SMU grad student discovers river in Peru so hot it boils animals alive
Ph.D. student Adrés Ruzo chased the legend of the boiling river until he found the real thing.
![Adrés Ruzo](/-/media/Images/News/2016/spring/Andres-Ruzo-02-135x100ratio.jpg?h=167&iar=0&w=226&hash=4F2A149B68D70808ACD3ADF11FD14BC0)
By Julia Calderone
Deep in the heart of the Peruvian Amazon, an anomalous and perplexing natural wonder lies: A raging river that boils.
Once just the stuff of folklore, geophysicist Andrés Ruzo, a PhD student at Southern Methodist University, set out to find the legendary waterway himself.
He not only found it, but he confirmed that it does, in fact, surge at a scalding 200 degrees Fahrenheit.
"It feels like I'm in a sauna inside a toaster oven," Ruzo said sitting on the bank of the river in his new book, The Boiling River: Adventure and Discovery in the Amazon. (Ruzo also discussed his quest to understand its puzzling features in a recent TED talk.)
While the temperatures are consistent with those of many other natural volcanic and nonvolcanic geothermal systems, the sheer volume of water in the river is perplexing. Without a powerful heat source, such as an active volcano, the river shouldn't boil this hot and high.
Here's the story of the boiling river, which rages in a forested region called Mayantuyacu.
Read the full story and see photos from the field.
Ruzo’s TED Talk at TEDGlobal 2014:
Related Links:
- New book from TED books: The Boiling River: Adventure and Discovery in the Amazon
- Best gallery of photos on ideas.ted.com
- Teaser for new documentary
- The Boiling River Facebook Page
News Media Resources
- International Business Times: Scientists discover boiling river in Peru rainforest
- The London Daily Mail: A legendary river that BOILS its victims alive is discovered deep in the heart of the Amazon
- Inhabitat: Boiling river of Amazon legend discovered in the rainforest, and it’s in danger