The idea of a river that is so hot it boils its victims alive might sound like something from a tale from Greek mythology.
But believe it or not, it’s a reality, deep in the heart of the Amazon.
The river, Shanay-Timpishka, is in the Mayantuyacu region of Peru, and can reach temperatures of up to 100°C.
Andrés Ruzo, an explorer who has ventured to the river, said: ‘The hottest temperature I’ve measured is 210°F (100°C).
‘To put that into everyday terms, the average coffee is roughly 130°F (55°C).
‘It’s hard to physically imagine that much hot water.
‘You stick your hand in, and you will see second or third degree burns in a matter of seconds.’
While the river sounds like the stuff of nightmares, climate scientists from the University of Miami now say it could provide a ‘window into the future’.
The idea of a river that is so hot it boils its victims alive might sound like something from a tale from Greek mythology. But believe it or not, it’s a reality, deep in the heart of the Amazon
‘I’ve seen a number of animals fall in, everything from birds to reptiles,’ Mr Ruzo explained. ‘Complex organisms like us, we don’t do well at those high temperatures. We literally start to cook on the bone’
The river, Shanay-Timpishka, is in the Mayantuyacu region of Peru, and can reach temperatures of up to 100°C
Shanay-Timpishka, which translates as ‘boiled with the heat of the sun’, was first brought to the world’s attention by Mr Ruzo back in 2011.
The river has long been a legend in Peru, but when the geoscientist heard about it, he thought such a phenomenon couldn’t possibly exist.
He believed that it would require a huge amount of geothermal heat to boil even a small river, and the Amazon basin is far from any active volcanoes.
However, after venturing there himself, he confirmed that the legend was true.
Speaking in a documentary, released in 2017, the geoscientist said the heat of the air coming off the river is so intense that you can feel it burning in your nose and your lungs.
‘I’ve seen a number of animals fall in, everything from birds to reptiles,’ he explained.
‘Complex organisms like us, we don’t do well at those high temperatures. We literally start to cook on the bone.’
The river boils thanks to fault-fed hot springs.
The river has long been a legend in Peru, but when the geoscientist heard about it, he thought such a phenomenon couldn’t possibly exist
Speaking in a documentary, released in 2017, the geoscientist said the heat of the air coming off the river is so intense that you can feel it burning in your nose and your lungs
When rain falls on the surrounding area, it gathers into the porous sedimentary rock.
As it move through the rock, it is warmed up from the primal heat of the Earth’s crust.
Eventually, it comes across a large thrust fault, or crack.
As water falls behind it, it forces the now heated water to ascend along the fault-line to the surface.
Researchers from the University of Miami believe that the boiling river could now serve as a natural experiment, and have described it as a ‘window into the future’ amid global warming.
‘It really provides us a window into the future,’ said Riley Fortier, lead author of their new study.
‘The Amazon will get hotter whether we like it or not.
‘So this allows us to understand what increases in temperature will do to the forest composition.
‘It can tell us which species will be lost, and what the makeup of the forest might be like in the future.’
The team visited the river in 2022 and mapped all the tropical plants and trees found at 70 locations.
The team visited the river in 2022 and mapped all the tropical plants and trees found at 70 locations. They started upstream, where temperatures are cooler, before venturing down to the hottest part of the boiling river
They started upstream, where temperatures are cooler, before venturing down to the hottest part of the boiling river.
Their maps revealed that plant diversity plummeted around the hottest part of the river, with only a few species able to withstand the heat.
‘Overall, the tree community is less diverse, so we see fewer species in hotter spots,’ Mr Fortier said.
‘And forest composition was also more homogenous in the warmest locations, whereas in cooler forest plots, there was more plant diversity.’
Worryingly, the researchers say that this could be a sign of how the entire Amazon rainforest will look in the future.
‘As global warming happens, everything will change,’ Mr Fortier added.
