Evidence Points To Huge Underground River Beneath Amazon 116
chill writes "Researchers at the department of geophysics of the Brazil National Observatory have showed evidence of the existence of an underground river that flows 13,000 feet beneath the Amazon. The newly-named Hamza is said to be 3,700 miles long, flowing 13,000 feet below the Amazon. Both rivers flow from west to east, but the Hamza flows at only a fraction of the speed of Amazon."
Re:Hamza? (Score:4, Informative)
They named it for the Brazilian scientist who led the discovery team, Valiya Hamza. What more indigenous do you want?
Re:Hamza? (Score:5, Insightful)
It's just like the Grand Canyon is the European name for it, while its proper name, given by Native Americans, is Weemoteeuktuk.
Cultural insensitivity aside, I think Grand Canyon is easier to remember.
Re: (Score:3)
It's just like the Grand Canyon is the European name for it, while its proper name, given by Native Americans, is Weemoteeuktuk.
Cultural insensitivity aside, I think Grand Canyon is easier to remember.
Not to the Hopi inhabitant [wikipedia.org] of the region. And by the way, 'Weemoteeuktuk' is bullshit. The real name is Ongtupqa.
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Ongtupqa is bullshit!
When the Grand Canyon was originally dredged by the Great Old Ones, it's name was Gthugl'ghulthahghfhgal.
Re: (Score:2)
joke for the spanish readers (Score:1)
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
It's just like the Grand Canyon is the European name for it, while its proper name, given by Native Americans, is Weemoteeuktuk.
A name is an identifier. There's nothing inherently more legitimate or "proper" about a name just because it's the first name used for something. Variables can take on a new name in a new scope. A new group of people can use a different name. It may be that communication between the groups will suffer for it--sometimes intentionally (consider politicians using different phrases to mean the same thing, such as "tax subsidy," "loophole," and "job-creating tax break"). It may also be that under a particul
Re: (Score:3)
France is more convex than concave so more like a pile than a hole.
Re: (Score:1)
So all the different Indian tribes found along the Grand Canyon, with all their different languages, used the one true proper name?
Re: (Score:3)
Also, I can't seem to find ANY results on Weemoteeuktuk
Comment removed (Score:5, Interesting)
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
than 'Brasileiro' ('-eiro' suffix indicates someone who performs a given action).
So people from Brazil are people who perform Brazilians.
Well, on a second though, that's not interesting at all.
I don't know what planet you're from, but I find that very interesting, indeed...
Re:Hamza? (Score:4, Informative)
...while its proper name, given by Native Americans, is Weemoteeuktuk.
Proper to whom? Which group of Native Americans, there are tons of them up there. The Navajo, the Ute, the Hopi, the Paiute, the Havasupai, the Hualapai? I'm sure I'm missing some tribes.
I wasn't aware that names weren't allowed to change. The first name something is given, is its name forever. I'm sure this is going to make me loose some "cultural feel good woo" points, but I'm past the point of caring. A name is a name, it isn't a magical identifier. The proper name for the Grand Canyon, in English, is "The Grand Canyon". Why is this proper? Because if I mention it to another English speaker they will know what the hell I'm talking about. If I say "Weemoteeuktuk", no one (even most natives) won't have a damn clue. If, in whatever language, "Weemoteeuktuk" is meaningful, and common, then that is the proper name within the smaller community, though they too will recognize what I'm referring to what I say "The Grand Canyon", making the term much more useful and ubiquitous. And thus superior, and this closer to "proper".
No, I don't think some mythical sense of inclusion is more important than clarity and the ability to communicate. The latter are the point of language, the former is for the the sociologists and odd Caucasian apologists.
There are no Native Americans (Score:2)
It's just like the Grand Canyon is the European name for it, while its proper name, given by Native Americans, is Weemoteeuktuk.
There are no Native Americans. We're all immigrants peoples here. Now, some of them got here a lot sooner than others...
Re: (Score:2)
I am part Cherokee, you insensitive clod!
I really resent you lumping me in with a bunch of totally different cultures just because we all have brownish skin and had the same caricature in your children's books.
Do you want to know the Cherokee word for the Grand Canyon? It's two words, actually: Grand Canyon! No idea what the Hopi name is.
And while you're at it, get off my lawn.
Re: (Score:2)
Hamza.com - for all your underground publications? (Score:3)
Compete with Amazon.com! "Prices? We're miles below them!" Oops - too late - someone else already took it (back in 1999).
It's under a few miles of rock. Here, let me fix that for you.
"Hamza? They couldn't come up with something more igneous?"
Try the fish!
Re:Hamza.com - for all your underground publicatio (Score:2)
Hamza.com may have below bargain basement low low prices, but at 1mm per hour their delivery service sucks worse than a vacuum cleaner set to "blow".
