The boiling river of the Amazon
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0:01 - 0:03As a boy in Lima,
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0:03 - 0:05my grandfather told me a legend
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0:05 - 0:07of the Spanish conquest of Peru.
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0:08 - 0:12Atahualpa, emperor of the Inca,
had been captured and killed. -
0:12 - 0:15Pizarro and his conquistadors
had grown rich, -
0:15 - 0:18and tales of their conquest
and glory had reached Spain -
0:18 - 0:23and was bringing new waves of Spaniards,
hungry for gold and glory. -
0:24 - 0:27They would go into towns and ask the Inca,
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0:27 - 0:31"Where's another civilization
we can conquer? Where's more gold?" -
0:31 - 0:34And the Inca, out of vengeance, told them,
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0:35 - 0:36"Go to the Amazon.
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0:37 - 0:39You'll find all the gold you want there.
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0:39 - 0:44In fact, there is a city called Paititi --
El Dorado in Spanish -- -
0:44 - 0:47made entirely of gold."
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0:47 - 0:49The Spanish set off into the jungle,
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0:49 - 0:53but the few that return
come back with stories, -
0:54 - 0:58stories of powerful shamans,
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0:58 - 1:01of warriors with poisoned arrows,
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1:01 - 1:04of trees so tall they blotted out the sun,
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1:04 - 1:09spiders that ate birds,
snakes that swallowed men whole -
1:09 - 1:12and a river that boiled.
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1:14 - 1:16All this became a childhood memory.
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1:16 - 1:17And years passed.
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1:17 - 1:19I'm working on my PhD at SMU,
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1:19 - 1:23trying to understand
Peru's geothermal energy potential, -
1:23 - 1:25when I remember this legend,
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1:25 - 1:27and I began asking that question.
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1:28 - 1:31Could the boiling river exist?
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1:32 - 1:34I asked colleagues from universities,
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1:34 - 1:36the government,
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1:36 - 1:37oil, gas and mining companies,
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1:37 - 1:40and the answer was a unanimous no.
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1:40 - 1:42And this makes sense.
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1:43 - 1:46You see, boiling rivers
do exist in the world, -
1:46 - 1:48but they're generally
associated with volcanoes. -
1:49 - 1:51You need a powerful heat source
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1:51 - 1:54to produce such a large
geothermal manifestation. -
1:54 - 1:59And as you can see from the red dots
here, which are volcanoes, -
1:59 - 2:02we don't have volcanoes in the Amazon,
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2:02 - 2:04nor in most of Peru.
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2:04 - 2:08So it follows: We should not expect
to see a boiling river. -
2:10 - 2:14Telling this same story
at a family dinner, -
2:14 - 2:16my aunt tells me,
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2:16 - 2:20"But no, Andrés, I've been there.
I've swum in that river." -
2:21 - 2:25(Laughter)
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2:25 - 2:26Then my uncle jumps in.
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2:26 - 2:29"No, Andrés, she's not kidding.
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2:29 - 2:33You see, you can only swim in it
after a very heavy rain, -
2:33 - 2:36and it's protected by a powerful shaman.
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2:36 - 2:39Your aunt, she's friends with his wife."
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2:39 - 2:41(Laughter)
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2:41 - 2:42"¿Cómo?" ["Huh?"]
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2:42 - 2:44You know, despite all
my scientific skepticism, -
2:44 - 2:49I found myself hiking into the jungle,
guided by my aunt, -
2:49 - 2:53over 700 kilometers away
from the nearest volcanic center, -
2:53 - 2:56and well, honestly,
mentally preparing myself -
2:57 - 3:01to behold the legendary
"warm stream of the Amazon." -
3:03 - 3:04But then ...
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3:04 - 3:06I heard something,
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3:07 - 3:09a low surge
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3:10 - 3:13that got louder and louder
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3:14 - 3:15as we came closer.
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3:16 - 3:20It sounded like ocean waves
constantly crashing, -
3:20 - 3:25and as we got closer, I saw smoke, vapor,
coming up through the trees. -
3:25 - 3:28And then, I saw this.
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3:30 - 3:32I immediately grabbed for my thermometer,
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3:32 - 3:36and the average temperatures in the river
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3:36 - 3:38were 86 degrees C.
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3:40 - 3:43This is not quite
the 100-degree C boiling -
3:43 - 3:46but definitely close enough.
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3:46 - 3:49The river flowed hot and fast.
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3:50 - 3:54I followed it upriver and was led by,
actually, the shaman's apprentice -
3:54 - 3:56to the most sacred site on the river.
