Argentine: Our Land: Hydrography

<body bgcolor="#FFFFFF"> <b>El Sur del Sur <br> The Southernmost South </b> <img width=88 height=4 border=0 src="../../iconos/b88p.gif"><br> <a href="indexingles.html" target=_top>Our Land</a> <br> <b>HYDROGRAPHY</b> <br> <br> <b>W</b>ith an exceptional richness, Argentine <b>rivers</b> are mostly <b>navigable</b> and there are also <b>ice fields</b> and subterranean waters. <b>The most important hydrographic systems in Argentina</b> belong to the <b>ATLANTIC SLOPE</b>. They are the <b>Plata Basin</b> and the <b>Patagonian System</b>. <b>Plata Basin: </b><br> It comprises a total surface of <b>1,196,916 sq. mi. (3,100,000 km<sup>2</sup>)</b>. It is regarded as the most relevant basin in Argentina and has an international significance: it is made up of rivers whose source is outside the Argentine territory; besides, it represents a waterway for Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil.<br> <br> The <b>main rivers</b> belonging to it are: <b>Paraná, Uruguay, Paraguay, Salado, Carcarañá, Iguazú</b> and the <b>Plata River</b>.<br> The <b>Plata River</b> is <b>25 mi. (40 km) wide</b> as measured at Colonia (Uruguay) and <b>124 mi. (200 km)</b>, as measured between the extremes of its mouth. Besides, it is the river which gives its name to the basin and to the geographical region for which it sets the east boundary. <br> <br> <b>Patagonian system: </b><br> The rivers belonging to the <b>Atlantic Slope</b>, which traverse <b>Patagonia</b>, compound this system. All of them are born in the cordillera and their flow is increased twice a year, in winter due to the rainfalls and in spring due to the snow thawing. The lowest level occurs in the fall.<br> The most important rivers of this system are: <b>Chubut, Santa Cruz</b> and <b>Río Negro</b>. <br> <br> Within the classification of <b>ENDORHEIC BASIN </b>are all the rivers not flowing into the sea, the waters end within the territory through <b>filtration</b> or <b>evaporation</b>. There are two important systems with these characteristics in Argentina: <br> <br> <b>Desaguadero Basin: </b><br> This basin has a great <b>hydroelectric</b> and <b>irrigatory</b> significance and is considered temporary because in times of great freshets, its waters can reach the sea.<br> <br> It includes the following rivers: <b>Jáchal, Mendoza, Tunuyán, Diamante</b> and <b>Atuel</b>. The <b>Desaguadero</b> River is the collector. <br> <br> <b>Basin of Pampa Sierras:</b><br> It comprises streams of great hydroelectric and irrigatory relevance including the following rivers: <b>Salí, Primero, Segundo, Quinto</b> and other minor rivers.<br> <br> Some of the Argentine rivers cross the Chilean border and reach the Pacific Ocean. They are thought to belong to the <b>PACIFIC SLOPE</b>. Such is the case of <b>Futaleufú</b> River, which feeds a hydroelectric power plant. <br> <br> <b>LAKES AND LAGOONS</b> <br> <br> All the <b>Argentine lakes</b> are in the Patagonia, both in the cordilleran and in the extra-cordilleran areas. Some of the cordilleran lakes are shared with Chile, whereas the rest are exclusively under Argentine sovereignty. <br> <br> The lagoons are scattered along the whole Argentine territory. There are some of <b>marine</b> origin, which tend to disappear and become <b>salt-pits</b> and others are water collections from <b>rainfall</b> or <b>thawing</b>. <a href="indexingles.html" target=_top>Our Land</a> <br> <a href="../../pagina3ingles.html" target=_top>Table of contents </a> <img width=13 height=13 border=0 align=absmiddle src="../../iconos/bolita.gif"> <a href="../../indexingles.html" target=_top> Surfing the South </a> <img width=13 height=13 border=0 align=absmiddle src="../../iconos/bolita.gif"> <A HREF="#" onClick="MM_openBrWindow('../../contactus.html','','scrollbars=yes,width=400,height=300')"> Contact us now</a> <map name="botones"> <area shape=rect coords="292,1,435,18" a href=# onClick="MM_openBrWindow('../../contactus.html','','scrollbars=yes,width=400,height=300')"> <area shape=rect coords="0,1,144,18" href=../../pagina3ingles.html target=_top> <area shape=rect coords="147,1,290,18" href=../../pagina2ingles.html target=_top> </map> <table border=0 align="center" class="verda1" width="550"> <tr> <td align=left> <a href="geo110ing.html" target=_top><img border=0 alt="back"align=LEFT src="../../iconos/retro.jpg" width="18" height="18"></a> </td> <td align=center> <A HREF="#" onClick="MM_openBrWindow('../../contactus.html','','scrollbars=yes,width=400,height=300')"><img width=57 height=57 border=0 alt="Farber & Asoc.." src="../../iconos/ci_boton.gif"></a> <td align=right> <a href="geo13ing.htm" target="_top"><img border=0 alt="forward"align=RIGHT src="../../iconos/avan.jpg" width="18" height="18"></a> </td> </tr> </table> <br> <a href="../../disclaim.htm" target="_blank">Privacy </a> <hr> <address>© 1996-2002 Mario E. Farber</address> <address>All rights reserved.</address> <hr> <address><a href="MAILTO:webmaster@surdelsur.com">webmaster@surdelsur.com</a></address> </body>