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The Balsas River Valley ecoregion, located in south-central Mexico, is a region known for its unique biodiversity and as the likely birthplace of maize domestication. It encompasses the drainage basin of the Balsas River and numerous tributaries, characterized by a tropical dry forest climate and diverse flora and fauna. The Balsas dry forests occupy the basin of the Balsas River, extending east and west between the the two east-west mountain ranges to the north and the south.
Geography
This ecoregion spans across portions of several Mexican states and spans the valley lands between the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt to the north and the Sierra Madre del Sur to the south, covering an area of 24,100 square miles (62,400 square kilometers). The Balsas River flow down from the mountains east of Mexico City in the State of Mexico, south through Puebla City, then further southeast through the state of Puebla to close enough to the state of Oxaca to drain from several tributaries. Then the Balsas River begins a wide turn to the south, then southwest entering Morelos, then west entering Mexico state, across Guerrero, and the continuing in a northwest direction and crossing into the state of Michoacán at Ciudad Altamirano after which the Balsas River forms the border between the states of Guerrero and Michoacán. Next, the Balsas River enters the Infiernillo Reservoir, after which turns south again and flows to the Pacific Ocean just east of Playa Azul.
Balsas River Information:
Description:
Location:
Coordinates:
Balsas River
Source (Nacimiento):
At confluence of San Martin and Zahuapan Rivers, Puebla
(19.35348443, -98.4777194)
Elevation:
7582 feet
Mouth:
Pacific Ocean
(17.94, -102.137778)
The Ancients
Second Migration
(The Uto-Aztecan Cultures)
The indigenous people of the Balsas River Valley include: Yopis
Nahuatl-speaking Cohuixcas,
Matlatzincas,
Chontales,
Tlahuicas,
Xochimilcas,
Nahua,
Mixtec,
Tlapanec, and
Amuzgo
During the years between 1300-1500 BCE, the Balsas River area was controlled by the Tarascan-Purépecha Empire.
The Earth
El Infiernillo Reservoir
(18.273056, -101.892778)
El Infiernillo (The Little Hell) Reservoir is located along the Balsas River Basin as it flow between the states of Michoacán and Guerrero, and was formed by the created of the Infiernillo Dam, also known as Adolfo López Mateos Dam, which is an embankment dam on the Balsas River near La Unión, Guerrero, Mexico. The dam supports a hydroelectric power station containing six turbine-generators for a total installed capacity of 1,120 MW. The dam is 489 feet (149 meters) high, 1,129 feet (344 meters) long and is owned by Comisión Federal de Electricidad. Placement of the dam embankment began in August 1962 and the first generator was operational on January 25, 1965
The Modern Man
The Steps
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