Casiquiare
Casiquiare
(käsēkyä`rā), river, c.100 mi (160 km) long, S Venezuela. Also called the Canal Casiquiare, it is a branch of the Orinoco and flows SW to the Río Negro, thus linking the Orinoco and Amazon basins. The Casiquiare's flow was naturally diverted by the headward erosion of the Río Negro.The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia™ Copyright © 2013, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/
The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.
Casiquiare
a river in southern Venezuela. It measures 410 km long and drains an area of about 45, 000 sq km. In its upper course the Casiquiare accepts about one-third of the runoff of the Orinoco River and near the city of San Carlos joins with the Negro River of the Amazon system. The linking of the two largest rivers of South America is a classic example of the bifurcation of rivers. The Casiquiare is joined with the Orinocothrough a “canal,” a natural channel about 30 km long and witha gradient of up to 5 m, which serves to divert the water fromthe Orinoco to the Negro River basin.
The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.