The Only River That Drains Into Two Different Oceans

Bright Side

Rivers may look simple on the surface, but some of them break the rules of geography in the most surprising ways. In this collection, we explore two of the strangest waterways on Earth - one that splits its flow between two different oceans, and another so massive and untamed that not a single bridge crosses it. Get ready to discover incredible natural engineering, extreme landscapes, and mysteries that show just how strange and fascinating Earth’s rivers can be.   Animation is created by Bright Side.  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  Music from TheSoul Sound: https://thesoul-sound.com/   Check our Bright Side podcast on Spotify and leave a positive review! https://open.spotify.com/show/0hUkPxD34jRLrMrJux4VxV  Subscribe to Bright Side: https://goo.gl/rQTJZz  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  Our Social Media:  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brightplanet/  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brightside.official  TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@brightside.official?lang=en   Stock materials (photos, footages and other):  https://www.depositphotos.com  https://www.shutterstock.com  https://www.eastnews.ru  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  For more videos and articles visit: http://www.brightside.me  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  This video is made for entertainment purposes. We do not make any warranties about the completeness, safety and reliability. Any action you take upon the information in this video is strictly at your own risk, and we will not be liable for any damages or losses. It is the viewer's responsibility to use judgement, care and precaution if you plan to replicate.

Transcript

00:00If you've ever driven over the Rocky Mountains, you've probably seen road signs for the Continental Divide, the backbone of North America.

00:09All watersheds to the west of it run into the Pacific Ocean, and everything on its eastern slope goes straight into the Atlantic.

00:17There's just one creek in Wyoming that couldn't choose one side and drains into both oceans at the same time.

00:25Two Ocean Creek begins its journey high up in the Teton Range.

00:30The snow-capped peaks provide the perfect backdrop as the creek starts its descent, winding its way through alpine meadows and dense forests.

00:39As the creek continues its course, it gets to the Two Ocean Pass.

00:43This is the geographical crossroads where the creek splits into two branches, the Atlantic Creek and Pacific Creek.

00:50The Pacific Creek goes westward and becomes part of the larger Snake River watershed, bringing its waters to the Snake River,

00:58which eventually merges with the Columbia River and, finally, reaches the Pacific Ocean.

01:04The Atlantic Creek heads eastward and flows into the Yellowstone, Missouri, and Mississippi Rivers, and eventually empties into the Gulf of Mexico.

01:14If you connect the two creeks' watersheds on a map, you'll get a single blue line between Oregon and Louisiana.

01:21Explorers struggling to find the Northwest Passage between the two oceans never knew they could have used the creek.

01:28They would just have to use really tiny boats.

01:31Some scientists believe that cutthroat trout had better luck in that way.

01:35They managed to migrate from the Snake River to Yellowstone River, most likely using the Two Ocean Creek.

01:41Technically, fish can travel over 6,000 miles to cover the whole distance from sea to shining sea in fresh water.

01:50The creek could be just perfect for that journey.

01:54There are hiking trails in Grand Tetan National Park that lead to Two Ocean Pass.

01:59If you feel adventurous enough, you can stand at the literal crossroads of the continent and see the beginning of two aquatic journeys.

02:06Lonar Lake in India popped up literally out of nowhere around 52,000 years ago.

02:14Newer data says it could be much older, probably over 500,000 years.

02:19At first, scientists were sure that the lake was in an ancient crater of a long-extinct volcano.

02:26But then, geologists made a detailed analysis of the soil and water and found out that Lonar Lake has a space origin.

02:34The minerals found in its soil are similar to those found in moon rocks brought to Earth during the Apollo program.

02:42The lake is an impact crater left by a huge meteorite, which was almost six times heavier than the Empire State Building.

02:50The impact was so strong that the volcanic rock melted and turned into glass.

02:55In 2020, the lake, which was already unusual enough, suddenly turned pink.

03:02It wasn't a part of an early Barbie movie marketing campaign.

03:05The detailed analysis showed that the water contained an increased level of unique microbes.

03:11They accumulate on the surface and emit some pink pigment.

03:15After a while, the microbes settled to the bottom and the lake became transparent again.

03:19Flamingos that got their food from the lake also got to taste some of the microbes and became an even brighter shade of pink than usual.

03:28One of the most famous sights of Yellowstone National Park is the Grand Prismatic Spring.

03:34It's one of the largest springs in the world, and it's inspired people who have seen it since at least the 19th century.

03:41Back then, a group of trappers mentioned an indigo blue lake boiling like a huge cauldron.

03:47Decades later, expeditions came to the spring to study it better and explain its unusual appearance.

03:54But because the spring at its widest point is longer than an American football field, they had to build a special vessel and travel far from the shore.

04:03The scientists traveling in the boat never wore life vests.

04:07They knew those would be useless if the boat tipped over.

04:10The water in the middle of the spring is of near-boiling temperature, and those vibrant colors are the result of extreme organisms living in the hot water.

04:20The temperature changes as you travel away from the center.

04:24Different species that don't mind the heat have settled in different parts of the pool, giving it its famous diverse pigments.

