Amazons

Bois de Rose. Bois de rose oil is obtained by steam distillation of wood chips from South American rosewood trees, Aniba rosaeodora. The tree, a wild evergreen, grows mainly in the Amazon basin. The oil is used as obtained in perfumery for its sweet, woody-floral odor and as a source of linalool [78-70-6] (3), which it contains to the extent of 70%. Linalool distilled from bois de rose oil is also used directly in perfumery and for conversion to esters, eg, the acetate (1). 

Figure 4 Measurements of (A) uranium aetivity ratios, UARs ( U U) and U eoneentrations (B) aeross a salinity gradient off the Amazon River mouth (1996). UARs were determined by thermal ionization mass speetrometry (TIMS) at Calteeh (D. Poreelli) U eoneentrations by ICPMS...

Prior to the eastern adventures of Linschoeten and Tradescant, the sailors of Columbus had discovered the natives of Central America playing with lumps of natural mbber. These were obtained, like gutta percha, by coagulation from a latex the first recorded reference to natural mbber was in Valdes La historia natural y general de las Indies, published in Seville (1535-1557). In 1731 la Condamine, leading an expedition on behalf of the French government to study the shape of the earth, sent back from the Amazon basin mbber-coated cloth prepared by native tribes and used in the manufacture of waterproof shoes and flexible bottles. 

Alkaloids of Chondrodendron tomentosum. Butcher has examined a curare prepared by Indians of the Upper Amazon, in which the only plant used was Chondrodendron tomentosum, Ruiz and Pavon. From it he isolated the known alkaloids, d-tjochondrodendrine (p. 365), d-wochondro-... 

Amazonenstein, m. Amazon atone, amazonite. Amber, m. amber (grauer) ambergris, amberartig, a. amber-like, amber. 

Burning fossil fuel releases carbon into the atmosphere—more than 6.3 billion tons in 1998 alone. Significant amounts of carbon also come from burning of live wood and deadwood. Such fires are often deliberately set to clear land for crops and pastures. In 1988 the smoke from fires set in the Amazon Basin covered 1,044,000 square miles. By far the most serious implication of this is the significant threat to Earth s ecosystems by global climate change. 

Curare is a generic term for various South American arrow poisons. Curare has been used for centuries by the Indians along the Amazon and Orinoco rivers for immobilizing and paralyzing wild animals used for food. Preparations of curare are derived from Strychnos species, which contain quaternary neuromuscular alkaloids like tubocurarine. Tubocurarine is a potent antagonist at the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor. 

Figure 3. An undisturbed primary tropical rainforest in the eastern Amazon Basin, Brazil. Although these forests only comprise 7% of the earth s surface, they contain as much as 40% of all species and are significant global C sinks.

Anderson, AB., Ed. Alternatives to Deprestatiorv Steps Toward Sustainable Use of the Amazon Rain Forest Columbia University Press New York, NY, 1990. 

Franken, W. Leopoldo, P.R. In The Amazon Limnology and Landscape Ecology of a Mighty Tropical River and its Basin Sioli, H., Ed. Dordrecht Junk, 1984 pp 501-19. 

The synthesis of 1 kg of dry plant biomass requires the evapotranspiration of about 300 L of water, although smaller amounts of water are needed by some plants such as desert cacti. Approximately one-third of the annual continental rainfall (100 cm/yr) is returned to the atmosphere by evapotranspiration. Although it accounts for only about 10-15% of global evaporation, plant evapotranspiration can play a major role in local climates. For example, a molecule of water falling on the upper Amazon Basin is recycled on average five times during its eventual return to the Atlantic Ocean. 

Fig. 9-3 Conceptual model to describe the interaction between chemical weathering of bedrock and down-slope transport of solid erosion products. It is assumed that chemical weathering is required to generate loose solid erosion products of the bedrock. Solid curve portrays a hypothetical relationship between soil thickness and rate of chemical weathering of bedrock. Dotted lines correspond to different potential transport capacities. Low potential transport capacity is expected on a flat terrain, whereas high transport is expected on steep terrain. For moderate capacity, C and F are equilibrium points. (Modified with permission from R. F. Stallard, River chemistry, geology, geomorphology, and soils in the Amazon and Orinoco basins. In J. I. Drever, ed. (1985), "The Chemistry of Weathering," D. Reidel Publishing Co., Dordrecht, The Netherlands.)...

Fig. 9-8 Histogram of dissolved solids of samples from the Orinoco and Amazon River basins and corresponding denudation rates for morpho-tectonic regions in the humid tropics of South America (Stal-lard, 1985). The approximate denudation scale is calculated as the product of dissolved solids concentrations, mean armual runoff (1 m/yr), and a correction factor to account for large ratios of suspended load in rivers that drain mountain belts and for the greater than average annual precipitation in the lowlands close to the equator. The correction factor was treated as a linear function of dissolved solids and ranged from 2 for the most dilute rivers (dissolved solids less than lOmg/L) to 4 for the most concentrated rivers (dissolved solids more than 1000 mg/L). Bedrock density is assumed to be 2.65 g/cm. (Reproduced with permission from R. F. Stallard (1988). Weathering and erosion in the humid tropics. In A. Lerman and M. Meybeck, Physical and Chemical Weathering in Geochemical Cycles," pp. 225-246, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, The Netherlands.)...

Where easily weathered lithologies such as carbonates and evaporites are near the surface, such as in the lower Amazon valley, their contribution to the rivers appears minor, probably because thick residual soil covers have devel-... 

Blancaneaux, P. and Pouyllau, M. (1977). Formes d alteration pseudokarstiques en relation avec la geomorphologie des granites precambriens du type Rapakivi dans le territoire Federal de I Amazone, Venezuela. Cah. ORSTOM Ser. Pedol. 15,131-142. 

Franzinelli, E. and Potter, P. E. (1983). Petrology, chemistry, and texture of modem river sands, Amazon River system. /. Geol. 91, 23-39. 

Gibbs, R. J. (1967). The geochemistry of the Amazon River system Part 1, The factors that control the salinity and composition and concentration of suspended solids. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. 78,1203-1232. 

Stallard, R. F. (1980). Major element geochemistry of the Amazon River system. Ph.D. Dissertation, Massachusetts Institute of Technology/Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Joint Program in Oceanography, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Woods Hole, MA WHOI-80-29. 

Stallard, R. F. (1985). River chemistry, geology, geomorphology, and soils in the Amazon and Orinoco basins. In "The Chemistry of Weathering" (J. I. Drever, ed.), pp. 293-316. D. Reidel Publishing Co., Dordrecht, Holland, NATO ASI Series C Mathematical and Physical Sciences 149. 

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