Amazon collects its headwaters from the eastern slopes of Andes Mountains in Peru. It receives a huge discharge, about 2 lakh m3/s . As a result, Amazon washes off the load supplied to it from the catchment. Consequently, sediments are not deposited even at the mouth. A dense network of distributaries, which is a characteristic feature of river mouth areas, is by and large absent in the mouth region of Amazon. Instead, a series of islands developed along the mouth of Amazon beyond the coastline into the Atlantic Ocean can be found. Most of the course of the Amazon river is suitable for navigation.