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3:56 - 3:57And this is what's bizarre --
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3:57 - 3:59It starts off as a cold stream.
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4:00 - 4:02And here, at this site,
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4:02 - 4:04is the home of the Yacumama,
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4:04 - 4:07mother of the waters,
a giant serpent spirit -
4:07 - 4:09who births hot and cold water.
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4:10 - 4:14And here we find a hot spring,
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4:14 - 4:20mixing with cold stream water
underneath her protective motherly jaws -
4:20 - 4:23and thus bringing their legends to life.
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4:24 - 4:26The next morning, I woke up and --
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4:26 - 4:29(Laughter)
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4:29 - 4:31I asked for tea.
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4:31 - 4:33I was handed a mug, a tea bag
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4:33 - 4:35and, well, pointed towards the river.
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4:36 - 4:41To my surprise, the water was clean
and had a pleasant taste, -
4:41 - 4:44which is a little weird
for geothermal systems. -
4:44 - 4:46What was amazing
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4:46 - 4:49is that the locals had always
known about this place, -
4:49 - 4:53and that I was by no means
the first outsider to see it. -
4:54 - 4:57It was just part of their everyday life.
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4:57 - 5:00They drink its water.
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5:00 - 5:02They take in its vapor.
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5:02 - 5:04They cook with it,
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5:04 - 5:06clean with it,
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5:06 - 5:07even make their medicines with it.
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5:09 - 5:11I met the shaman,
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5:11 - 5:15and he seemed like an extension
of the river and his jungle. -
5:16 - 5:18He asked for my intentions
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5:19 - 5:20and listened carefully.
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5:21 - 5:24Then, to my tremendous relief --
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5:24 - 5:28I was freaking out,
to be honest with you -- -
5:28 - 5:32a smile began to snake across his face,
and he just laughed. -
5:32 - 5:35(Laughter)
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5:36 - 5:40I had received the shaman's blessing
to study the river, -
5:40 - 5:44on the condition that after I take
the water samples -
5:44 - 5:45and analyze them in my lab,
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5:45 - 5:47wherever I was in the world,
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5:48 - 5:52that I pour the waters
back into the ground -
5:52 - 5:54so that, as the shaman said,
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5:54 - 5:57the waters could find their way back home.
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5:59 - 6:03I've been back every year
since that first visit in 2011, -
6:03 - 6:06and the fieldwork has been exhilarating,
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6:06 - 6:10demanding and at times dangerous.
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6:11 - 6:14One story was even featured
in National Geographic Magazine. -
6:14 - 6:18I was trapped on a small rock
about the size of a sheet of paper -
6:18 - 6:20in sandals and board shorts,
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6:20 - 6:23in between an 80 degree C river
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6:23 - 6:26and a hot spring that, well,
looked like this, close to boiling. -
6:27 - 6:31And on top of that,
it was Amazon rain forest. -
6:31 - 6:34Pshh, pouring rain, couldn't see a thing.
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6:34 - 6:37The temperature differential
made it all white. It was a whiteout. -
6:39 - 6:40Intense.
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6:42 - 6:45Now, after years of work,
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6:45 - 6:50I'll soon be submitting my geophysical
and geochemical studies for publication. -
6:51 - 6:55And I'd like to share, today,
with all of you here, on the TED stage, -
6:55 - 6:58for the first time,
some of these discoveries. -
6:59 - 7:02Well, first off, it's not a legend.
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7:02 - 7:04Surprise!
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7:04 - 7:06(Laughter)
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7:06 - 7:09When I first started the research,
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7:09 - 7:12the satellite imagery was too
low-resolution to be meaningful. -
7:12 - 7:13There were just no good maps.
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7:14 - 7:16Thanks to the support
of the Google Earth team, -
7:16 - 7:18I now have this.
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7:19 - 7:25Not only that, the indigenous name
of the river, Shanay-timpishka, -
7:26 - 7:28"boiled with the heat of the sun,"
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7:30 - 7:35indicating that I'm not the first
to wonder why the river boils, -
7:35 - 7:38and showing that humanity
has always sought to explain -
7:38 - 7:40the world around us.
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7:42 - 7:44So why does the river boil?
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7:44 - 7:48(Bubbling sounds)
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7:48 - 7:51It actually took me three years
to get that footage. -
7:53 - 7:54Fault-fed hot springs.
