The San Javier River (

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

, Río San Javier) is an

anabranch An anabranch is a section of a river or stream that diverts from the main channel or stem of the watercourse and rejoins the main stem downstream. Local anabranches can be the result of small islands in the watercourse. In larger anabranches, ...

(arm or side channel) of the

Paraná River The Paraná River ( ; ; ) is a river in south-central South America, running through Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina for some ."Parana River". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2012. Web. ...

in the

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

of Santa Fe,

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

Course

The lower Paraná River is highly braided, with a complex system of

channels Channel, channels, channeling, etc., may refer to: Geography * Channel (geography), a landform consisting of the outline (banks) of the path of a narrow body of water. Australia * Channel Country, region of outback Australia in Queensland and pa ...

on either side of the

main stem In hydrology, a main stem or mainstem (also known as a trunk) is "the primary downstream segment of a river, as contrasted to its tributaries". The mainstem extends all the way from one specific headwater to the outlet of the river, although t ...

. Superficially, the San Javier River seems to be a

tributary A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream (''main stem'' or ''"parent"''), river, or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries, and the main stem river into which they ...

river originating in the Paraná River's

alluvial plain An alluvial plain is a plain (an essentially flat landform) created by the deposition of sediment over a long period by one or more rivers coming from highland regions, from which alluvial soil forms. A ''floodplain'' is part of the process, bei ...

. But it is linked by several channels to the main stem Paraná, from which it probably receives most of its water. From its primary source on the Paraná River, about south of

Reconquista The ''Reconquista'' (Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese for ) or the fall of al-Andalus was a series of military and cultural campaigns that European Christian Reconquista#Northern Christian realms, kingdoms waged ag ...

, the San Javier flows generally south, parallel to the Paraná. It passes by San Javier and Helvecia. Its

mouth A mouth also referred to as the oral is the body orifice through which many animals ingest food and animal communication#Auditory, vocalize. The body cavity immediately behind the mouth opening, known as the oral cavity (or in Latin), is also t ...

does not discharge directly into the Paraná River but rather into several channels near Santa Rosa de Calchines. These not only connect to the main stem Paraná but also to other side channels that continue down the west side of the Paraná's floodplain and into the Laguna Setúbal system. Like the San Javier River, the Laguna Setúbal system superficially appears to be a tributary system, but it is cross-cut by channels linked to the main stem Paraná. The mouth of the San Javier River is located at , about northeast of Santa Fe City, the provincial capital. Its primary source, on the Paraná River, is located at .Source coordinates determined using an Instituto Geográfico Milita
map of Santa Fe Province

Google Maps Google Maps is a web mapping platform and consumer application offered by Google. It offers satellite imagery, aerial photography, street maps, 360° interactive panorama, interactive panoramic views of streets (Google Street View, Street View ...

, an
GeoLocator
/ref> The distance from its source to its mouth is about , over which it flows in a highly

meander A meander is one of a series of regular sinuous curves in the Channel (geography), channel of a river or other watercourse. It is produced as a watercourse erosion, erodes the sediments of an outer, concave bank (cut bank, cut bank or river cl ...

ing and braided course.

History

The San Javier, formerly known as Quiloazas River, was the cause of the abandonment of the initial site of the provincial capital at

Cayastá Cayastá is a town (''comuna'') in the provinces of Argentina, province of Santa Fe Province, Santa Fe, Argentina. It has 3,367 inhabitants per the . The ruins of the primitive City of Santa Fe de la Vera Cruz, from its foundation until its reloca ...

, 85 km upstream from the current one, due to the

erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as Surface runoff, water flow or wind) that removes soil, Rock (geology), rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust#Crust, Earth's crust and then sediment transport, tran ...

it caused (and still causes) on the

ravine A ravine is a landform that is narrower than a canyon and is often the product of streambank erosion. Ravines are typically classified as larger in scale than gullies, although smaller than valleys. Ravines may also be called a cleuch, dell, ...

where the town was built.

References

* {{in lang, es Seminario Internacional de Ciudades Históricas Iberoamericanas (Toledo, 2001)
''Las ciudades históricas como sitios integrales''
Rivers of Argentina Rivers of Santa Fe Province Tributaries of the Paraná River

Course

History

See also

References