Rio de la Plata

Río de la Plata in relation to Uruguay and Argentina

A satellite view of the estuary

The Río de la Plata (Spanish: "Silver River") — which is often referred to in English-speaking countries as the River Plate (as in the Battle of the River Plate), or sometimes as the [La] Plata River — is the estuary formed by the combination of the Uruguay River and the Paraná River. Broad, shallow, and muddy, it is a funnel-shaped inlet on the southeastern coastline of South America, extending 290 kilometers (180 mi) from the rivers' confluence to the Atlantic Ocean.

Where the rivers join, it is 48 kilometers (30 mi) wide, and it runs to the southeast growing to 220 kilometers (137 mi) wide where it opens on the Atlantic Ocean, making it the widest estuary in the world. It forms part of the border between Argentina and Uruguay, with the major ports and capital cities of Buenos Aires in the southwest and Montevideo in the northeast. Martín García island, off the coast of Uruguay, is under Argentine sovereignty.

The basin drained by the main tributaries of the Río de la Plata (the Uruguay and Paraná, and the important Paraná tributary, the Paraguay) covers approximately one fifth of South America, including area in southeastern Bolivia, southern and central Brazil, the entire nation of Paraguay, most of Uruguay and northern Argentina. At 3.1 million square kilometers (1.2 million square mi), this hydrographical area serves as an important economic resource and the main fishing ground for the region. An estimated 57 million cubic meters (2 billion cubic feet) of silt is carried into the estuary each year, where the muddy waters are stirred up by winds and the tides. The shipping route from the Atlantic to Buenos Aires is kept open by constant dredging.

Name

The English name "River Plate" is not a mistranslation, but in fact "plate" was used extensively as a noun for "silver" or "gold" from the 12th century onwards, especially in Early Modern English and the estuary has been known as the River Plate or Plate River in English since at least the time of Francis Drake. A modern translation of the Spanish Río de la Plata is "Silver River," referring not to color but to the riches of the fabled Sierra del Plata thought to lie upstream. Although there is no evidence that any such mountain range of silver ever existed, the region around the Río de la Plata was indeed rich in silver mines. The closest mountain range that resembles the myth of the "mountain range of silver" is the silver mine of Potosí in modern Bolivia, a town known for its rich silver resources found on the town's mountain range.

Geography

Fauna

The Río de la Plata is a habitat for the rare La Plata Dolphin, sea turtles (Caretta caretta, Chelonia mydas, and Dermochelys coriacea), and many species of fish including catfishes, lisas, surubís, manduvas, armadas, patí, carpas, and the most prized species, the dorado.

History

Another satellite view of the estuary

The river's first sighting was in 1516 by Juan Díaz de Solís, a European Spanish seaman born in Lebrija, Seville who made the discovery of the river during his search for a passage between the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans. He served as navigator on expeditions to the Yucatan in 1506 and Brazil in 1508 with Vicente Yáñez Pinzón. He became a pilot-major in 1512 following the death of Amerigo Vespucci. Two years after appointment to this office, Díaz de Solís prepared an expedition to explore the southern part of the new continent. His three ships and crew of 70 men sailed from Sanlucar de Barrameda on October 8, 1515. With two officers and seven men, he followed the eastern coast as far as the mouth of the Rio de la Plata. He reached the Rio de la Plata in 1516, sailing up river to the confluence of the Uruguay River and Paraná River.

The small party disembarked in what is today the Uruguayan Department of Colonia and were attacked by the natives (probably Guaraní although for a long time the fact was adjudicated to the Charrúas). Only one of them survived, a 14-year-old cabin boy named Francisco del Puerto, allegedly because the natives' culture prevented them from killing elderly people, women, and children. His brother-in-law, Francisco de Torres, took charge of the ships and crew and returned to Spain.

Years later, from a ship commanded by Sebastián Gaboto, "a huge native making signals and yelling from the coast" was seen; when some of the crew disembarked, they found Francisco del Puerto, brought up as a Charrúa warrior. He went back with the Spaniards and, after some time, returned to Uruguay, leaving no further trace of his whereabouts.

The area was visited by Francis Drake's fleet in early 1578, in the early stages of his circumnavigation. The first European colony was the city of Buenos Aires, founded by Pedro de Mendoza on 2 February 1536, abandoned and founded again by Juan de Garay on 11 June 1580.