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7:56 - 7:59As we have hot blood running
through our veins and arteries, -
7:59 - 8:04so, too, the earth has hot water
running through its cracks and faults. -
8:05 - 8:09Where these arteries come to the surface,
these earth arteries, -
8:09 - 8:11we'll get geothermal manifestations:
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8:11 - 8:15fumaroles, hot springs
and in our case, the boiling river. -
8:16 - 8:21What's truly incredible, though,
is the scale of this place. -
8:21 - 8:24Next time you cross the road,
think about this. -
8:25 - 8:27The river flows wider than a two-lane road
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8:27 - 8:29along most of its path.
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8:30 - 8:35It flows hot for 6.24 kilometers.
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8:36 - 8:38Truly impressive.
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8:39 - 8:42There are thermal pools
larger than this TED stage, -
8:42 - 8:45and that waterfall that you see there
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8:45 - 8:47is six meters tall --
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8:47 - 8:51and all with near-boiling water.
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8:52 - 8:54We mapped the temperatures
along the river, -
8:54 - 8:57and this was by far the most
demanding part of the fieldwork. -
8:58 - 9:02And the results were just awesome.
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9:02 - 9:05Sorry -- the geoscientist
in me coming out. -
9:05 - 9:07And it showed this amazing trend.
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9:07 - 9:09You see, the river starts off cold.
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9:09 - 9:12It then heats up, cools back down,
heats up, cools back down, -
9:12 - 9:15heats up again, and then has
this beautiful decay curve -
9:15 - 9:17until it smashes into this cold river.
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9:19 - 9:21Now, I understand not all of you
are geothermal scientists, -
9:21 - 9:24so to put it in more everyday terms:
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9:24 - 9:26Everyone loves coffee.
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9:26 - 9:28Yes? Good.
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9:29 - 9:32Your regular cup of coffee, 54 degrees C,
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9:32 - 9:34an extra-hot one, well, 60.
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9:35 - 9:37So, put in coffee shop terms,
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9:37 - 9:40the boiling river plots like this.
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9:40 - 9:42There you have your hot coffee.
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9:43 - 9:45Here you have your extra-hot coffee,
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9:45 - 9:47and you can see
that there's a bit point there -
9:47 - 9:50where the river is still hotter
than even the extra-hot coffee. -
9:50 - 9:52And these are average water temperatures.
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9:52 - 9:56We took these in the dry season to ensure
the purest geothermal temperatures. -
9:57 - 9:59But there's a magic number here
that's not being shown, -
9:59 - 10:02and that number is 47 degrees C,
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10:03 - 10:05because that's where things start to hurt,
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10:05 - 10:10and I know this from very
personal experience. -
10:10 - 10:13Above that temperature,
you don't want to get in that water. -
10:13 - 10:15You need to be careful.
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10:15 - 10:16It can be deadly.
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10:17 - 10:19I've seen all sorts of animals fall in,
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10:19 - 10:23and what's shocking to me,
is the process is pretty much the same. -
10:24 - 10:27So they fall in and the first thing
to go are the eyes. -
10:27 - 10:30Eyes, apparently, cook very quickly.
They turn this milky-white color. -
10:30 - 10:31The stream is carrying them.
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10:31 - 10:34They're trying to swim out,
but their meat is cooking on the bone -
10:34 - 10:36because it's so hot.
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10:36 - 10:37So they're losing power, losing power,
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10:38 - 10:41until finally they get to a point
where hot water goes into their mouths -
10:41 - 10:43and they cook from the inside out.
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10:43 - 10:49(Laughter)
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10:49 - 10:51A bit sadistic, aren't we?
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10:51 - 10:52Jeez.
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10:53 - 10:56Leave them marinating for a little longer.
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10:57 - 11:00What's, again, amazing
are these temperatures. -
11:00 - 11:04They're similar to things that I've seen
on volcanoes all over the world -
11:04 - 11:06and even super-volcanoes like Yellowstone.
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11:07 - 11:08But here's the thing:
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11:10 - 11:15the data is showing
that the boiling river exists -
11:15 - 11:17independent of volcanism.
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11:18 - 11:22It's neither magmatic
or volcanic in origin, -
11:24 - 11:30and again, over 700 kilometers away
from the nearest volcanic center. -
11:31 - 11:35How can a boiling river exist like this?
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11:36 - 11:39I've asked geothermal experts
and volcanologists for years, -
11:39 - 11:44and I'm still unable to find another
non-volcanic geothermal system -
11:44 - 11:45of this magnitude.
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11:47 - 11:49It's unique.
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11:49 - 11:53It's special on a global scale.
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11:55 - 11:57So, still -- how does it work?
