All corrections
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R%C3%ADo_de_la_Plata
1 correction found
1
Claim
Making up about one fourth of the continent's surface, it is the second largest drainage basin in South America (after the Amazon basin) and one of the largest in the world.
Correction
The La Plata (Río de la Plata) drainage basin is about 17% of South America’s area (≈3.1 million km²), not “about one fourth.”
Full reasoning
The post claims the Río de la Plata (La Plata) drainage basin makes up **about one fourth** (~25%) of South America.
However, a peer‑reviewed study (Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors, 2012) describes the basin as about **3,100,000 km²** and explicitly states this is **equivalent to 17% of South America’s area**—well below one fourth. In other words, the basin is closer to **one sixth** than to one fourth.
Separately, Encyclopaedia Britannica gives South America’s total area as **17,814,000 km²**; using the basin area (~3.1 million km²) yields ~17–18%, consistent with the paper and inconsistent with “about one fourth.”
2 sources
- Annual and seasonal water storage changes detected from GRACE data in the La Plata Basin (Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors, 2012) – ScienceDirect
“The La Plata Basin has an area of about 3,100,000 km², which is equivalent to the 17% of South America’s area …”
- South America | Facts, Land, People, & Economy | Encyclopaedia Britannica
“South America has a total area of about … 17,814,000 square km …”