Morona River

The Morona River is a tributary to the Marañón River in Peru and Ecuador, and flows parallel to the Pastaza River and immediately to the west of it, and is the last stream of any importance on the northern side of the Amazon before reaching the Pongo de Manseriche.

Morona River
Location
Countries	Ecuador Peru
Physical characteristics
Source
• elevation	1,125 m (3,691 ft)[1]
Mouth	Marañón River
• coordinates	4°44′S 77°4′W
• elevation	129 m (423 ft)[1]
Length	663.91 km (412.53 mi)[1] 550 km (340 mi)[2]
Basin size	16,961.9 km2 (6,549.0 sq mi)[3]
Discharge
• location	Near mouth
• average	(Period: 1965–2013)1,106.96 m3/s (39,092 cu ft/s)[3]
Basin features
Progression	Marañón → Amazon → Atlantic Ocean
River system	Amazon

It is formed from a multitude of water-courses which descend the slopes of the Ecuadorian Andes south of the gigantic volcano of Sangay; but it soon reaches the plain, which commences where it receives its Cusulima branch. The Morona is navigable for small craft for about 300 miles above its mouth, but it is extremely tortuous. Canoes may ascend many of its branches, especially the Cusuhma and the Miazal, the latter almost to the base of Sangay. The Morona has been the scene of many rude explorations, with the hope of finding it serviceable as a commercial route between the inter-Andean tableland of Ecuador and the Amazon river.

In 2016, a large oil spill from Petroperú's pipeline contaminated the Morona and Chiriaco rivers.^[4][5]