Hamza River

As a Hamza (Portuguese Rio Hamza ) a suspected aquifer in Brazil is called, which runs at a depth of 4000 meters below the Amazon. Its discovery was announced in August 2011 and goes back to studies of a Brazilian research group Valiya Manna Thal Hamza, after the aquifer is named.

History and significance

The Hamza aquifer extends over a length of about 6000 kilometers deep below the Amazon and is similar to the Amazon running from west to east from the Peruvian Andes towards the Atlantic Ocean. The aquifer is transported over a width of up to 400 kilometers, approximately 3900 cubic meters of water per second, which corresponds to about 2 % of the discharge flow of the Amazon River and represents a second important drainage system of the Amazon basin. The flow system represents no flow in the usual sense, but is often referred to figuratively so. However, the water transport takes place within porous rock layers approximately 4 kilometers below the earth's surface, also are the flow rates of a few meters per year below the average speeds glacier. The water is described as salty, but still probably leads to a reduction in the salinity of the Atlantic saltier through the estuary.

Discovery

The Hamza aquifer was discovered by a research group of the Brazilian National Observatory, the thermal data of 241 deep wells were evaluating that were made back in the 1970s and 1980s by the oil company Petrobras. The results suggest the described slow water flow. The findings were first presented in August 2011 at the 12th International Congress of the Brazilian Geophysical Society. The final confirmation of the existence of the aquifer in the form shown, is not expected until some years. The further significance of the drainage system, such as ecological processes must be further explored.

Criticism

They criticized the results of Jorge Figueiredo, a geologist by Petrobras. He rejected the hypothesis of a continuous aquifer and described the results as unscientific and explained by other contexts. Furthermore, he pointed out that the results have been presented only at a conference and could not be discussed in science.