Science Source
Contrasting regional discharge evolutions in the Amazon basin (1974–2004)
- States that former hydrological studies in the Amazon Basin generally describe annual discharge variability on the main stem; however, the downstream Amazon River only represents the mean state of the Amazonian hydrological system
- This study therefore uses a new data set including daily discharge in 18 sub-basins to analyze the variability of regional extremes in the Amazon basin, after recalling the diversity of the hydrological annual cycles within the Amazon basin
- Applies several statistical tests in order to detect trends and breaks in the time series
- Shows that during the 1974–2004 period, the stability of the mean discharge on the main stem in Óbidos is explained by opposite regional features that principally involve Andean rivers: a decrease in the low stage runoff, particularly important in the southern regions, and an increase in the high stage runoff in the northwestern region
- Finds that both features are observed from the beginning of the nineties
- Finds that these features are also observed in smaller meridian sub-basins in Peru and Bolivia
- Shows that the changes in discharge extremes are related to the regional pluriannual rainfall variability and the associated atmospheric circulation as well as to tropical large-scale climatic indicators
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