Size distribution of Amazon River bed sediment

Nature
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Abstract

The first recorded observations of bed material of the Amazon River were made in 1843 by Lt William Lewis Herndon of the US Navy, when he travelled the river from its headwaters to its mouth, sounding its depths, and noting the nature of particles caught in a heavy grease smeared to the bottom of his sounding weight1. He reported the bed material of the river to be mostly sand and fine gravel. Oltman and Ames took samples at a few locations in 1963 and 1964, and reported the bed material at O??bidos, Brazil, to be fine sands, with median diameters ranging from 0.15 to 0.25 mm (ref. 2). We present here a summary of particle-size analyses of samples of streambed material collected from the Amazon River and its major tributaries along a reach of the river from Iquitos in Peru, ???3,500 km above Macapa?? Brazil, to a point 220 km above Macapa??3. ?? 1980 Nature Publishing Group.
Publication type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Title Size distribution of Amazon River bed sediment
Series title Nature
DOI 10.1038/286052a0
Volume 286
Issue 5768
Year Published 1980
Language English
Larger Work Type Article
Larger Work Subtype Journal Article
Larger Work Title Nature
First page 52
Last page 53
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