Tapajós

The Tapajós, a Brazilian river running through a humid and hot valley, pours into the Amazon River 500 miles above Pará and is about 1200 miles long.

It rises on the lofty Brazilian plateau near Diamantino in 14 degrees 25' south latitude. Near this place a number of streams unite to form the river Arinos, which at latitude 10 degrees 25' joins the Juruena to form the Alto Tapajós, so called as far down as the Rio Manoel, which enters it from the east.

Thenceto Santarém the stream is known as the Tapajós. The lower Arinos, the Alto Tapajós and the Tapajós to the last rapid, the Maranhão Grande, are a continuous series of formidable cataracts and rapids; but from the Maranhão Grande to its mouth, about 188 miles, the river can be navigated by large vessels.

For its last 100 miles it is from 4 to 9 miles wide and much of it very deep. The valley of the Tapajós is bordered on both sides by bluffs. They are from 300 to 400 feet high along the lower river; but a few miles above Santarém, they retire from the eastern side and do not approach the Amazon flood-plain until some miles below Santarém.

South American pole of inaccessibility is located close to the sources of Tapajós's tributaries, near town Utiariti

The Tapajós is named after the Tapajós Indians, a tribe of Native Americans from Santarém.

Further reading

* Heinsdijk, Dammis, and Ricardo Lemos Fróes. "Description of Forest-Types on "Terra Firme" between the Rio Tapajós and the Rio Xingú in the Amazon Valley". 1956.