Expedition Finds Source of Amazon

W A S H I N G T O N, Dec. 14 -- A five-nation expeditionhas determined the precise source of the Amazon River insouthern Peru through the use of advanced satellite navigationtechnology, the National Geographic Society said today.

The team used Global Positioning System equipment to takemeasurements that precisely confirm the ultimate source of theriver as a stream beginning on Nevado Mismi, a mountain insouthern Peru, NGS said in a statement.

In recent years, at least one other stream flowing from aseparate peak had been identified as the source of the mightyAmazon, one of the world’s longest rivers.

The Amazon springs from the Andes’ high glacial regions andthe riddle about its source has inspired speculation forcenturies.

National Geographic said the GPS equipment used by theexpedition was considered accurate to within 1 to 5 meters. GPSreceivers use orbiting satellites as reference points to pinpoint locations on the Earth’s surface.

By Foot, Jeep, Bike and Horse

“The trip’s result is a highly reliable map of the Amazon’sheadwaters and an accurate determination of the river’ssource,” said Andrew Pietowski, a mathematics teacher fromCarmel, New York, who led the expedition.

“I was delighted to lead the team of explorers andscientists, despite what we had to overcome — cold, viciouswinds and temperatures well below zero Fahrenheit, highaltitude and very rough terrain,” he added.

Pietowski’s team members — representing the United States,Poland, Peru, Canada and Spain — traveled by foot, jeep,bicycle and horseback to explore the five remote Andean riversthat combine to form the Amazon.

Smithsonian Institution geographer Andrew Johnson said thesource of the Amazon could be defined as the most distant pointin the drainage basin from which surface water ran year round,or the furthest point from which water could possibly flow tothe Atlantic.

“The Nevado Mismi fits both of these definitions,” saidJohnson, who directed the GPS work.