The Pasión River (, ) is a

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

located in the northern lowlands region of

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

. The river is fed by a number of upstream tributaries whose sources lie in the hills of

Alta Verapaz Alta Verapaz () is a department in the north central part of Guatemala. The capital and chief city of the department is Cobán. Verapaz is bordered to the north by El Petén, to the east by Izabal, to the south by Zacapa, El Progreso, and ...

. These flow in a general northerly direction to form the Pasión, which then tends westwards to meet up with the Salinas River at . At this confluence, the greater

Usumacinta River The Usumacinta River (; named after the howler monkey) is a river in southeastern Mexico and northwestern Guatemala. It is formed by the junction of the Pasión River, which arises in the Sierra de Santa Cruz (in Guatemala) and the Salinas ...

is formed, which runs northward to its eventual outlet in the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico () is an oceanic basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States; on the southw ...

. The Pasión River's principal tributaries are the San Juan River, the Machaquila River, and the Cancuén River. The riverine drainage system of the Pasión and its tributaries covers an area of over and forms a watershed for a substantial portion of the present-day Guatemalan department of Petén's western half. The Pasión river basin is recognized as an archaeological region or zone, and contains a number of

archaeological sites An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology an ...

of the

pre-Columbian In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era, also known as the pre-contact era, or as the pre-Cabraline era specifically in Brazil, spans from the initial peopling of the Americas in the Upper Paleolithic to the onset of European col ...

Maya civilization The Maya civilization () was a Mesoamerican civilization that existed from antiquity to the early modern period. It is known by its ancient temples and glyphs (script). The Maya script is the most sophisticated and highly developed writin ...

, which to an extent shared some commonalities in Maya architectural style, political history and glyphic conventions. Maya ceremonial and urban centers located within the region include

Dos Pilas Dos Pilas is a Pre-Columbian site of the Maya civilization located in what is now the department of Petén, Guatemala. It dates to the Late Classic Period, and was founded by an offshoot of the dynasty of the great city of Tikal in AD 6 ...

Tamarindito Tamarindito is an archaeological site of the Maya civilization located along an escarpment in the Petén Department, Petén Departments of Guatemala, department of Guatemala. The city was the capital of the Petexbatún region of the southwestern P ...

Altar de Sacrificios Altar de Sacrificios is a ceremonial center and archaeological site of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization, situated near the confluence of the Pasión River, Pasión and Salinas River (Guatemala), Salinas Rivers (where they combine to form the U ...

, Aguateca, Seibal and Machaquila.

Pollution

On June 6, 2015, residents around La Pasión River reported finding of a high count of dead fish floating in the river. On June 11, 2015, Guatemala's authorities inspected

palm oil Palm oil is an edible vegetable oil derived from the mesocarp (reddish pulp) of the fruit of oil palms. The oil is used in food manufacturing, in beauty products, and as biofuel. Palm oil accounted for about 36% of global oils produced from o ...

company "Reforestadora de Palmas de Petén, S.A." (REPSA), located in Sayaxché, and found traces of Malathion, a pesticide, in the company's tributaries leading to La Pasión River. Tranquilino Xojalaj, administrator of REPSA, declared that heavy rain caused the treatment wells to flood into the river, however the company denied responsibility, stating that they do not use Malathion as a pesticide. By June 15, 2015, dead fish had been found over downstream. The pollution might have entered the

, which travels all the way to México.

Notes and references

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pasion River Rivers of Guatemala Geography of Mesoamerica Geography of the Petén Department Usumacinta River

Pollution

See also

Notes and references

References

Bibliography