Compiled by Salatiel Alves of Araújo, all reserved rights © 1996
The whole Swampland makes part of the basin of the river
Paraguay. With 1.400 Km of extension in Brazilian territory, that river and its
tributaries: They are Lourenço (670 Km), Cuiabá (650 Km), to the north; Miranda (490
Km), Taquari (480 Km), Cushion (280 Km), Aquidauana (565 Km), to the south, as well as
rivers of smaller extensions - Nabileque, Apa and Black, they form the plot hidrográfica
of every complex pantaneiro (they are about 175 rivers that form the basin of the river
Paraguay). But that system is not just constituted of rivers. The Swampland is an immense
plain of areas you flooded. Unlike the swamps, the waters of the Swampland are in constant
movement, varying with the times (full and of drought). Four factors influence in the
formation of the swamps of average water: the geography, the soil, the high number of
rivers (175) and the formations that surround it. The Swampland is a plane area, with
altitudes that are not going besides 200 m above the level of the sea. The declividade,
almost null, of 6 to 12 cm/Km in the sense east-west and of 1 to 2 cm/km in the sense
north-south, it favors the floods that spread of north for the south and of east to the
west, along Rio Paraguai, only canal of the Swampland. Surrounded by the Brazilian Plateau
(to east) and, in the distance, for the Mountain range of the you Walk (to west), these
areas end up flowing its waters to the Swampland in the times of full or degelo. This
geographical phenomenon ends up being responsible for the formation of a rich soil in
clay, that impedes the absorption of the water. When of the period of the full ones it
justifies the legend on its origin, that would be an immense interior sea - the sea of
Xaraés. That complex hidrográfico, still understands countless " bays " -
lakes - of the most varied surfaces, interlinked or not for the corixos and vazantes -
small perennial or periodic rivers. In the river enchentes or of rain it happens an
extraordinary interligação among rivers, arms, bays. The waters, finally, become an
alone one: the Sea of Xaraés. In the vazante, enriched by the humus, the area becomes the
largest and richer concentration of natural victuals that will sustain all its flora and
fauna. It is the period that verdejam the most extensive and vigorous pastagens of the
world.
Computer science, Consulting and Training Paiaguás
Salatiel
Alves of Araújo - Geologist and Specialist in Remote Sensory
Comments for the author: salatiel@nutecnet.com.br
Whole content protected by copyright © 1997
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Computer science, Consulting and Training Paiaguás
All rights reserved. - Revised: December 24, 1997
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