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aluvial del río

English translation: floodplain of the river/river alluvium

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
Spanish term or phrase:aluvial del río
English translation:floodplain of the river/river alluvium
Entered by: Chiara Torres

17:51 Jul 6, 2014
Spanish to English translations [PRO]
Science - Science (general) / Rivers and riverbeds
Spanish term or phrase: aluvial del río
Hi guys

Need your help.

The phrase is: ocasionó la inundación por lodos contaminantes de la totalidad de aluvial del río.

My try is: it produced a contaminated sludge flooding in all of the River's alluvial/floodplain

Which is the better term or is there another more correct term.

Thanks a lot guys!!
Chiara Torres
Local time: 16:29
floodplain of the river
Explanation:
I think your own interpretation is quite correct. Clearly "aluvial" is a noun and the "aluvial del río" has been flooded with toxic sludge. There's plenty of other evidence out there that an "aluvial" is something a river has:
https://www.google.es/search?num=100&q="el aluvial del río"&...

And here's a definition:

"ALUVIAL (S.)
El nombre proviene del latín alluvies, avenida, riada.
1.-Suelo formado por depósitos recientes en zonas de valle y, con frecuencia, sometido a inundación por los ríos que aportan el material."
José Luis Rozas López, Diccionario de términos edafológicos (Ministerio de Medio Ambiente, España), tomo I (A-J)
http://www.magrama.gob.es/es/ministerio/servicios/publicacio...

So yes, it clearly means the alluvial plain or floodplain. I don't think there's another more suitable term. Of the two, which are often used interchangeably, I would use "floodplain" here, because it applies to the area the the river currently floods, whereas "alluvial plain" can apply to a larger area that it has flooded in the past:

"An alluvial plain is a largely flat landform created by the deposition of sediment over a long period of time by one or more rivers coming from highland regions, from which alluvial soil forms. A floodplain is part of the process, being the smaller area over which the rivers flood at a particular period of time, whereas the alluvial plain is the larger area representing the region over which the floodplains have shifted over geological time."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alluvial_plain
Selected response from:

Charles Davis
Spain
Local time: 16:29
Grading comment
Thanks Charles. This was very helpful.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +2floodplain of the river
Charles Davis
4river alluvium
Muriel Vasconcellos
3Alluvial river deposits
nweatherdon


Discussion entries: 2





  

Answers


49 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
Alluvial river deposits


Explanation:
It's not clear to me whether they are more concerned with the physical deposition of all alluvial debris (perhaps this creates certain problems in an area) or the presence of toxins.

However, if you compare Google images in English and Spanish, you will find basically similar images, although the Spanish hits tend to produce many more results with maps, etc., which leads me to believe that the specific term in Spanish has many renditions in more formal uses in English.

nweatherdon
Canada
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 4
Notes to answerer
Asker: Thanks for your answer. However it refers to the spillage of toxic contaminants such as heavy metals into the aluvial del rio from a factory. Does that help somewhat. It isn't alluvial debris as such I think.

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1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
river alluvium


Explanation:
Examples:

About 32,100 results (0.39 seconds)
Search Results

Brazos River Alluvium Aquifer | Texas Water Development ...
www.twdb.state.tx.us/groundwater/aquifer/.../brazos-river-a...
The Brazos River Alluvium Aquifer is a minor aquifer found along the Brazos River in east-central Texas. The aquifer is as much as 7 miles in width and extends ...

Mapping of Holocene River Alluvium along the Verde River ...
www.azwater.gov/AzDWR/.../DM-RM2_VerdeHolocene_report.pdf
by JP Cook - ‎2010 - ‎Cited by 2 - ‎Related articles
Verde River alluvium. 37 o Holocene river deposits. 37 o Pleistocene river deposits. 39. • Piedmont alluvium and surficial deposits. 41 o Holocene deposits. 41.



Muriel Vasconcellos
United States
Local time: 07:29
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 56
Notes to answerer
Asker: Thanks Muriel

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2 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +2
floodplain of the river


Explanation:
I think your own interpretation is quite correct. Clearly "aluvial" is a noun and the "aluvial del río" has been flooded with toxic sludge. There's plenty of other evidence out there that an "aluvial" is something a river has:
https://www.google.es/search?num=100&q="el aluvial del río"&...

And here's a definition:

"ALUVIAL (S.)
El nombre proviene del latín alluvies, avenida, riada.
1.-Suelo formado por depósitos recientes en zonas de valle y, con frecuencia, sometido a inundación por los ríos que aportan el material."
José Luis Rozas López, Diccionario de términos edafológicos (Ministerio de Medio Ambiente, España), tomo I (A-J)
http://www.magrama.gob.es/es/ministerio/servicios/publicacio...

So yes, it clearly means the alluvial plain or floodplain. I don't think there's another more suitable term. Of the two, which are often used interchangeably, I would use "floodplain" here, because it applies to the area the the river currently floods, whereas "alluvial plain" can apply to a larger area that it has flooded in the past:

"An alluvial plain is a largely flat landform created by the deposition of sediment over a long period of time by one or more rivers coming from highland regions, from which alluvial soil forms. A floodplain is part of the process, being the smaller area over which the rivers flood at a particular period of time, whereas the alluvial plain is the larger area representing the region over which the floodplains have shifted over geological time."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alluvial_plain

Charles Davis
Spain
Local time: 16:29
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 16
Grading comment
Thanks Charles. This was very helpful.
Notes to answerer
Asker: Thank you Charles :)


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Anne Schulz
4 mins
  -> Thank you, Anne!
agree  nweatherdon: I think this might be the right idea. Perhaps specify "the contaminated sludge was/is deposited throughout the downstream floodplain of the river", since upstream areas will not receive contaminants from the source (see discussion)
26 mins
  -> Thanks very much, NJ :) Yes, logically it must be downstream.
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