Amazon River Once Flowed in Opposite Direction

PhysOrg ^ | October 24, 2006 | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

[SunkenCiv]

Russell Mapes, a graduate student from Grass Valley, Calif., ...explains that these sediments of eastern origin were washed down from a highland area that formed in the Cretaceous Period, between 65 million and 145 million years ago, when the South American and African tectonic plates separated and passed each other. That highland tilted the river's flow westward, sending sediment as old as 2 billion years toward the center of the continent. A relatively low ridge, called the Purus Arch, which still exists, rose in the middle of the continent, running north and south, dividing the Amazon's flow - eastward toward the Atlantic and westward toward the Andes. Toward the end of the Cretaceous, the Andes started growing, which sent the river back toward the Purus Arch. Eventually, sediment from the mountains, which contained mineral grains younger than 500 million years old, filled in the basin between the mountains and the arch, the river breeched it and started its current flow. Previous research has identified a reverse flow, but only in segments of the river. Mapes and Coleman traversed about 80 percent of the Amazon basin, collecting samples of zircon.

[SunkenCiv]

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[SunkenCiv]

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[pissant]

She blinded me with science.

[Pyro7480]

SCIENCE!

[pissant]

Thailand?

[phoenix0468]

Hey my cousin is named Russell Mapes. How funny. This isn't him though.

[RandallFlagg]

BUSH'S GREAT X 10⁵⁴ GRANDPAW'S FAULT!!!!!

[SunkenCiv]

This story came from Brazil, so it may be a little nutty.

[Alter Kaker]

This flow change was documented on p. 523 of Bishop Ussher's chronology.See here.

[SunkenCiv]

Small world. :')

Google

[pissant]

Considering Brazil is known for a certain type of nut and a bad Duran Duran song, its a fair bet.

[SunkenCiv]

[SunkenCiv]

Is there any other kind of D-D song? ;') They did cover "Thank You" (a Led Zep) pretty well. Not spectacularly innovative arrangement though.

[pissant]

No. D-D is prety much for 14 year old girls. Never been one, so I missed that boat.

[phoenix0468]

Huh?

[SunkenCiv]

Edo Nyland once had this on his webpage:

"This is NOT the homepage of Dr. Edo Nyland, professor emeritus of geo-physics at the University of Alberta. Last updated February 22, 1999."

The most fun perhaps ever had in this area is Mike Brown, an astronomer. Look under "my alternative lives":

http://www.gps.caltech.edu/~mbrown/

[Pyro7480]

Thailand???

[GoLightly]

Duran Duran is among my guilty pleasures & I have no idea which song you're talking about or why. I guess I have to say, you seem to know more about the band than I do. :o)

Another of my guilty pleasures is the movie "Brazil", though I could never figure out why the movie was given that name.

[SunkenCiv]

Not sure the culture can take the hit:

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/article/ds38506.html

[pissant]

I had no idea they still were a band. Oh, maybe I did hear they still played in 3rd rate indian casinos. ;o)