04:30Back in the early 20th century, someone got the interesting idea to try to irrigate a part of Nevada's Black Rock Desert.

04:39They drilled a well and found lots of water, but it was near boiling temperature.

04:44The water was clearly not good for agriculture, so the human-made geyser was left abandoned.

04:51Over the decades, it slowly turned into an impressive cone of calcium carbonate deposits.

04:56Then, in 1964, a geothermic energy company drilled another well close to the first one.

05:04The water they had found was of the same temperature.

05:07This time, it wasn't hot enough for their needs to produce energy, so they decided to cap the well and leave.

05:14But water managed to get up and out, and it completely dried up the first geyser.

05:19The second one, which got the name Fly Geyser, is still flowing burning hot water rich in minerals.

05:25The cone is multicolored, and looks like it's not from this planet, thanks to the algae living in it, which love the heat.

05:34Every summer, Caño Cristales in Colombia turns into a liquid rainbow, or the River of Five Colors.

05:42At this time, and until the end of fall, the conditions are just right for the riverbed to turn bright red, yellow, green, blue, and black.

05:51We owe this beauty to certain aquatic plants growing in the river, a special type of river weed.

05:58During the wet season, the river moves fast, and the sun cannot get to these plants.

06:03During the dry season, there isn't enough water to feed them, so the time in between the seasons has the perfect conditions for this colorful show.

06:12It doesn't happen anywhere else in the world.

06:15At some point, the number of tourists who wanted to see it became so huge that scientists got concerned it could be bad for this hotspot of biodiversity.

06:25The area is home to rare species of animals, birds, and plants.

06:30Now, there are ecotourism trails and strict opening hours.

06:33In August 2014, a man in Tunisia was going back home from the north after doing his business.

06:42It was a hot summer evening, and he was dreaming about water, when suddenly, it popped up right in front of him.

06:49There was a whole lake in the middle of the desert, and the man was pretty sure it hadn't been there several days before.

06:55The new body of water got the nickname Mysterious Lake, and actually became a great mystery.

07:01Hundreds of people came here to swim in the clear, cool water.

07:05The lake became a popular place, but a few days later, the water turned dark green.

07:11The locals didn't care about this and continued to bathe in the lake.

07:15But when scientists and geologists arrived at the place, they announced that the water was dangerous to swim in.

07:21The lake was stagnated.

07:23It didn't refresh itself from underground streams, and the rains didn't feed it either.

07:28That's why the water became moldy and dirty.

07:31The lake contained algae and a lot of harmful bacteria, dangerous to the human body.

07:37Scientists also found out that the land in this region had phosphate deposits.

07:42This substance can decay.

07:44But even that didn't stop people from bathing in the lake in the middle of the desert.

07:48How it got there remains a mystery.

07:51Some experts think that heavy rains have filled a hole in the ground with water.

07:55Another, more popular theory says that an earthquake had formed the lake.

08:00The seismic activity must have torn the earth's crust above the water table, and then underground springs had filled the crevice.

08:07So, in theory, the lake could drain back out one day, just as suddenly as it had appeared.

08:13A bridge, a very helpful structure that traces back to the Neolithic times.

08:21The oldest bridge in the world, at least the one that is still standing, is the Arcadeco Bridge, built more than 3,000 years ago.

08:29But there is a river you cannot cross using a bridge.

08:33The Amazon River, the largest and longest river in the world.

08:37Okay, the Nile River is actually the longest river in the world, but the Amazon wants both titles for itself.

08:43The Amazon River is born in Peru and crosses Colombia and Brazil, until it reaches a massive delta at the Atlantic Ocean.

08:52Its waters travel a longer distance than Frodo and Sam, and yet, not a single bridge has ever been built over it.

08:59Why is that?

09:02First of all, seasonal floods change the size of the river.

09:06During dry seasons, the Amazon is about 3 miles wide.

09:09But during heavy rains, it can get up to 30 miles wide in a few weeks.

09:15Not only that, but the flood also makes the river change its position.

09:20Now imagine trying to build a bridge in a place where the ground turns into water for about 4 months.

09:26Not an impossible task, but not the easiest one either.

09:30Now, if you look back at your geography classes, you might remember that the soil of the riverbank can be very soft, especially in the Amazon.

09:38Which means it can erode and shift.

09:41Heavy rains also create marshes, a type of wetlands that actually reduces the magnitude of the floods and purifies the water.

09:49It's also home to many animals.

09:52This means that to build a bridge, part of this wetland would have to be drained, which would ruin the lives of all those animals.

10:00Besides, the foundations of said bridge would have to be deep, and that would cost a lot of money.

10:05The rain creates yet another problem for the potential bridge.

10:09It increases the river's water level by 13 to almost 50 feet.

10:15Of course, bridges have been built in deep rivers before, like the Padma Bridge, a gigantic structure with a foundation of 417 feet.

10:23But because the soil of the Amazon River can erode easily, a bridge would have to be built using floating structures, known as pontoons.

10:32And they're not helpful in a river that changes depth whenever it feels like it.

10:37Next on our list of things that are a problem to human endeavors is the Amazon Rainforest.

10:42This forest spreads over nine countries and is so big and so dense, it could cover about half of Europe.

