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The Boiling River starts as a cold, small jungle stream that grows significantly in volume and temperature as it flows over geologic fault zones. With dozens of hot springs and a powerful flow rate, the Boiling River in Peru’s Amazonian rainforest is the largest documented thermal river in the world. The Boiling River is at the center of the life of Mayantuyacu—essential as a source of water, cooking, cleaning, making medicines, and even telling time. At the Boiling River, you regularly hear locals refer to “la hora del vapor” (“the vapour hour”). It refers to the end of the day before nightfall when cooler air temperatures create great plumes of vapour rising from the river. This river was ‘discovered’ by Andrés Ruzo.
For over 6 kilometers (about 4 miles), the river weaves through rocks, dense jungle, and thermal mudflats, widening to a peak of about 30 meters (100 feet) and hitting a maximum depth of almost 4.5 meters (15 feet). At sea level, water boils at 100 °C (212 °F). At La Bomba, an aggressively bubbling hot spring, whose name translates to “the Pump”, the river’s temperature is 94 to 97 °C (201 to 207 °F). About 300 meters (1,000 feet) downstream of La Bomba, the river’s water temperature peaked at a spring reaching 99.1 °C (210 °F). Two of the biggest mysteries of the river are the source of its hot water and its purity. After all, the water is remarkably safe to drink, unlike most other local water sources that often plague drinkers with dysentery, Legionnaires’ disease, and other diseases.
As a boy in Peru, Ruzo heard the legend of the Boiling River from his grandfather. Later, as a Ph.D. candidate studying geothermal science, Ruzo began to wonder: did the river actually exist? Scientists and oil prospectors told him it wasn’t likely, but when he asked his aunt, she said, “I’ve been there.” In fact, his aunt showed him the way to the river’s steamy banks. This led him to the river in the Amazon rainforest, where he began a research project that would inspire millions. Throughout his research, Ruzo has relied on Xylem’s YSI handheld meters to sample the river’s water quality, gathering data that provides new insights into the phenomenon. The story Ruzo’s grandfather told him of the Boiling River dates back to the time of the conquistadors. The Incas made up a story about a city made of gold, El Dorado, deep in the rainforest. When surviving gold seekers staggered back, they described the eternal night of the dark rainforest, shadowy depths guarded by silent warriors with poison-tipped arrows, spiders big enough to devour birds, clouds of insects, and a river that could boil a man alive.
Years later in 2011, Ruzo, by then a geoscientist working on a thermal map of Peru, traveled by car, canoe, and foot to a remote swath of the Amazon populated by white-throated toucans, jaguars, and indigenous tribes with a rich shamanic culture to see if the myth was true. There amid the dense central Peruvian Amazon, over 400 miles from the nearest volcano, he came upon the Boiling River, a flowing, four-mile-long river as wide as a two-lane road, 16 feet deep in places, and averaging 186ºF—hot enough to cook a small animal in seconds. Though the local people had long known about the river, it had never been studied by scientists, which meant that in this age of information saturation, Ruzo had stumbled upon a scientific discovery of the highest order: what’s thought to be one of the largest thermal rivers on the planet, made even more unusual by the fact that it’s not heated by volcanic activity.
Since he discovered the Boiling River, which was aided by National Geographic grants, Ruzo has devoted his life to studying and preserving it, as well as the jungle surrounding it. This week, he debuted his book The Boiling River: Adventure and Discovery in the Amazon, as well as the Boiling River Project, a nonprofit dedicated to protecting the river; the adjacent jungle, which is threatened by loggers, farmers, and oil companies; and the indigenous people who live there. After visiting the legendary river, Ruzo felt a newfound urgency to spread awareness about it. He discussed the significance of the Boiling River, why we must act now to protect it, and discovery in the age of information.
What is the Boiling River Project?
The Boiling River Project is a US-based nonprofit that has the ultimate goal of protecting the Boiling River of the Amazon, a site that’s in a jungle considered open for development and disappearing rapidly. Ruzo and his team are doing this through scientific research, as well as educational initiatives. Ultimately, it’s about saving the site and declaring it a Peruvian national monument.
Why is this site so significant?
There are multiple ways of defining its significance. The first one is the cultural aspect. The Boiling River is really the focal point of traditional knowledge in the central Peruvian Amazon. According to one of the local shamans, this is an ancient center of shamanic learning. Then you’ve got this great geological significance. It’s an anomalously large geothermal feature, which basically means it’s freaking big. The large thermal rivers that Ruzo comes across are overwhelmingly next to volcanoes, and the thing about this one is that we’re over 700 kilometers (435 miles) away from the nearest active volcanic center, in the middle of a sedimentary basin. To understand the processes and mechanisms that result in the Boiling River, Ruzo has been conducting geochemical studies, with yearly field sampling, for five years. He studies the water’s isotopic composition, as well as elements present in the samples to characterize the waters and understand how they are interacting with the local geology.
What’s heating the river?
It’s fault-fed, which means that the water sinks deep, spends some time underground taking heat from the Earth, and then shoots back up through faults and cracks in the Earth’s surface to create this anomalously large thermal river.
What are the biggest threats to the Boiling River?
The biggest one is deforestation and that’s directly a result of it being in this jungle that’s considered open to development, jungle that’s considered exploitable legally. The forest around the river was still patrolled by bird-eating spiders, native shamans, wasps, and mosquitoes. But also, lumber traffickers and illegal squatters who contributed to the forest shrinking. He witnessed clear cuts and burned stumps spread across the landscape around the Boiling River. Ruzo was in a race against the chainsaws and torches that threatened the river and its ecosystem.
Why must action be taken now?
The clearest example is this: In 2011, when Ruzo first went to the Boiling River, from Pucallpa, the largest city in the central Peruvian Amazon, it was two hours by car, followed by 30 to 45 minutes in a motorized canoe, followed by an hour or more of hiking to get to the Boiling River site. As of 2014, the way that he arrived in the jungle was a direct, three-hour drive from Pucallpa. No more canoe, no more walking—that’s how fast deforestation is advancing.
Ruzo used science to make the case for protecting the area around the Boiling River and became an advocate for land rights for the people who ancestrally call this jungle home, including the Asháninka and Shipibo tribes. The Asháninka call the Boiling River “Shanay-timpishka” – meaning “boiled by the heat of the Sun.” (Image courtesy of National Geographic)
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