Editing Branco River

{{about|the river in Roraima, Brazil|other rivers with the same name|}}
{{Infobox river
| name               = Branco River
| name_native        ={{native name|pt|Rio Branco}}
| name_other         = 
| name_etymology     = 
<!---------------------- IMAGE & MAP -->
| image              = Rio Branco sul.JPG
| image_size         = 300
| image_caption      = Branco River in [[Boa Vista, Roraima|Boa Vista]] city, [[Roraima]] state, Brazil. The Macuxi Bridge, {{convert|1.2|km|mi|abbr=on}} long,<ref>[http://www1.uol.com.br/bibliot/turismo/boavista.htm UOL. Turismo em Boa Vista.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303232546/http://www1.uol.com.br/bibliot/turismo/boavista.htm |date=2016-03-03 }} Access on Feb 17 2012.</ref> can be seen in the background.
| map                = Negroamazonrivermap.png
| map_size           = 300
| map_caption        = The Branco River is a tributary of the [[Rio Negro (Amazon)|Rio Negro]] (highlighted on map)
| pushpin_map        = 
| pushpin_map_size   = 300
| pushpin_map_caption= 
<!---------------------- LOCATION -->
| subdivision_type1  = Country
| subdivision_name1  = {{BRA}}
| subdivision_type2  = 
| subdivision_name2  = 
| subdivision_type3  = 
| subdivision_name3  = 
| subdivision_type4  = 
| subdivision_name4  = 
| subdivision_type5  = 
| subdivision_name5  = 
<!---------------------- PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS -->
| length             = {{convert|560|km|mi|abbr=on}}<ref name=fao>{{cite book |last1=Ziesler |first1=R. |last2=Ardizzone |first2=G.D. |title=The Inland waters of Latin America |year=1979 |url=http://www.fao.org/docrep/008/ad770b/AD770B05.htm |publisher=[[Food and Agriculture Organization|Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations]] |isbn=92-5-000780-9 |chapter=Amazon River System |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141108152358/http://www.fao.org/docrep/008/ad770b/AD770B05.htm |archive-date=8 November 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref> to {{cvt|775|km|mi|abbr=on}}<ref name="Branco-River">{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Branco-River|title=Branco-River|access-date=2023-03-10|archive-date=2023-02-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230217111844/https://www.britannica.com/place/Branco-River|url-status=live}}</ref>
| width_min          = 
| width_avg          = 
| width_max          = 
| depth_min          = 
| depth_avg          = 
| depth_max          = 
| discharge1_location=Confluence of [[Rio Negro (Amazon)|Rio Negro]], [[Roraima State|Roraima]] 
| discharge1_min     = {{cvt|278|m3/s|cuft/s|abbr=on}}<ref name="River Discharge and Reservoir Storage Changes Using Satellite Microwave Radiometry">{{cite web|url=https://floodobservatory.colorado.edu/SiteDisplays/142data.htm|title=River Discharge and Reservoir Storage Changes Using Satellite Microwave Radiometry|access-date=2023-03-10|archive-date=2023-03-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230310150311/https://floodobservatory.colorado.edu/SiteDisplays/142data.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>
| discharge1_avg     =(Period:1967-2010){{convert|5,400|m3/s|cuft/s|abbr=on}}<ref name="Amazon basin water resources observation service">{{cite web|url=https://hybam.obs-mip.fr/|title=Amazon basin water resources observation service|access-date=2023-03-10|archive-date=2023-09-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230908072837/https://hybam.obs-mip.fr/|url-status=live}}</ref>
(Period: 1980-2006){{cvt|5,300|m3/s|cuft/s|abbr=on}}<ref name="Hydrological Control on the Temporal Variability of Trace Element Concentration in the Amazon River and its Main Tributaries">{{cite web|title=Hydrological Control on the Temporal Variability of Trace Element Concentration in the Amazon River and its Main Tributaries|last=Seyler|first=Patrick|author2=Laurence Maurice-Bourgoin|author3=Jean Loup Guyot|publisher=Geological Survey of Brazil (CPRM)|url=http://www.cprm.gov.br/pgagem/Manuscripts/seylerp.htm|access-date=24 July 2010|archive-date=21 July 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721224824/http://www.cprm.gov.br/pgagem/Manuscripts/seylerp.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>
(Period: 1998-2022){{cvt|6,469|m3/s|cuft/s|abbr=on}}<ref name="River Discharge and Reservoir Storage Changes Using Satellite Microwave Radiometry"/>
| discharge1_max     = {{cvt|28,697|m3/s|cuft/s|abbr=on}}<ref name="River Discharge and Reservoir Storage Changes Using Satellite Microwave Radiometry"/>
| discharge2_location= [[Caracaraí]] (400 km upstream of mouth; Basin size: {{cvt|124,980|km2|abbr=on}}
| discharge2_min     = {{cvt|178|m3/s|cuft/s|abbr=on}} (1998/03/24)<ref name="Amazon basin water resources observation service"/>
| discharge2_avg     = (Period: 1997/01/01-2015/12/31)
{{cvt|3,170.343|m3/s|cuft/s|abbr=on}}<ref name="Assessing the performance of global hydrological models for capturing peak river flows in the Amazon basin">{{cite web|url=https://hess.copernicus.org/articles/23/3057/2019/hess-23-3057-2019-supplement.pdf|title=Assessing the performance of global hydrological models for capturing peak river flows in the Amazon basin|last=Jamie|first=Towner|year=2019|access-date=2023-03-10|archive-date=2023-10-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231014093200/https://hess.copernicus.org/articles/23/3057/2019/hess-23-3057-2019-supplement.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