British invasions of the Río de la Plata

The British invasions of the Río de la Plata (Spanish: Invasiones Inglesas al Río de la Plata) were a series of unsuccessful British attempts to seize control of the Spanish colonies located around the La Plata Basin in South America. The invasions took place between 1806 and 1807, as part of the Napoleonic Wars, when Spain was an ally of France.

The invasions were in two phases. A detachment from the British Army occupied Buenos Aires for 46 days in 1806 before being expelled. In 1807, a second force occupied Montevideo, following the Battle of Montevideo (1807), remaining for several months, and a third force made a second attempt to take Buenos Aires. After several days of street fighting against the local militia in which half of the British forces in Buenos Aires were killed or wounded, the British were forced to withdraw.

The resistance of the local people and their active participation in the defense, with no support from the Spanish Kingdom, were important steps toward the May Revolution in 1810, and the Argentine Declaration of Independence in 1816.

An early World War II naval engagement between the German "pocket battleship" (heavy cruiser) Admiral Graf Spee and British ships, the Battle of the River Plate, started several miles off the coast of the estuary. The German ship retired up the estuary and put into port. A few days later, rather than fight she was scuttled in the estuary.

Ecology and economy

A treaty between Argentina and Uruguay was set up in 1973 to manage the binational estuary. On the Uruguayan side, some limited management has developed with financial and technical assistance of Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC). Their goal for this area is to improve environmental conditions while promoting the sustainable use of coastal resources. This experiment, referred to as ECOPLATA, calls for the combined efforts of national and local institutions.

Some of the economic and ecological challenges rest with the fact that there are approximately 70 percent of Uruguay’s 3.3 million people living within 100 km (62 mi) of the coast. Unfortunately, human activities cause marine pollution and can accelerate beach and dune erosion. Mechanized agriculture and deforestation cause soil erosion, which then leads to sedimentation. Coastal degradation is contributed by inappropriate sand mining activities as well. With all these concerns combined with the rapid depletion of fisheries, it is not surprising that the deterioration of the ecosystem is affecting both local populations and the tourism industry.

On the Argentine side, located on the western bank of the Río de la Plata estuary across from Uruguay, is the cosmopolitan gateway to South America, Buenos Aires. Its port is the largest in South America handling 96 percent of the country’s container traffic. The cruise ship terminal Puerto Buenos Aires opened in 2001 contributing to the congestion. With its narrow channel from the port to the Atlantic, there is a need for constant dredging to keep the heavy traffic flowing. Cleaning the waterways remains one of the city’s most pressing problems.

Just east of the port, however, there is an ecological reserve called Reserva Ecológica Constanera Sur. Built over a landfill sprawling with wetlands filled with foxtail pampas grass, there are over 500 species of birds and a few iguanas, thus making the area a paradise for birdwatchers and nature lovers alike.

A major threat to the Río de la Plata’s estuary is the arrival of small mollusks from Asia and Africa carried in as larvae in the bilge water that ships take on in various ports to improve their stability. When the ship comes into shallow waters, like the Río de la Plata, the water is discharged, dumping the species into a new ecosystem. The adult species ride in on the ship’s hull, chains, or keel. The most harmful is the golden mussel, a freshwater bivalve native to the rivers and streams of China and Southeast Asia. With no natural predators, this new intruding species can displace native species, prevent normal development of marsh plants, and change the local ecological conditions.

Solutions to these problems lie in a collaborative network for the research, development, and implementation of an integrated plan to preserve and develop the coastal resources and ecosystems.

See also

• Government of the Río de la Plata
• Rioplatense Spanish
• Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Rela, Walter. España en el Río de la Plata: Descubrimiento y Poblamientos (1516-1588). Montevideo: Club Español. 2001. ISBN 9974-39-317-5.

Primary sources, with commentary.

• Simionato, Claudia G., Vera, Carolina S., Siegismund, Frank (2005). "Surface Wind Variability on Seasonal and Interannual Scales Over Río de la Plata Area" Journal of Coastal Research. 21 (4): 770-783. Abstract online

External links

• Hydrological report published by the OAS
• Treaty between Uruguay and Argentina concerning the Rio de la Plata and the Corresponding Maritime Boundary (19 November 1973)
• Aquatic Habitat Modifications in La Plata River Basin, Patagonia and Associated Marine Areas
• Water and Land Management on the Uruguayan Coast of the Río de la Plata
• RioPla.com Río de la Plata on-line information (WAP, RSS and WWW): tides, weather, wind. Charts for Garmin GPS.

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