Deseado River

Deseado River
Meandering of the Deseado River
Location of mouth
Location
CountryArgentina
ProvinceSanta Cruz
Physical characteristics
Mouth 
 • coordinates
47°45′39″S 65°53′56″W / 47.7608°S 65.8989°W / -47.7608; -65.8989

Deseado River (Spanish: Río Deseado) is a river in the Argentine province of Santa Cruz.[1] The name Deseado comes from the English Desire, the name of one of the two ships commanded by John Davis during the Thomas Cavendish expedition of 1592.[2]

The source of the river is the Fénix River, some kilometers north of Buenos Aires Lake in the Andes, in the northwestern part of the province. Originally, it flowed into the lake and on, via Rio Baker, into the Pacific. In 1898, a canal was built that diverted the flow to Rio Deseado, flowing for 615 kilometres (382 mi) before reaching the Atlantic coast. On its way southeast, water is tapped for irrigation. Its tributaries include the Pinturas River.[3]

The river sometimes disappears under the arid terrain, to re-emerge before reaching Puerto Deseado on Santa Cruz's coastline, where it empties into a deep-water natural port. The river's outlet has become submerged and flooded by seawater, creating an estuary. In 1977, this was set aside as a nature reserve, the Reserva Natural Ría Deseado.[4]

References

  1. ^ Raza, Moonis (1990), Geographical Dictionary Of The World In The Early 20th Century With Pronouncing Gazetteer, Concept Publishing Company, p. 526, ISBN 81-7268-011-2
  2. ^ Parodiz, Juan José (1981), Darwin in the New World, Brill Archive, p. 89, ISBN 90-04-06546-6
  3. ^ Aschero, Carlos A.; Schneier, Patricia (2021-04-13). "The Black Series in the Hunting Scenes of Cueva De Las Manos, Río Pinturas, Patagonia, Argentina". In Davidson, Iain; Nowell, April (eds.). Making Scenes: Global Perspectives on Scenes in Rock Art. Berghahn Books. p. 310. ISBN 978-1-78920-921-1.
  4. ^ Dilks, Christabelle; Jani, Janak (2007), Patagonia, 2, Footprint Handbooks Series (2nd ed.), Footprint Travel Guides, p. 137, ISBN 978-1-906098-00-1