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11:58 - 12:01Where do we get this heat?
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12:01 - 12:03There's still more research to be done
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12:03 - 12:06to better constrain the problem
and better understand the system, -
12:07 - 12:09but from what the data is telling us now,
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12:09 - 12:12it looks to be the result
of a large hydrothermal system. -
12:13 - 12:15Basically, it works like this:
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12:15 - 12:18So, the deeper you go
into the earth, the hotter it gets. -
12:18 - 12:21We refer to this
as the geothermal gradient. -
12:21 - 12:26The waters could be coming
from as far away as glaciers in the Andes, -
12:26 - 12:28then seeping down deep into the earth
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12:28 - 12:31and coming out to form the boiling river
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12:31 - 12:34after getting heated up
from the geothermal gradient, -
12:35 - 12:38all due to this unique geologic setting.
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12:39 - 12:41Now, we found
that in and around the river -- -
12:41 - 12:43this is working with colleagues
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12:43 - 12:45from National Geographic,
Dr. Spencer Wells, -
12:45 - 12:48and Dr. Jon Eisen from UC Davis --
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12:48 - 12:51we genetically sequenced
the extremophile lifeforms -
12:51 - 12:56living in and around the river,
and have found new lifeforms, -
12:56 - 12:59unique species living
in the boiling river. -
13:00 - 13:06But again, despite all of these studies,
all of these discoveries and the legends, -
13:06 - 13:07a question remains:
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13:10 - 13:13What is the significance
of the boiling river? -
13:15 - 13:19What is the significance
of this stationary cloud -
13:19 - 13:22that always hovers
over this patch of jungle? -
13:23 - 13:26And what is the significance
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13:26 - 13:29of a detail in a childhood legend?
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13:32 - 13:35To the shaman and his community,
it's a sacred site. -
13:35 - 13:38To me, as a geoscientist,
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13:38 - 13:41it's a unique geothermal phenomenon.
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13:42 - 13:46But to the illegal loggers
and cattle farmers, -
13:46 - 13:49it's just another resource to exploit.
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13:51 - 13:55And to the Peruvian government,
it's just another stretch -
13:55 - 14:01of unprotected land ready for development.
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14:02 - 14:06My goal is to ensure
that whoever controls this land -
14:06 - 14:10understands the boiling river's
uniqueness and significance. -
14:11 - 14:13Because that's the question,
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14:14 - 14:15one of significance.
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14:17 - 14:19And the thing there is,
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14:20 - 14:22we define significance.
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14:23 - 14:26It's us. We have that power.
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14:26 - 14:28We are the ones who draw that line
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14:28 - 14:31between the sacred and the trivial.
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14:32 - 14:34And in this age,
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14:34 - 14:38where everything seems mapped,
measured and studied, -
14:39 - 14:42in this age of information,
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14:43 - 14:46I remind you all that discoveries
are not just made -
14:46 - 14:51in the black void of the unknown
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14:52 - 14:56but in the white noise
of overwhelming data. -
14:58 - 15:01There remains so much to explore.
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15:02 - 15:05We live in an incredible world.
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15:05 - 15:07So go out.
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15:08 - 15:10Be curious.
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15:12 - 15:15Because we do live in a world
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15:16 - 15:19where shamans still sing
to the spirits of the jungle, -
15:20 - 15:22where rivers do boil
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15:23 - 15:26and where legends do come to life.
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15:27 - 15:28Thank you very much.
-
15:28 - 15:37(Applause)
- Title:
- The boiling river of the Amazon
- Speaker:
- Andrés Ruzo
- Description:
-
When Andrés Ruzo was a young boy in Peru, his grandfather told him a story with an odd detail: There is a river, deep in the Amazon, which boils as if a fire burns below it. Twelve years later, after training as a geoscientist, Ruzo set out on a journey deep into the jungle of South America in search of this boiling river. At a time when everything seems mapped, measured and understood, join Ruzo as he explores a river that forces us to question the line between known and unknown ... and reminds us that there are great wonders yet to be discovered.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 15:49
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for How I found a mythical boiling river in the Amazon | ||
Brian Greene approved English subtitles for How I found a mythical boiling river in the Amazon | ||
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for How I found a mythical boiling river in the Amazon | ||
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for How I found a mythical boiling river in the Amazon | ||
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for How I found a mythical boiling river in the Amazon | ||
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for How I found a mythical boiling river in the Amazon | ||
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for How I found a mythical boiling river in the Amazon | ||
Camille Martínez accepted English subtitles for How I found a mythical boiling river in the Amazon |