-
No a river, it's called an Aquifer (Score:5, Informative)
Geesh.... the term "underground river" evokes an image of a continuous flow of only water perhaps going through a long cave or something... not water travelling through rock, also known as an "Aquifer"
Re: (Score:2)
+1 More Informative Than Vague Article
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
Yet you still miss the point.
Those flow arrows indicate how the water gets into and out of the aquifer. Yes, this is a "flow". It is not the same type of flow that one thinks of when one thinks about rivers. Think aquifer = lake and underground river = river. They all have flows and currents, but only the rivers move the water "downstream".
Re: (Score:2)
According to the articles I've read that's exactly what it does. This moves downstream, following a particular flow, mirroring another river.
Re: (Score:2)
East would be downstream.
Re: (Score:2)
The water in lakes flows downstream towards its drainage rivers. It's simply slower than in rivers.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
And whatever you do, do NOT try to dig through it.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
http://www.timdenee.com/oilfurnace/ [timdenee.com]
Plug technique works great!
Re: (Score:2)
So blind Dinosaurs living in there out of the question then?
Re: (Score:3)
Aquifer is just the european name for it. We should be more sensitive and at least find an indigenous word to use. And perhaps have an argument over what native americans would have called it if they had the chance
Re: (Score:2)
Aquifer is just the european name for it. We should be more sensitive and at least find an indigenous word to use. And perhaps have an argument over what native americans would have called it if they had the chance
Hamza's Lie, is that closer?
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Yes. this BBC article [bbc.co.uk] gives a more informative and balanced explanation.
Even the evidence for unusual amounts of subsurface groundwater flow is equivocal. It looks like a rather ordinary aquifer.
Re: (Score:2)
Well, it is very salty, it at least has that to distinguish it from the more useful aquifers.
Re: (Score:1)
Also 13,000 feet = 4 km beneath the Amazon.
3,700 miles = 6,000 km long.
Re: (Score:2)
Who wants to go on an expedition to follow it back to the Great Underground Empire and see the mighty works of Lord Flathead?
Naming breaks ethical rules (Score:3, Insightful)
As a scientist you're not supposed to name things after yourself or have your students name them after you.
"The underground river is now named after Valiya Hamza, the scientist of Indian origin,who has been studying the Amazon region for more than 40 years. The discovery is part of the work of doctoral student Elizabeth Tavares Pimentel, under the guidance of Hamza."
Another word for this river is, of course, a "water table".
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
Ok. So that just means we know this Hazma guy didn't discover it. So who did he steal it from?
Re: (Score:3)
Yeah, I got all excited about this until I looked at the flow rate. About the same as most aquifers. While it is an important discovery and it's mapping may turn out to have useful applications, it's not at all surprising. The planet isn't made of concrete (despite what New Yorkers think).
But I don't think many people really have any sort of concept of what the subterranean world looks like so articles like this are useful. And I'm not sure that it's so bad to name it after Hamza. He seems like one of
Re: (Score:2)
*snip*(despite what New Yorkers think)*snip*
Talk to someone upstate. Especially someone in or around the Adirondack Park.
Re: (Score:1)
*snip*(despite what New Yorkers think)*snip*
Talk to someone upstate
Or... anyone. Not everyone is a brilliant geologist like the GP, but most people know that the world isn't made out of concrete. Even people in New York, who are obviously all drooling morons. Thank you for pointing that out GP.
Re:Naming breaks ethical rules (Score:4, Funny)
The planet isn't made of concrete (despite what New Yorkers think).
Christ! We are not IDIOTS.
Stuff above ground like buildings and raised sidewalks are made of concrete. Any blind idiot knows the ground is made of asphalt.
-
Re: (Score:2)
My bad. Sorry.
Re: (Score:2)
Don't appologize! New Yorkers deserve it -- they're so condescending to everyone else, yet get upset when someone makes a mild joke about them.
Re: (Score:2)
Perhaps you didn't get around to reading the second line of my post? (The one mentioning asphalt.) Either that or you're humor-blind. ColdWetDog's "apology" was a playful response to my comically feigned-indignation.
they're so condescending to everyone else
That's not true! We know we're not the only time zone on the planet! Most of us have been on a plane and everyone knows you have to adjust your watch three hours whenever you leave the city.
-
Re: (Score:2)
> As a scientist you're not supposed to name things after yourself or have your students name them after you.
What ethical rule? Is this in your institution's IRB materials?
And why not? It's not like being forced to not put one's name on something by a committee is going to make one less of a jerk if one is a jerk.
Re: (Score:2)
> As a scientist you're not supposed to name things after yourself
> or have your students name them after you.
Why not? It's better than naming a planetoid after Mickey Mouse's dog.
Re:Naming breaks ethical rules (Score:5, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
It's more named about Percival Lowell, the founder of the observatory. Thus the overlaid PL that is the symbol and the fact that the god the (then) planet was named for started with P and L.
And of course, there was also the fact that Percival Lowell was the owner and trainer of the dog that acted in all those Mickey Mouse films as "Pluto".
