WorldWide Drilling Resource

A Discovery in the Amazon Substantiates a Peruvian Legend Compiled by Caleb Whitaker, Associate Editor WorldWide Drilling Resource ® In an age where everything in the world seems mapped and measured, it’s not every day the line between the known and unknown is brought to the forefront of the imagination, especially in the form of a mythical legend becoming reality. However, this is exactly what happened when Andrés Ruzo, a geoscientist studying geothermal energy, discovered the site of a legend originally told to him by his Peruvian grandfather about the boiling river of the Amazon! According to lore, Incan emperor Atahualpa was cap- tured and killed by Spanish conquistadors looking for gold. Afterward, Spaniards did find a plethora of gold in the region and returned to Spain to boast their successes. Once the tales of conquest and glory reached Spain, more con- quistadors returned to the Incas in search of gold. Looking for revenge, the Incas told them to go deep into the Amazon where they would find a lost city of gold. Only a few con- quistadors would ever return, but those who did spoke of powerful shamans, warriors with poisoned arrows, bird- eating spiders, and a boiling river. A lifetime of small coincidences guided Ruzo to the world of geothermal energy. His desire to learn more about earth’s heat, eventually led him to the Southern Methodist University (SMU) Geothermal Lab, where he studied, researched, and pursued a career in geology. He was always skeptical of the boiling river actually being real, but his family insisted it was out there. Ruzo started asking questions to his colleagues, oil and gas companies, and even the government. Most everyone agreed boiling rivers are most often associated with volcanic activity; however, there are no volcanoes in the Amazon nor in the majority of Peru. Therefore, the legend’s boiling river shouldn’t exist. The lack of scientific optimism didn’t stop Ruzo as he quickly set out on an adventure to find the river. During fieldwork for his "Geothermal Map of Peru", he and his wife were finishing up a temperature log of an abandoned oil well. While they manually reeled up the 1300-foot cable, they encountered thick crude oil covering the line, which had to be cleaned off. As if dealing with thick crude oil wasn’t unpleasant enough, they also had to endure an open desert, burning sun creating 138ºF (58ºC) temperatures, and sand-laden winds. He recalled the situation as being like “a cross between an oven and a sand- blaster - not to mention we were in dark blue safety jumpsuits, helmets, and steel-toe boots.” His quest took him on many travels and investigations throughout Peru and the Amazon, but Ruzo did eventually find the legendary boiling river by con- necting with a local shaman’s appren- tice. Describing his first encounter with t he r i ve r he sa i d , “ I immed i a t e l y grabbed for my thermometer, and the average temperatures in the river were [186ºF/86ºC] . This is not qui te the [212ºF/100ºC] boi l ing, but definitely close enough.” The river he discovered had steam rising from the surface as the water flowed hot and fast downstream. As he followed the river upstream, he found something quite bizarre. The river actually starts off as a cold stream which then mixes with a hot spring, and the legend bursts to life. Many hypothesized about ways to pos- sibly explain the hot water. Andrés Ruzo and his wife. Photos courtesy of SMU. The Only Conference Dedicated to the Oklahoma Groundwater Industry To register call Josh McClintock: (405) 258-8747 or go online: www.okgroundwater.org New Continuing Education Classes Hands-On Training Rules and Regulations Course Opportunity to Discuss Concerns with Regulatory Agencies Vendors with the Latest Technologies and Products January 9 & 10 Embassy Suites Hotel & Conference Center Norman, OK 39 WorldWide Drilling Resource ® DECEMBER 2017 A Discovery cont’d on page 42.