Iguazu Falls in Argentina and Brazil. Iguazu Falls, Iguassu Falls, or Iguaçu Falls ( Portuguese: Cataratas do Iguaçu kataˈɾatɐz du igwaˈsu Spanish: Cataratas For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Argentina topics. |utc_offset = -2 to -4 |time_zone_DST = BRST |utc_offset_DST = -2 to -5 |cctld

A waterfall is usually a geological formation resulting from water, often in the form of a stream, flowing over an erosion-resistant rock formation that forms a sudden break in elevation or nickpoint. Geology (from Greek γη gê, "earth" and λόγος Logos, "speech" lit A stream is a body of Water with a current, confined within a bed and stream-banks Erosion is the carrying away or displacement of solids ( Sediment, Soil, rock and other particles usually by the agents of currents such as wind Nickpoint, in surface Hydrology, is the location along the profile of a Stream at which a sudden gradient change occurs

Some waterfalls form in mountain environments where the erosive water force is high and stream courses may be subject to sudden and catastrophic change. A mountain is a Landform that extends above the surrounding Terrain in a limited area with a peak Erosion is the carrying away or displacement of solids ( Sediment, Soil, rock and other particles usually by the agents of currents such as wind In such cases, the waterfall may not be the end product of many years of water action over a region, but rather the result of relatively sudden geological processes such as landslides, faults or volcanic action. A landslide is a geological phenomenon which includes a wide range of ground movement such as rock falls deep failure of slopes and shallow debris flows which can occur In Geology a fault, or fault line, is a planar rock fracture which shows evidence of relative movement Plate tectonics and hotspots Divergent plate boundaries At the

Waterfalls may also be artificial, and they are sometimes created as garden and landscape ornaments. A garden is a planned space usually outdoors set aside for the display cultivation and enjoyment of Plants and other forms of Nature. Landscape comprises the visible features of an area of land including physical elements such as Landforms living elements of flora and fauna abstract elements such as lighting

Formation

Formation of a waterfall

Typically, a river flows over a large step in the rocks which may have been formed by a fault line. Over a period of years, the edges of this shelf will gradually break away and the waterfall will steadily retreat upstream, creating a gorge of recession. For the song see CANYONMID. For the band see Canyon (band. A canyon (rarely cañon) or gorge Often, the rock stratum just below the more resistant shelf will be of a softer type, meaning undercutting, due to splashback, will occur here to form a shallow cave-like formation known as a rock shelter or plunge pool under and behind the waterfall. In Geology and related fields a stratum (plural strata) is a layer of rock or Soil with internally consistent characteristics that distinguishes A rock shelter is a shallow cave-like opening at the base of a bluff or Cliff. Eventually, the outcropping, more resistant cap rock will collapse under pressure to add blocks of rock to the base of the waterfall. Outcrop is a geological term referring to the appearance of Bedrock or Superficial deposits exposed at the surface of the Earth These blocks of rock are then broken down into smaller boulders by attrition as they collide with each other, and they also erode the base of the waterfall by abrasion, creating a deep plunge pool or gorge. plunge pool is a pool lake or pond that is small in diameter but deep

Streams become wider and more shallow just above waterfalls due to flowing over the rock shelf, and there is usually a deep pool just below the waterfall because of the kinetic energy of the water hitting the bottom. The kinetic energy of an object is the extra Energy which it possesses due to its motion

Waterfalls can occur along the edge of glacial trough, whereby a stream or river flowing into a glacier continues to flow into a valley after the glacier has receded or melted. "Glacial" and "Glaciation" redirect here For the geological periods see Glacial period. "Glacial" and "Glaciation" redirect here For the geological periods see Glacial period. The large waterfalls in Yosemite Valley are examples of this phenomenon. Yosemite Valley (joʊˈsɛməti yoh-SEM-it-ee) is a world-famous scenic location in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California. The rivers are flowing from hanging valleys. In Geology, a valley (also called a vale, dale, glen or strath and near or in Appalachia, a draw) is

