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The Orinoco River Delta, Venezuela

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Coastal Marine Ecosystems of Latin America

Part of the book series: Ecological Studies ((ECOLSTUD,volume 144))

Abstract

The Orinoco River watershed (1.1 × 106km2) is the third largest in the world and the prevailing hydrographic unit in Venezuela. Between its origin at the Sierra Pârima and Sierra Unturan near Brazil and the Atlantic Ocean, the Orinoco drains more than 2,000 rivers (Depetris and Paolini 1991; Bonilla et al. 1993; Cressa et al. 1993). The distinctive triangular-shaped Orinoco Delta (20,000 km2) includes a cluster of ecosystems (Pannier 1979; Lewis et al. 1990; Colonnello 1996) and encompasses more than 300 tributary channels (caños) and several independent streams. Most channels (e. g. the important Caños Macareo and Mánamo) originate as branches of the Orinoco River at Barrancas. Together with the rivers of the northeastern plain (San Juan and Guanipa) and the Rio Grande channel, the delta discharges waters into the Gulf of Paria, the straits Boca de Serpientes and Boca de Dragones and the open sea (Pannier 1979; Fig. 4.1). The delta itself and the plume are distinct estuarine units; their limits probably depending on interactions brought about by seasonal variations in runoff and intrusion of tidal fronts.

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Authors
  1. J. E. Conde
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Depto. de Oceanografia, Universidade do Rio Grande, Av. Italia km 8, 96201-900, Rio Grande, RS, Brazil

    Ulrich Seeliger

  2. Marine Science Program, Department of Geological Sciences, and the Belle W. Baruch Institute for Marine and Coastal Research, University of South Carolina, Earth and Water Sciences Building 508 a, 29208, Columbia, SC, USA

    Björn Kjerfve

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© 2001 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Conde, J.E. (2001). The Orinoco River Delta, Venezuela. In: Seeliger, U., Kjerfve, B. (eds) Coastal Marine Ecosystems of Latin America. Ecological Studies, vol 144. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-04482-7_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-04482-7_5

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-08657-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-662-04482-7

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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