Amazon River

The Amazon discharges about 219,000 cubic metres of water every second into the Atlantic. That is roughly one fifth of all the fresh water flowing into the world's oceans.

Flow changes with the season and with the gauge location, so the figure is an average estimate.

Context

The Amazon carries more water than any other river on Earth, and by one commonly cited estimate it supplies about a fifth of the fresh water that reaches the world's oceans. Its drainage basin covers roughly 6 million square kilometres across Brazil, Peru, Colombia, and neighbouring countries. Its enormous flow comes from heavy tropical rainfall and from the many large tributaries that join it.

Discharge is difficult to measure because the river is wide, deep and tidal near its mouth. Hydrologists use acoustic Doppler profilers that map water velocity across the channel, along with long-running gauging stations. Published averages range from around 200,000 to above 220,000 cubic metres per second depending on the period, the station, and the method.

The river plume is so large that it is visible from space and lowers the salinity of the Atlantic far offshore. Flow varies greatly through the year, peaking in the rainy season, and in some months the water level in the lower river rises by many metres. Compared with the Mississippi, the Amazon carries many times more water.