10:50This means that a bridge would almost likely connect one patch of the forest to another.

10:55A pointless improvement to the lives of capybaras and jaguars.

11:00Of course, the real users of such a bridge would be humans.

11:03Most people live around the tributaries of the Amazon River, not around the river itself, because who wants to live like a beaver at a dam?

11:11There's even a state called Amapá, on the left side of the Amazon River, that is completely cut off from the rest of Brazil.

11:19You could easily take your car and visit its neighbor, a place called French Guiana.

11:25But if you wanted to go to another part of Brazil, you'd have to find other means of transportation.

11:31Aside from small riverside populations that live right on the riverside, duh, of the Amazon,

11:37bigger cities were built near tributary rivers, like the Rio Negru, which has a bridge, by the way, and the Nanay River in Peru.

11:46The bridges that go over the Nanay and the Rio Negru are the only two bridges over the rivers in the Amazon Basin.

11:54The lack of good roads and highways inside the Amazon also makes the creation of bridges a pointless endeavor.

11:59Back in the 70s, humans had big ideas on how to explore the Amazon evermore,

12:06which is why they decided to build a highway which would cut the Amazon Basin from left to right.

12:12The road, called the Trans-Amazonian Highway, was supposed to bring people to the heart of the Amazon.

12:17But it seems like the difficulties of building more than 2,000 miles of road inside a dense rainforest were not foreseen.

12:26Halfway through, the project was abandoned because it was super expensive and problematic.

12:32Nowadays, highways in the Amazon Basin are always flooded, filled with holes and mud.

12:38This whole situation creates a ripple effect.

12:41People don't live near the river because it's hard to access it.

12:44The roads don't go there either, because it's hard to build them.

12:48Which, in turn, makes even fewer people want to settle on the banks of the Amazon River,

12:53because they have no roads to get them there.

12:56So, if there are no roads and no bridges, how do people live there?

13:01You're not going to believe this, but the riverside population uses a very old but reliable invention called a boat.

13:09The Amazon River is fully navigable, and the people that live there use it like a road.

13:13Much like motorcycles, cars, and buses, the Amazon River has canoes, speedboats, and ferries.

13:21There's even a very specific ferry called Obedense, transporting people to the municipality of Obedos.

13:28Hence the name.

13:29Locals do everything on boats.

13:31They even have a boat hospital that floats around and visits riverside populations,

13:36and a boat bank, so you can do all your bank-related things while looking at the vastness of the Amazon.

13:43Honestly?

13:44Genius invention!

13:46The downside to this lack of bridges is that it stops us from exploring the truly hidden gems of the world.

13:53In the Amazon, for example, there are over 10,000 undiscovered archaeological sites.

13:59We may never be able to dig out stuff like fortified villages, geoglyphs, and many other structures.

14:05It would be pretty neat to go full-on Lara Croft in the middle of the Amazon,

14:10but these findings are tucked deep in the heart of the forest.

14:13At the same time, only on a boat are you able to witness the crazy phenomenon of the unmixed waters of the Rio Negru

14:21and the Solimoines on the Amazon River.

14:23For more than three miles, these two tributaries of the Amazon River flow side-by-side without mixing.

14:30The speed and the temperature of these waters are different,

14:33so you'll see a river that looks like coffee and Coca-Cola mixed.

14:38This awesome phenomenon is called the meeting of waters.

14:43But the Amazon River is not the only river in the world deemed bridgeless.

14:48The Congo River, the second longest river in Africa, only has one bridge crossing it.

14:54The two Congos, yes, there are two different countries in the world named Congo,

14:59are separated by the Congo River, and so far, no roads connect them.

15:04Also, fun fact, some geologists believe that back when Gondwana existed

15:09and the continents were all cuddled together,

15:12the Amazon and the Congo River were one river connected to each other.

15:16Another place with a lack of bridges is the east side of the Thames in London.

15:22The west side of the river is narrower, which makes building a bridge easier.

15:26There are about 33 bridges on the west side alone,

15:30but if you want to cross the river from the east side, it's going to be a hassle.

15:34The thing is, back in the 1800s,

15:37shipping companies decided that building too many bridges over the Thames was too expensive,

15:42because this was a shipping route and the bridges would have to be taller than usual.

15:46The structure would also have to be long,

15:49since some parts of the Thames are about 1,870 feet wide.

15:54But building long bridges is not a problem per se.

15:58In Rio de Janeiro, for example, you can find the Rio Nitaoy Bridge,

16:03which is about 8.26 miles long.

16:06Back when it was built in the 70s, it was the second longest bridge in the world.

16:11The bridge is so long that in 2018, a girl was born while her mother was crossing it,

16:17and now the birthplace in her birth certificate is literally the bridge.

16:22There's also no U-turn on it, so if you drive onto the bridge by mistake,

16:26you're in for a long drive.

16:28So next time you feel like exploring the Amazon,

16:32remember to pack your own boat.

16:33That's it for today.

16:37So hey, if you pacified your curiosity,

16:40then give the video a like and share it with your friends.

16:42Or if you want more, just click on these videos and stay on the bright side.

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