–1232 (1967).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Holeman, J. N. Water Resources Res. 4, 737–747 (1968).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  5. Guy, H. P. & Norman, V. W. USGS Techniques of Water-Resources Investigations, Book 3, ch. C2 (1970).

    Google Scholar 

  6. Porterfield, G. USGS Techniques of Water-Resources Investigations, Book 3, ch. C3 (1972).

  7. Meade, R. H. et al. Suspended-sediment and Velocity Data, Amazon River and its Tributaries, June–July 1976 and May–June 1977 (USGS Open-File Report, 1979).

  8. Sioli, H. Geol. Rdsch. 45, 608–633 (1957).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Oltman, R. E. Reconnaissance Investigations of the Discharge and Water Quality of the Amazon River (USGS Circ. 552, 1968).

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

MEADE, R., NORDIN, C., CURTIS, W. et al. Sediment loads in the Amazon River. Nature 278, 161–163 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1038/278161a0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/278161a0

This article is cited by

Comments

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing