Aconcagua River
Location
CountryChile
Physical characteristics
Source 
 • elevation1,430 m (4,690 ft)[1]
Mouth 
 • location
Pacific Ocean
Length142 km (88 mi)[1]
Basin size7,340 km2 (2,830 sq mi)[1]
Aconcagua and Maipo rivers

The Aconcagua River is a river in Chile that rises from the conflux of two minor tributary rivers at 1,430 metres (4,690 ft) above sea level in the Andes, Juncal River from the east (which rise in the Nevado Juncal) and Blanco River from the south east. The Aconcagua river flows westward through the broad Aconcagua valley and enters the Pacific Ocean near the city of Concon, 20 kilometres (12 mi) north of Valparaíso.[2]

The river has a course of about 142 kilometres (88 mi), and its waters irrigate the most populous sections[2] of the Chilean provinces of San Felipe de Aconcagua and Los Andes, being the most important economic resource of those regions. During the course of the Aconcagua river, it receives contributions from many others rivers and swamps, reaching a mean flow of 39 cubic metres per second (1,400 cu ft/s).

The Aconcagua River valley was used as the route of the Transandine Railway on the Chilean side. The river flows alongside Chile Route 5 from Llaillay to La Calera. For much of their lengths, the two separate stretches of Chile Route 60 follow the course of the river.

Although it has the same name, the Aconcagua river does not rise in the slopes of Aconcagua, which is entirely in Argentina about 20 kilometres (12 mi) from the beginning of the river, in Chilean territory.

The invasive plant species Limnobium laevigatum is present in the river.[3]

Tributaries

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Cuenca del Río Aconcagua". Diagnóstico y Clasificación de los Cursos y Cuerpos de Agua según Objetivos de Calidad. Dirección General de Aguas. 2004. Archived from the original on 1 December 2013. Retrieved 14 February 2013.
  2. 1 2 Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Aconcagua" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 1 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 151.
  3. ↑ San Martín, Cristina; Contreras, Domingo; Vidal, Osvaldo; Solís, José Luis; Ramírez, Carlos (2021). "Distribución en Chile y colonización del río Cayumapu (Valdivia) por el macrófito acuático invasor Limnobium laevigatum" [Distribution in Chile and colonization in Cayumapu river (Valdivia) of the invasive aquatic macrophyte Limnobium laevigatum]. Gayana. Botánica (in Spanish). 78 (1). Archived from the original on 2023-04-25. Retrieved 2023-07-07.
  • Niemeyer, Hans; Cereceda, Pilar (1983), Geografía de Chile — Tomo VIII: Hidrografía, 1º edición, Santiago de Chile: Instituto Geográfico Militar.
  • Gobierno de Chile, Ministerio de Obras Públicas, Dirección General de Aguas (2004) Cuenca del Río Aconcagua, Diagnóstico y Clasificación de los Cursos y Cuerpos de Agua Según Objetivos de Calidad
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32°54′54″S 71°30′30″W / 32.91500°S 71.50833°W / -32.91500; -71.50833


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