(Period: 1998-2022){{cvt|3,615.65|m3/s|cuft/s|abbr=on}}<ref name="Amazon basin water resources observation service"/>
| discharge2_max     = {{cvt|15,735|m3/s|cuft/s|abbr=on}} (1976/07/10)<ref name="Amazon basin water resources observation service"/>
| discharge3_location= [[Boa Vista, Roraima|Boa Vista]] (Basin size: {{cvt|97,200|km2|abbr=on}}
| discharge3_avg     = (Period: 1967-2010){{cvt|2,436.76|m3/s|cuft/s|abbr=on}}<ref name="Amazon basin water resources observation service"/>

(Period: 1998-2022){{cvt|3,129.97|m3/s|cuft/s|abbr=on}}<ref name="Amazon basin water resources observation service"/>
| source1            = 
| source1_location   = confluence of [[Takutu River|Takutu]] and [[Uraricoera River|Uraricoera]], [[Roraima]], [[Brazil]]
| source1_coordinates= {{coord|3|1|28.5276|N|60|29|14.8596|W}}
| source1_elevation  = {{cvt|64|m|abbr=on}}
| source2            =
| source2_location   = [[Uraricoera River|Uraricoera]], [[Parima Mountains]]
| source2_coordinates= {{coord|3|41|42.2484|N|64|12|36.018|W}}
| source2_elevation  = {{cvt|1,240|m|abbr=on}}
| source3            =
| source3_location   = [[Takutu River|Takutu]], [[Guiana Shield]]
| source3_coordinates= {{coord|1|47|48.6492|N|60|1|38.2656|W}}
| source3_elevation  = {{cvt|306|m|abbr=on}}
| mouth              = 
| mouth_location     = [[Rio Negro (Amazon)|Rio Negro]], [[Roraima]], [[Brazil]]
| mouth_coordinates  = {{coord|1|23|38|S|61|50|46|W|type:_river}}
| mouth_elevation    = {{cvt|12|m|abbr=on}}
| progression        = 
| river_system       = 
| basin_size         ={{convert|192,392.66|km2|mi2|abbr=on}}<ref name="Amazon basin water resources observation service"/> 
| tributaries_left   =[[Takutu River|Takutu]], [[Anauá River|Anauá]], [[Itapará River|Itapará]] 
| tributaries_right  =[[Uraricoera River|Uraricoera]], [[Mucajai River|Mucajai]], [[Ajarani River|Ajarani]], [[Água Boa do Univini River|Univini]], [[Catrimani River|Catrimani]], [[Xeruini River|Xeruini]] 
| custom_label       = 
| custom_data        = 
| extra              = 
}}
The '''Branco River''' ({{langx|pt|Rio Branco}}; Engl: ''White River'') is the principal [[Tributary|affluent]] of the [[Rio Negro (Amazon)|Rio Negro]] from the north.

