{"id":3062,"date":"2023-03-16T09:19:56","date_gmt":"2023-03-16T08:19:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aboutriver.com\/?p=3062"},"modified":"2023-03-16T09:19:56","modified_gmt":"2023-03-16T08:19:56","slug":"why-does-the-amazon-river-flow-east","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aboutriver.com\/why-does-the-amazon-river-flow-east\/","title":{"rendered":"Why does the amazon river flow east?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Amazon River is the largest river in the world by discharge volume of water. It is located in South America, and its basin covers most of Brazil, Peru, and Colombia. The river is about 6400 kilometers long, and its average discharge is about 209 thousand cubic meters per second. The Amazon River Flow East because of the way the land is shaped in South America. The Amazon basin is a bowl shaped area with the river running through the middle. The land slopes down from the Andes mountains on the west side of the basin, and this is where the Amazon River gets its start. The river then flows east before draining into the Atlantic Ocean.<\/p>\n

The Amazon River flows east because it is in the Northern Hemisphere and is drained by the Amazon Basin. The Amazon Basin is bordered by the Guyana Shield to the north, the Brazilian Shield to the south, the Andes Mountains to the west, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east.<\/p>\n

Does the Amazon River flow east? <\/h2>\n

The Amazon River flows to the east, or toward the Atlantic ocean. But more than 10 million years ago the river flowed to the west. When you look at a map of South America and see the Andes Mountains on the western edge of the continent, you may wonder, “Why did the river flow to the west? Water always flows downhill.”<\/p>\n

The answer has to do with the movement of the Earth’s plates. South America is on a plate that is moving westward. So, the Amazon River flowed westward until the plate collided with another plate. This collision caused the Andes Mountains to form, and the Amazon River was forced to flow to the east.<\/p>\n