Whitewater river (river type)
Category for certain types of rivers / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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A whitewater river is classified based on its chemistry, sediments and water colour. Whitewater rivers have high levels of suspended sediments, giving the water a pH that is near-neutral, a high electric conductivity and a pale muddy, café au lait-like colour.[1] Whitewater rivers are of great ecological importance and are important to local fisheries. The major seasonal Amazonian floodplains known as várzea receive their water from them.[2][3]
The best-known whitewater rivers are Amazonian and have their source in the Andes, but there are also whitewater rivers elsewhere in South America and in other continents.[1][4][5][6]
Amazonian rivers fall into three main categories: whitewater, blackwater and clearwater. This classification system was first proposed by Alfred Russel Wallace in 1853 based on water colour, but the types were more clearly defined according to chemistry and physics by Harald Sioli [de] from the 1950s to the 1980s.[7][8][9] Although many Amazonian rivers fall clearly into one of these categories, others show a mix of characteristics and may vary depending on season and flood levels.[8][10]