==Basin==
The river drains the [[Guayanan Highlands moist forests]] ecoregion.<ref>{{citation|title=South America: Southern Venezuela, northern Brazil, western Guyana, and eastern Colombia (NT0124)|publisher=WWF: World Wildlife Fund|last=Sears|first=Robin|url=http://www.worldwildlife.org/ecoregions/nt0124|access-date=2017-04-01|archive-date=2020-09-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200922120359/https://www.worldwildlife.org/ecoregions/nt0124|url-status=live}}</ref>
It is enriched by many streams from the [[Tepui]] highlands which separate [[Venezuela]] and [[Guyana]] from [[Brazil]]. Its two upper main tributaries are the [[Uraricoera River|Uraricoera]] and the [[Takutu River|Takutu]].<ref name=WDL1>{{cite web|title=Map of the Branco or Parimé River and of the Caratirimani Uararicapará Majari, Tacutú and Mahú Rivers|url=http://www.wdl.org/en/item/816|publisher=World Digital Library|access-date=27 April 2013|archive-date=14 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131214135611/http://www.wdl.org/en/item/816/|url-status=live}}</ref> The latter almost links its sources with those of the [[Essequibo River|Essequibo]]; during floods headwaters of the Branco and those of the Essequibo are connected, allowing a level of exchange in the aquatic fauna (such as fish) between the two systems.<ref name=Quinn2015>{{cite book|editor=Quinn, J.A. |editor2=S.L. Woodward | year=2015 | title=Earth's Landscape: An Encyclopedia of the World's Geographic Features | volume=1 | page=142 |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic | isbn=978-1-61069-445-2 }}</ref>

[[File:Gaiola Anacorda, Branco River, Acre River, 1912.jpg|thumb|Gaiola Anacorda, Branco River, Acre River, 1912]]

The Branco flows nearly south, and finds its way into the Negro through several channels and a chain of [[lagoon]]s similar to those of the latter river.  It is {{convert|350|mi|km}} long, up to its Uraricoera [[confluence]].  It has numerous [[island]]s, and, {{convert|235|mi|km}} above its mouth, it is broken by a bad series of rapids.

==Discharge==

Average, minimum and maximum discharge of the Branco River at near mouth. Period from 1998 to 2022.<ref name="River Discharge and Reservoir Storage Changes Using Satellite Microwave Radiometry"/>
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
 ! rowspan="2" |Year
! colspan="3" |Discharge (m<sup>3</sup>/s)
! rowspan="2" |Year
! colspan="3" |Discharge (m<sup>3</sup>/s)
|-
!Min
! Mean
 ! Max
 !Min
!Mean
!Max
|-
|1998
|
|5,664
|16,435
|2011
|454
|5,008
|16,815
|-
|1999
|1,792
|9,538
|22,576
|2012
|2,135
|8,381
|17,944
|-
|2000
|2,506
|9,725
|28,697
|2013
|1,377
|6,493
|13,229
|-
|2001
|788
|6,551
|17,791
|2014
|1,117
|6,384
|15,489
|-
|2002
|1,271
|5,219
|18,760
|2015
|772
|3,983
|10,416
|-
|2003
|640
|4,375
|13,320
|2016
|435
|4,316
|11,677
|-
|2004
|756
|4,244
|11,959
|2017
|2,258
|7,437
|16,449
|-
|2005
|729
|7,868
|19,893
|2018
|777
|6,653
|17,912
|-
|2006
|2,457
|9,899
|22,644
|2019
|625
|5,205
|15,859
|-
|2007
|845
|7,271
|15,118
|2020
|1,567
|7,216
|16,564
|-
|2008
|2,739
|7,630
|17,280
|2021
|1,712
|8,828
|23,180
|-
|2009
|486
|4,318
|10,735
|2022
|1,810
|9,087
|23,631
|-
|2010
|278
|2,754
|8,040
|
|''278''
|'''''6,469'''''
|''28,697''
|}

