The River That Flows Backwards

The Amazon carries one fifth of all the fresh water on Earth. It is the largest river on the planet. And it was flowing in the wrong direction for most of its history. For tens of millions of years, the Amazon flowed WEST — toward the Pacific — across a flat continent with no Andes. Then, 15 million years ago, the Nazca plate pushed up an entire mountain range and dammed the river. Water backed up into the Pebas Sea, an inland ocean the size of Egypt. Freshwater dolphins evolved there. 10 million years ago the water finally spilled east, carved a new channel through the Brazilian Shield, and the modern Amazon was born. This is the story of the largest drainage reversal ever documented on Earth — and why the Amazon we know today almost didn't exist. ═══════════════════════════════════════════ ⏱ CHAPTERS ═══════════════════════════════════════════ 0:00 The River That Flowed Wrong 0:43 What The Amazon Actually Is Today 2:07 The Sediment Anomaly 3:05 Before The Andes — Gondwana 4:27 The Andes Rise, Water Backs Up 5:35 The Pebas Inland Sea 7:10 The Great Reversal 8:37 Modern Amazon: Meeting of Waters 10:07 Biodiversity & Uncontacted Tribes 11:28 The Crisis: Deforestation & Drought 13:26 Rivers Are Not Permanent ═══════════════════════════════════════════ Subscribe for a new geography video every week. Drop a comment with the river or country you want next. ═══════════════════════════════════════════ #amazon #amazonriver #geography #geology #southamerica #andes #deforestation #rainforest #PebasSea #AtlasByArthur