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The hypothesis of the existence of a gigantic underground watercourse under the Amazon basin, known as “Hamza River”, returned to academic and scientific debate after studies point to water flows about 4,000 meters deep in the region.
The Aquifer would be the largest in the world/Photo: Reproduction
Although popularly nicknamed “underground river,” experts say that formation behaves, in fact, as a large aquifer, a porous system that stores and drives water without a defined channel.
Geographer and PhD in Geography Alexsande Franco, professor at the Federal University of Acre (Ufac), points out that the so -called “Hamza River” is more adequately described as part of a dynamic groundwater system with typical aquifer behavior.
“The flow of water mentioned behaves like a huge aquifer, not as a river. The water moves by more porous superficial layers until they find deeper layers of rocks, without the presence of a continuous bed, as in superficial rivers,” he explains.
The research that gave rise to the “Hamza River” thesis was developed in 2010 by then -doctoral student Elizabeth Pimentel of the Federal University of Amazonas (Ufam), based on geothermal flow analysis performed from Petrobras perforated wells in the 1970s. The training was named after geophysic and hydrogeologist Valiya Hamza, research advisor.
Alexsande Franco, professor at the Federal University of Acre explained the case/Photo: Ceded
According to the preliminary data of the study, Hamza would have about 6,000 kilometers long, a variable width between 1 and 60 kilometers and an extremely slow flow of 10 to 100 meters per year, in contrast to about 5 meters per second of the Amazon River. Its source would be located in Acre, fueled by infiltrated waters of the surface rivers and precipitation.
Despite the interest generated, Hamza’s hypothesis remains without broad scientific validation. Several researchers question their classification as “river”, due to the absence of a defined channel and the essentially geological character of its operation. There are also uncertainties regarding the salinity of stored water, a factor that directly influences its interaction with the Amazonian ecosystem and the Atlantic Ocean.
Franco adds that the Amazon region houses a vast and complex aquifer system, including the Greater Amazon Aquifer System (saga), considered the largest in the world in water volume, with estimated 162,520 km³. This system extends to several countries in South America, including Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Bolivia, Ecuador and Venezuela.
“The saga is a set of aquifers, many of them still little scientifically explored. An example is the Aquifer Solimões, which extends southern Amazonas, Acre, Rondônia and part of Peru and Bolivia,” he explains.
According to him, all these aquifers follow defined flows, with variable direction and speed according to the characteristics of the terrain. In Rio Branco, for example, the local aquifer, which has superficial and unconfined characteristics, has flow from the Vila Acre neighborhood towards the Acre River.
The aquire would be located under the Amazonas River/Photo: Reproduction
The teacher also points out that the quality of groundwater may vary according to the depth and geological composition of the region. “Deeper wells, depending on the area, may have more brackish water, with greater mineral salts. This needs to be analyzed on a case by case basis,” he says.
It also draws attention to the need to protect the most superficial aquifers, which are more vulnerable to contamination. “It is essential that there is adequate infrastructure of basic sanitation, such as sewage collection and treatment, to ensure the protection of these reserves,” he argues.
While the debate about Hamza remains in the field of scientific hypotheses, consensus among experts on the strategic importance of Amazonian aquifers, both for supply and the environmental balance of the region.
The forest, which has formed over millions of years in an ancient oceanic area transformed into a sedimentary basin, is a direct result of a geological process that contributed to the formation of extensive underground water reserves, now vital to the conservation of the biome and the water safety of the region.
