Lebu River an important river of the

Arauco Province Arauco Province ( es, Provincia de Arauco) is one of four provinces of the Chilean region of Bío Bío. It spans a coastal area of just south of the mouth of the Biobío River, the traditional demarcation between the nation's major natural regio ...

. It has his sources in the western slope of the

Nahuelbuta Range The Nahuelbuta Range or Cordillera de Nahuelbuta () is a mountain range in Bio-Bio and Araucania Region, southern Chile. It is located along the Pacific coast and forms part of the larger Chilean Coast Range. The name of the range derives from th ...

to the east of the city and port of Lebu, capital of the province and named for the river. The Lebu is formed from the confluence of the Riachuelos of

Curanilahue Curanilahue () is a Chilean commune and city in Arauco Province, Biobío Region. Its name comes from Mapundungun "Cura", meaning "Stone", and "Nilahue" meaning "Ford". Demographics According to the 2002 census of the National Statistics Instit ...

and Pilpilco that meet at the base of that mountain range. From the confluence it continues to the west, widening with the flow of the Riachuelos of Quilañanco and Curihuillín, and with several streams that join it from the wooded heights on both of its banks. It goes on to empty into the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

at 37° 36' Lat. and 73° 41 ' Lon. after a course of about 100 kilometers until it is below the ford of Cupaño, at the salto de Gualgalén, where this strong torrent of the river that is about 20 kilometers from its mouth meets the upper reach of the tidal

estuary An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environment ...

. At the river mouth the coast forms a port or anchorage between the Morro de Tucapel to the south, and the Punta de Millonhue to the north. Between them extends the bar of the mouth, that only opens the way by a narrow channel. Above the mouth the river estuary in front of the city is narrow and further up the river is wide and deep. In the upper part of this estuary, is the location of the old fort of Santa Margarita de Austria. The name of the river is an alteration of the

Mapudungun Mapuche (, Mapuche & Spanish: , or Mapudungun; from ' 'land' and ' 'speak, speech') is an Araucanian language related to Huilliche spoken in south-central Chile and west-central Argentina by the Mapuche people (from ''mapu'' 'land' and ''che ...

''leufü'' or ''leuvu'', “river”; and in colonial times a valley of a river, that contained habitations of Indians was called a ''levo''. Diccionario geográfico de la República de Chile pg. 362 Lebu. — Rio
/ref> As result of the

2010 Chile earthquake The 2010 Chile earthquake and tsunami ( es, Terremoto del 27F) occurred off the coast of central Chile on Saturday, 27 February at 03:34 local time (06:34 UTC), having a magnitude of 8.8 on the moment magnitude scale, with intense shaking la ...

a large islet emerged at the mouth of the river. This area was the part of the coast that experience the highest permanent uplift resulting from the earthquake.

References

Sources

Francisco Solano Asta-Buruaga y Cienfuegos Francisco Solano Asta-Buruaga y Cienfuegos (July 21, 1817 – June 13, 1892) was a Chilean politician and lawyer. Biography Astaburuaga was born in Talca on July 21, 1817. His parents were Cayetano Astaburuaga Valdovinos and Petronila Cienfuego ...

Diccionario geográfico de la República de Chile (Geographic dictionary of the Republic of Chile), SEGUNDA EDICIÓN CORREGIDA Y AUMENTADA, NUEVA YORK, D. APPLETON Y COMPAÑÍA, 1899.

Lebu River Lebu River an important river of the Arauco Province. It has his sources in the western slope of the Nahuelbuta Range to the east of the city and port of Lebu, capital of the province and named for the river. The Lebu is formed from the confluen ...

Rivers of Biobío Region {{Chile-river-stub