One of the largest natural watercourses of the Earth is located on the hottest mainland in close proximity to the 0° parallel. What is this river that crosses the equator twice? What continent is the waterway on? This article provides detailed answers to fascinating geographical riddles.
On what continent is the river that crosses the equator twice?
Usually, latitude is measured from parallel 0°. This is the equator crossed by all meridians. An imaginary line on a globe and a map is a conditional boundary between the northern and southern hemispheres. Crossing the Equator:
- Africa - in the central part of this mainland;
- South America - in the north;
- many large and small islands in the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic Oceans.
Thousands of streams in these landmasses flow near latitude 0°. But there is only one largest river that crosses the equator twice - the river. Congo on the African continent. The second largest and hottest of the Earth's continents is very dry in its northern part. The center of the mainland is inequatorial climatic zone, where precipitation is more than 2000 mm / year, but evaporation is also significant.
Gilea - humid evergreen forests (jungle) occupies a huge area in this region. The western part of Central Africa is washed by the relatively cold waters of the Gulf of Guinea. To the north, the forest belt gradually turns into the endless expanses of the savannah. From the east and west, the Congo River basin is bounded by mountain ranges that serve as a watershed.
Congo - Africa's most abundant river
The largest natural watercourses in the Atlantic Ocean basin have similarities and differences. On the African mainland, the rain type predominates in the feeding of such rivers. After all, the sources are in the equatorial regions, where there is a lot of precipitation. The Nile - the longest water artery - begins in the mountains of East Africa, flows north and flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Congo River crosses the equator or parallel 0° twice. It is easy to see this if you look at a map of the world or Africa. First, a stream from an area in the Southern Hemisphere heads north, taking in numerous tributaries along the way. The river turns southwest about 2° north of the equator. Congo returns to the Southern Hemisphere and rushes to the Gulf of Guinea. This is the most full-flowing river that crosses the equator twice. Congo in terms of runoff in the world ranking is second only to the South American river. Amazon. On the maps of Africa, another hydronym is often indicated - Zaire. It so happened historically that the river has two names.
The Congo Basin is located in the subequatorial and equatorial climatic zones. The river receives numerous tributaries in the northern and southern hemispheres. The region south of the equator accounts for about 75% of the basin, which affects the water regime. Thus, the level rise is observed from March to October, when the northern tributaries receive the most precipitation. The second peak occurs in October-March, when the wettest conditions are observed south of the equator. The flow of the Congo River is uniform throughout the year. To this it is still necessary to add the presence of a significant drop in the channel, rapids and waterfalls in the upper reaches.
Deep Congo
The well-known American edition of National Geographic provides a comparative analysis of the high water content of the Earth's rivers. The first line is occupied by the Amazon, which crosses the mainland of South America from west to east. The African river, which crosses the equator twice, surpasses in depth other water arteries of the planet studied by specialists. According to National Geographic, the depth of the Congo in some sections of the channel is more than 230 m. This is almost twice as deep as that of the Amazon.
Geographers explain the significant depth of the Congo by the structure of the channel and the entire river valley. The largest watercourse in Central Africa on its way to the Gulf of Guinea for thousands of years made its way through a gorge in a mountainous area. Now it is the South Guinean Plateau, where the Congo channel narrows to 300–500 m. But on the plain, the African river spills over 10–15 km. Powerfula stream of water breaks into the gorge and fills it. The flow of the river in this section reaches a record high of 42 thousand m3/sec.
Congo Basin Exploration
Portuguese trader and navigator Diogo Kan explored the western coast of Africa and the confluence of the Congo into the Gulf of Guinea, and in 1482 discovered sources in the mountains. The river crosses the equator twice in Central Africa. For a long time, this area was the least explored on the mainland, abounded in "white spots".
Impenetrable jungle, swampy terrain, lack of roads hampered the work of cartographers and other scientists. One of them compared the hylaea with a "green hell", because in the forest travelers had to fight their way with a machete with difficulty. Creepers rage around and do not allow to pass, powerful and numerous stilted roots grow. It is gloomy and damp under the forest canopy, because it rains almost every day, and the crowns of several tiers of trees and shrubs block out the light. Animals prefer to live and eat on branches, occasionally going down.
Main Features of the Congo River
Having learned which African river crosses the equator twice, we can describe it in more detail. The length of the channel, according to various estimates, is 4.3–4.7 thousand km. A more accurate answer depends on which of the tributaries of the river is taken as its source. In general, the basin area reaches an impressive size - almost 3.7 million km2. Most geographical publications asThe source names the river originating on the Shaba plateau, west of the city of Kisangani.
The Congo receives numerous left and right tributaries on its way to the Atlantic Ocean. The largest of them: Mobangi, Ruki, Lulongo and others. Significant differences between the height of the sources and the mouth, the fall and slope of the river in some areas provide its huge hydropower potential. Several powerful hydroelectric power plants have been built, supplying energy to the Central African countries. The lower part of the river is actively used for navigation and timber rafting. Fishing is developed, Nile perch and freshwater herring are mined in the waters of the Congo.