==Water chemistry==
As suggested by its name, the Branco (literally "white" in Portuguese) has whitish water that may appear almost milky due to the [[inorganic]] sediments it carries.<ref name=ARussel>The Alfred Russel Wallace page: [http://people.wku.edu/charles.smith/wallace/S011.htm On the Rio Negro.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150602232906/http://people.wku.edu/charles.smith/wallace/S011.htm |date=2015-06-02 }} Retrieved 10 October 2017.</ref> It is traditionally considered a [[Whitewater river (river type)|whitewater river]],<ref>{{cite journal | author1=Venticinque |author2=Forsberg |author3=Barthem |author4=Petry |author5=Hess |author6=Mercado |author7=Cañas |author8=Montoya |author9=Durigan |author10=Goulding |display-authors=3 | year=2016 | title=An explicit GIS-based river basin framework for aquatic ecosystem conservation in the Amazon | journal=Earth Syst. Sci. Data | volume=8 |issue=2 | pages=651–661 | doi=10.5194/essd-8-651-2016 |bibcode=2016ESSD....8..651V |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite book| editor1=Val, A.L.|editor2=V.M.F. de Almeida-Val|editor3=D.J. Randall | year=2013 | title=Fish Physiology: The Physiology of Tropical Fishes | page=27 | isbn=978-0-12350-445-6 }}</ref> although the major seasonal fluctuations in its physico-chemical characteristics makes a classification difficult and some consider it [[Clearwater river (river type)|clearwater]].<ref name=Villamizar2013>{{cite web |author1=Ríos-Villamizar, E.A. |author2=M.T.F. Piedade |author3=J.G. da Costa |author4=J.M. Adeney |author5=J. Junk |year=2013 |title=Chemistry of different Amazonian water types for river classification: A preliminary review |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/271427552 |access-date=2017-12-11 |archive-date=2021-02-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210214122732/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/271427552_Chemistry_of_different_Amazonian_water_types_for_river_classification_A_preliminary_review |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=Souza2014>{{cite journal | author1=de Souza kodra, A. |author2=M.N. Fernandes |author3=W.L. Paxiúba Duncan | year=2014 | title=Effect of clearwater on osmoregulation of cururu ray, Potamotrygon sp. (Chondrichthes; Potamotrogonidae), an endemic species from blackwater river | journal=Scientia Amazonia | volume=3 | issue=1 | pages=15–24 }}</ref> Especially the river's upper parts at the [[headwaters]] are clear and flow through rocky country, leading to the suggestion that sediments mainly originate from the lower parts.<ref name=ARussel/> Furthermore, its chemistry and color may contradict each other compared to the traditional [[Amazon basin|Amazonian]] river classifications.<ref name=Villamizar2013/> The Branco River has [[pH]] 6–7 and low levels of [[dissolved organic carbon]].<ref name=Souza2014/>

[[Alfred Russel Wallace]] mentioned the coloration in "On the Rio Negro", a paper read at the 13 June 1853 meeting of the [[Royal Geographical Society]], in which he said: "[The Rio Branco] is white to a remarkable degree, its waters being actually milky in appearance". [[Alexander von Humboldt]] attributed the color to the presence of [[silicate]]s in the water, principally [[mica]] and [[talc]].<ref name = "Humboldt">{{cite web| url = http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/h/humboldt/alexander/travels/chapter25.html| title = Alexander von Humboldt, ''Personal Narrative of Travels to the Equinoctial Regions of America During the Years 1799-1804,'' (chapter 25). Henry G. Bohn, London, 1853.| access-date = 2015-05-13| archive-date = 2016-03-03| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160303230636/https://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/h/humboldt/alexander/travels/chapter25.html| url-status = dead}}</ref> There is a visible contrast with the waters of the [[Rio Negro (Amazon)|Rio Negro]] at the confluence of the two rivers. The Rio Negro is a [[blackwater river]] with dark tea-colored acidic water (pH 3.5–4.5) that contains high levels of dissolved organic carbon.<ref name=Souza2014/>

==River capture==
Until approximately 20,000 years ago the headwaters of the Branco River flowed not into the Amazon, but via the Takutu Graben in the [[Rupununi]] area of Guyana towards the Caribbean.<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://urlib.net/8JMKD3MGP3W34P/3LSDRJB|title=Evolução quaternária do Rio Branco - norte da Amazônia - com base em dados orbitais e geológicos.|last=Cremon|first=É. H.|year=2016|publication-place=Tese (Doutorado em Sensoriamento Remoto) - Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais (INPE), São José dos Campos}}</ref> Currently in the rainy season much of the Rupununi area floods, with water draining both to the Amazon (via the Branco River) and the Essequibo River.<ref name=Quinn2015/>

==Citations==

===Notes===
{{reflist|24em}}

===References===
* [http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/77606/Branco-River Encyclopædia Britannica Online.com: "Branco River"] . retrieved 19 September 2009.
{{Commons category|Rio Branco (Rio Negro tributary)}}

{{-}}

[[Category:Rivers of Roraima]]
[[Category:Tributaries of the Rio Negro (Amazon)]]
[[Category:Boa Vista, Roraima]]
[[Category:Guayana Highlands]]