Unusual Rivers Around The World | 25 Feb 2025

Source: PR 

• Caño Cristales River, Colombia: It is also known as the "River of Five Colors," as it changes its color from yellow, green, black, red, and blue between July and November.  
  • This is due to Rhyncholacis clavigera, an aquatic plant that changes its color with sunlight and water conditions. 
• Shanay-Timpishka River, Peru: Also known as La Bomba, it is the world's largest thermal and only boiling river (with temperature 45oC to 100oC).  
  • It is heated by deep geothermal circulation where rainwater seeps underground, warms, and resurfaces through faults. 
• Hamza Aquifer (Hamza River): A vast underground aquifer beneath the Amazon River, ~4 km deep and 6,000 km long, flowing extremely slowly through porous rock formations. 
• Qiantang River, China: Known for the Silver Dragon, one of the world's largest tidal bores, where ocean tides push upstream at 40 km/hr, creating large waves ideal for surfing. 
• Daldykan River, Russia: Turned blood red due to nickel and heavy metals contamination. 
• Onyx River, Antarctica: The continent’s longest river (32 km), flowing inland toward Lake Vanda only in summer as meltwater from Wright Valley glaciers.