Classifying Waterfalls

Fulmer Falls. The Fulmer Falls is the second Waterfall located in the George W

Waterfalls are grouped into 10 broad classes based on the average volume of water present on the fall using a logarithmic scale. Class 10 waterfalls include Niagara Falls, Paulo Alfonso Falls and Khone Falls. The Niagara Falls are massive Waterfalls on the Niagara River, straddling the international border separating the Canadian province of Ontario Classes of other well known waterfalls include; Victoria Falls and Kaieteur Falls (Class 9); Rhine Falls, Gullfoss and Sutherland Falls (Class 8); Angel Falls and Dettifoss (Class 7); Yosemite Falls and Lower Yellowstone Falls (Class 6). The Victoria Falls or Mosi-oa-Tunya (the Smoke that Thunders is a Waterfall situated in southern Africa on the Zambezi River between Kaieteur Falls is a great Waterfall on the Potaro River in central Guyana. The Rhine Falls ( Rheinfall in Switzerland) are the widest plain Waterfalls of Europe, just ahead of the Dettifoss Gullfoss ( English: Golden Falls is a Waterfall located in the Canyon of Hvítá river in southwest Iceland. Sutherland Falls are a Waterfall located on the South Island of New Zealand. Not to be confused with Angel Falls (Maine. Angel Falls (indigenous name Churun Merú or Kerepakupai merú) is the world's highest Dettifoss is a Waterfall in Jökulsárgljúfur National Park of Northeast Iceland, not far from Mývatn. Yosemite Falls is the highest measured Waterfall in North America. ^[1]

Types of waterfalls

Havasu Falls, near Supai, Arizona, is an example of a plunge waterfall

Dark Hollow Falls, near Skyline Drive, Virginia, is an example of cascade waterfall

Powerscourt Waterfall, near Enniskerry, Wicklow County, Ireland, is an example of a horsetail waterfall

Kakadu National Park

• Block: Water descends from a relatively wide stream or river. The Havasu ’Baaja (meaning the-people-of-the-blue-green-waters) or more commonly the Havasupai, are a Native American tribe located in the northwestern The State of Arizona ( is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. This article refers to the road in Shenandoah National Park in Virginia The Commonwealth of Virginia ( is an American state Powerscourt Waterfall (Eas Chúirt an Phaoraigh is a waterfall near Enniskerry, County Wicklow, in Ireland, located in a valley surrounded by Enniskerry ( is a village located in County Wicklow, Ireland, with a population of 2672 according to the 2006 census County Wicklow (Contae Chill Mhantáin is a county on the east coast of Ireland, immediately south of Dublin. Ireland (pronounced /ˈaɾlənd/ Éire) is the third largest island in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world Kakadu National Park is in the Northern Territory of Australia, 171 km south-east of Darwin.
• Cascade: Water descends a series of rock steps.
• Cataract: A large waterfall.
• Fan: Water spreads horizontally as it descends while remaining in contact with bedrock. Bedrock is the native consolidated rock underlying the surface of a terrestrial planet usually the Earth.
• Horsetail: Descending water maintains some contact with bedrock.
• Plunge: Water descends vertically, losing contact with the bedrock surface.
• Punchbowl: Water descends in a constricted form, then spreads out in a wider pool.
• Segmented: Distinctly separate flows of water form as it descends.
• Tiered:Water drops in a series of distinct steps or falls.
• Multi-step: A series of waterfalls one after another of roughly the same size each with its own sunken plunge pool.

Examples of large waterfalls

Main article: List of waterfalls

Significant waterfalls include these alphabetically:

• Angel Falls, the world's highest at 979 metres (3212 feet), in Venezuela
• Bridalveil Fall, California - 189 m (620 ft) high: sheer drop when flowing
• Cascata delle Marmore in Italy is the tallest man-made waterfall in the world
• Cautley Spout at 175 m (580 ft) is the highest waterfall in England
• Eas a' Chual Aluinn at 200 m (658 ft) is the highest waterfall in Scotland and also the United Kingdom
• Gocta, the fifth-highest in the world at 771 m (2533 ft), located in the province Chachapoyas, Peru
• Kaieteur Falls, (Potaro River in central Guyana) located in the Kaieteur National Park, a region that is also claimed by Venezuela. This is a list of Waterfalls of the world by continent Africa Angola Kalandula Falls, second largest in Africa Not to be confused with Angel Falls (Maine. Angel Falls (indigenous name Churun Merú or Kerepakupai merú) is the world's highest The metre or meter is a unit of Length. It is the basic unit of Length in the Metric system and in the International A foot (plural feet or foot; symbol or abbreviation ft or sometimes &prime – the prime symbol) is a non-SI unit Venezuela (ˌvɛnəˈzweɪlə) officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (Spanish República Bolivariana de Venezuela) is a country on the Bridalveil Fall is one of the most prominent Waterfalls in the Yosemite Valley in California, seen yearly by millions of visitors to Yosemite National The Cascata delle Marmore (Marmore's Falls is a man-made Waterfall created by the ancient Romans. Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest Cautley Spout is England 's highest Waterfall above ground ( Gaping Gill on Ingleborough falls a greater distance into a Pothole England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Eas a' Chual Aluinn ( in the parish of Assynt, Sutherland, Highland, Scotland is Britain's highest waterfall with a sheer drop of 658 ft Scotland ( Gaelic: Alba) is a Country in northwest Europethat occupies the northern third of the island of Great Britain. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located The Gocta Waterfall (Catarata del Gocta a Waterfall with two drops has been known for centuries to the local residents in Peru ' s province of Chachapoyas Peru (Perú Piruw Piruw officially the Republic of Peru ( reˈpuβlika del peˈɾu is a country in western South America. Kaieteur Falls is a great Waterfall on the Potaro River in central Guyana. It is 226 m (741 ft)
• High Force on the River Tees is one of the tallest waterfalls in England
• Huangguoshu Waterfall in Anshun, Guizhou, China, the largest waterfall in Asia. High Force is a Waterfall on the River Tees, near Middleton-in-Teesdale, Tees Valley, England. The Tees is a river in Northern England. It rises on the eastern slope of Cross Fell in the Pennines, and flows eastwards for about 85 miles Huangguoshu Waterfall, also known as Yellow Fruit Tree Waterfall ( is the largest Waterfall in China and Asia located on the Baihe River for the bridge in Chengdu, Sichuan see Anshun Bridge Anshun (pinyin Ānshùn 安顺 is a city in China in ( also spelled Kweichow) is a province of the People's Republic of China located in the southwestern part of the country China ( Wade-Giles ( Mandarin) Chung¹kuo² is a cultural region, an ancient Civilization, and depending on perspective a National
• Iguazu Falls, a tall and extremely wide fall located in South America on the Argentina/Brazil border
• Jog Falls, India's eighth-highest (listed as 313 ranking on the World Waterfall Database), located in Karnataka state, India
• Jurong Falls in Singapore is the tallest artificial waterfall in Asia
• Multnomah Falls: 611 feet (186 m) high 30ft wide
• Niagara Falls is the most powerful falls in North America
• Ramnefjellsfossen, the world's third-highest at 808 m (2685 ft), at Stryn, Nesdalen, Norway
• Rhine Falls, Europe's largest, located in Switzerland
• Tugela Falls, the world's second-highest at 947 m (3110 ft), in KwaZulu-Natal province, Republic of South Africa
• Victoria Falls, the largest waterfall in the world, over a mile long and located on the Zambezi river on the border of Zimbabwe and Zambia. Iguazu Falls, Iguassu Falls, or Iguaçu Falls ( Portuguese: Cataratas do Iguaçu kataˈɾatɐz du igwaˈsu Spanish: Cataratas South America is a Continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Argentina topics. |utc_offset = -2 to -4 |time_zone_DST = BRST |utc_offset_DST = -2 to -5 |cctld Jog Falls ( Kannada -ಜೋಗ ಜಲಪಾತ) created by the Sharavathi River falling from a height of 253 meters (829 ft is the highest plunge waterfall Karnataka (ಕರ್ನಾಟಕ pronounced) is a state in the southern part of India India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country Jurong Falls is the tallest continuously running artificial Waterfall in the world at 30 Metres (100 feet) tall Singapore Multnomah Falls is a Waterfall on the Oregon side of the Columbia River Gorge, located east of Troutdale, between Corbett and The Niagara Falls are massive Waterfalls on the Niagara River, straddling the international border separating the Canadian province of Ontario Ramnefjellsfossen (also known as Utigardsfossen or Utigordsfossen) is unofficially listed as the third-highest Waterfall in the world in several publications Stryn is a municipality in the county of Sogn og Fjordane, Norway. The Rhine Falls ( Rheinfall in Switzerland) are the widest plain Waterfalls of Europe, just ahead of the Dettifoss Switzerland (English pronunciation; Schweiz Swiss German: Schwyz or Schwiiz Suisse Svizzera Svizra officially the Swiss Confederation Tugela Falls is the world's second highest Waterfall. The total drop in five free-leaping falls is 3110 feet (947 meters) KwaZulu-Natal (kwɑːˌzuːluː nəˈtɑːl often referred to as " KZN " is a province of South Africa. The Republic of South Africa (also known by other official names) is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa The Victoria Falls or Mosi-oa-Tunya (the Smoke that Thunders is a Waterfall situated in southern Africa on the Zambezi River between A mile is a unit of Length, usually used to measure Distance, in a number of different systems including Imperial units United States The Zambezi (also spelled Zambesi) is the fourth-longest River in Africa and the largest flowing into the Indian Ocean from Africa See also Great Zimbabwe National Monument. For information about the March and June 2008 presidential elections see Zimbabwean presidential election The Republic of Zambia (ˈzæmbɪə is a Landlocked country in Southern Africa.
• Yosemite Falls, arguably the tallest in North America, located in Yosemite National Park, United States
• Yumbilla falls, worlds 5th tallest waterfall, located in Peru
• Krimmler Falls, Europe's tallest waterfalls, height: 390 m, located in Krimml, Salzburg, Austria
• ShirAbad Waterfall, Iran, Golestan,Khanbebin,shirabad

See also

• Stream pool
• Water feature
• Tributary

References