Re: (Score:2)
> As a scientist you're not supposed to name things after yourself
> or have your students name them after you.
Why not? It's better than naming a planetoid after Mickey Mouse's dog.
It sure is. [wikipedia.org]
Re: (Score:2)
Why you got to be dissing Pluto? He is a good dog. Occasionally gets caught humping Minnie's leg, but generally a good dog.
Chill man.
It didn't do Mr. Watt (Score:2)
"It didn't do Mr. Watt any harm."
Dr. Malcom Taylor.
Re: (Score:2)
The width of the newly-named Hamza is said to be 3,700 miles long[...]
Better article (Score:5, Interesting)
Here is a better article: http://www.sott.net/articles/show/234077-Underground-River-Rio-Hamza-Discovered-4km-Beneath-the-Amazon [sott.net]
Flowing at a rate of 1mm/hour, this is more like a gigantic seepage of ground water. I suppose calling it a "river" gets them into the newspapers...
Re: (Score:2)
I was a bit surprised as well. This story has hit several of the social news sites, and from the headlines I was expecting some sort of freak underground tunnel caused by some interesting historical phenomenon. Then I saw the flow rate and tried to figure out how that made sense. Then I learned that it might not really be a river at all, at least not as a layman like me thinks of one.
Aside: Also, thanks for linking to a site that isn't covered in Facebook-related junk. It seems like social networking links
metoo (Score:2)
I live over an underground river just as unlike a river as this, except nearer to the surface. Our well is over 100 feet deep, though. And it's horribly rusty.
Re: (Score:1)
Hence your nickname?
I've heard this routine before (Score:2)
Flowing at a rate of 1mm/hour, this is more like a gigantic seepage of ground water.
You forget that I was present at an undersea, unexplained mass sponge migration.
I believe it (Score:1)
One Question (Score:5, Funny)
Re: (Score:1)
In related news (Score:1)
Talked about on reddit yesterday (Score:1)
http://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/jv809/underground_river_rio_hamza_discovered_4km/ [reddit.com]
Re: (Score:1)
Look, this is Slashdot. This is not reddit. We do not care what they have to say. We do not care what some 17-year-old pre-college hipsters think about this topic. If we wanted inane, shit-ridden discussion, we'd be over over at reddit instead. But we're not there, because that's not what we want. So please don't bring such utter crap over here. Thank you, and good night.
ahhhh.... Rob Malda, a.k.a. CmdrTaco ...so you're STILL lurking around. good for you.
Pretty wide! (Score:3, Funny)
The width is said to be 3700 miles long? Cool, how wide is the length said to be??
Aha! (Score:2)
Re: (Score:1)
I would argue the opposite. I don't think I've ever had an order on time, arguable that it's because of where I live, or what I order, but "we have to swim across a 3700 mile river underground" is somewhat better consolation than "the warehouse manufacturer apologizes for the delay, we are looking into figuring out what happened".
Underground River (Score:1)
I tap the underground river for U and take 1 damage.
Isn't that about the depth... (Score:2)
Depends on the type. (Score:2)
If you're fraking your significant other, I doubt that'll do any damage to the water table, unless you produce volume like Peter "Two Quarts" North, in which case there's a slight risk of organic contamination.
As for hydraulic fracturing, there is no such thing as "drinking-water-safe", just like there's no such thing as "clean coal". Cracks in the bedrock resulting from the frackage can propagate for thousands of feet above the well pipe, often unpredictably. That's kind of the point; the longer the crac
The width is 3,700 miles long??? (Score:2)
Really???
Sci-Fi oblig. (Score:2)
Not surprising as one might think. (Score:2)
Width = 3,700 miles? (Score:1)
"The width of the Hamza is said to be 3,700 miles long..."
I can understand the length of the river being 3,700 miles long, wouldn't the width be another figure?
Is there some sort of "river nomenclature" I am missing?
Maybe I just need more coffee...
Underground City! (Score:2)
And paddling upstream on this underground river it will lead us to the lost underground city, a city filled with gold, a city called ElDorado.
No? Can we then have at least a movie about it? Or better yet: any investors willing to pay me, so I can go looking for it? (And then do a book, a documentary, and an action movie.) -I must admit "underground river" invokes more interesting connotations than "slow flowing aquifier"
Probably a good thing I wasn't there (Score:3)
'Cause I wouldn't have been able to resist the temptation to name it "Amazon Prime".
Re: (Score:1)
'Cause I wouldn't have been able to resist the temptation to name it "Amazon Prime".
If it were named Amazon Prime, wouldn't it be faster than the regular Amazon?.
I thought Brazil used the metric system (Score:2)
So why are the values given feet and miles?
Google's underground river will be available soon (Score:2)
BBC says not a river (Score:3)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-14693637 [bbc.co.uk]
Cool (Score:2)
Water source for the folks to tap into???