Orthon River

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River network with the Río Orthon in Beni lowlands

The Río Orthon is a river in the northern lowlands of Bolivia, which is formed by the confluence of the Río Tahuamanu (main source river ) and Río Manuripi and is part of the river system of the Amazon. Its catchment area covers 33,725 km ², of which 19,516 km ² in Bolivia.

Course

The Río Orthon has its origin on the northern edge of the national reserve " Reserva Nacional La Vida Silvestre Amazónica Manuripi " in the province Manuripi and forms the border with the neighboring province to the north Abuna in Pando department of Bolivia. From the confluence of Tahuamanu and Manuripi the river runs in an easterly direction and flows after 410 km in the Río Beni, which reaches after the confluence with the Río Mamoré as Rio Madeira to Amazon. Río Tahuamanu and Río Orthon have a total length of 1310 km.

Due to its low gradient of only 50 meters to 410 km, the river meanders very strong and changed so again its course and its length, especially when touching two adjacent loops, the water takes the resulting shortcut and so oxbows remain, the silt up over time. As the river runs in its entire course through tropical rain forest and region has a previously little developed, its catchment area is largely deserted. Road to the development of the region along this stream alone is the waterway, road connections only exist at the confluence in Puerto Rico and on the Río Madre de Dios downstream.

History

The river was out among the local population known only in the year 1880 by the North American Edwin Heath, who gave him the name of his colleague and compatriot James Orthon. The indigenous peoples of the river under the name " Datimanu " and was known as the "River of Peta's ", one occurring there aquatic turtle.