Image source: Maverick’s Online Den

They went underground to study oil wells… but KSAT reports-- that’s not what researchers in South America found.

“Scientists in Brazil have discovered a huge river flowing underneath the Amazon River.”

You heard right-- a river underneath a river. Rio Hamza is the name… and KABC reports-- it’s no small piece of real estate.

“Brazil’s National Observatory says the underground river is nearly as long as the Amazon itself—nearly 3700 miles.”

The two rivers do share similarities… but the International Business Times points out their differences.

“… both the Amazon and Hamza flow from west to east, but they differ in their width. The Amazon ranges from 1 kilometer to 100 kilometers in width, while Hamza ranges from 200 kilometers to 400 kilometers. However, the Amazon flows much faster than the Hamza.”

Media are throwing around the word ‘river’ quite often when referring to the discovery. But according to researcher and namesake Valiya Hamza — it’s not like the river you and I are thinking of. Nature has his comments.

“As Hamza himself makes clear, this is not a river in the conventional sense. ‘This is water flowing through porous rock, mainly sandstone and under that, conglomerate,’ he says. Unlike a true river, this underground water flow has ‘no fixed boundary’.”

The Guardian reports-- the river starts in the Acre region under the Andes and flows through the Solimoes, Amazonas, and Marajo basins before opening out directly into the Atlantic.

But a geologist with Petrobras tells the BBC—this can’t be right.

“Water and other fluids could indeed flow through the porous sedimentary rock, he said, but would be unlikely to reach the Atlantic Ocean because the sedimentary basins containing the porous rock were separated by older rock deposits that would form an impermeable barrier.”

Professor Hamza sought to make it clear that all of the research is in a preliminary stage. He expects to confirm the existence of the flow under the Amazon within the next few years.