Draining an area equivalent to more than two thirds of the continental United States, it pours into the Atlantic Ocean about one-fifth of the freshwater that flows into all the world's oceans, a volume so prodigious that it alters ocean salt levels 200 miles from its mouth. And yet, contends Dr. Jeffrey Richey, a chemical oceanographer at the University of Washington, most of us misperceive the physical nature of a mighty river like the Amazon.
Nobody thinks much about what goes on inside of one.
So, for purely practical reasons, most catchment studies have focused on small areas, a tiny creek, perhaps, or a pond. The Amazon study on the other hand, focuses on characterizing the largest river system on the planet, and therefore demands an enormous commitment of time and resources. Instead of putting on hip boots, you have to get on big boats. Indeed, the 13 research voyages Richey and his colleagues have taken on the Amazon since 1982 have involved the use of an Amazon riverboat equipped much like a sea-going oceanographic vessel. A large part of the basic science conducted from onboard that vessel to date has focused on analyzing the processing, flow, and cycling of important biologically active elements, including carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and oxygen, along 2000 kilometers of the river's main stem and major tributaries.