What is a waterfall? The beauty and grandeur of water giants: what is a waterfall

Attractive in their dangerous beauty, waterfalls have always attracted attention and excited the human imagination.

It is especially fascinating to realize that over the largest and most powerful of the bottom, such as Niagara, Victoria or Iguazu, a person has absolutely no power. They show us the beauty and power of wildlife.

Geographic feature. The meaning of waterfalls

Powerful waterfalls are an almost inexhaustible source of energy, which is widely used in the construction of hydroelectric power plants. Staying near waterfalls brings not only aesthetic pleasure, but also has a healing effect: water falling from a height forms water dust, in which negatively charged ions are formed under the influence of sunlight. Such dust, saturated with plant phytoncides, which are always in abundance near waterfalls, has a very positive effect on the body.

However, there are also contacts with waterfalls that are unpleasant for humans. Waterfalls and rapids, which cannot be curbed, are a serious obstacle to navigation. Therefore, on many rivers where there are waterfalls, navigable channels are being laid, allowing liners and ships to make a safe journey.

Characteristics and types of waterfalls

The waterfall is a water stream falling from a steep cliff. Often large waterfalls consist of a chain of small rapids and cascades. One of the features of large waterfalls is their "movement": the constant fall of water leads to the destruction of the ledge and the movement of the waterfall up the river.

It is noteworthy that almost all the powerful waterfalls of the world are located on the border of two or three states. And this is understandable, because a large waterfall is a natural insurmountable barrier that protects the territory of the state much more reliably than the most modern instruments and weapons.

Types of waterfalls:

• cataract- a large waterfall, in which the bulk of the water falls in a wide sheet from a relatively small height;
• waterfall- smooth sloping waterfall without steep overthrows of water;
• cascade- a series of waterfalls located one after another.

Origin of waterfalls

The origin of waterfalls is different. For example, they may appear due to the fact that the river crosses a natural ledge, which was formed even before the appearance of water. In another case, the appearance of a waterfall may be the result of the activity of the river itself, which erodes the soft layers of rocks.

In the mountains a large number of waterfalls owe their appearance to tectonic activity. also in mountainous areas many waterfalls that arose in hanging valleys due to an overabundance of water in rivers that came down from glaciers.

The largest waterfalls in the world

Because waterfalls vary in width, height, and amount of water they carry, there is no one that holds the title of largest. We list some of the most powerful and wide waterfalls that adorn our planet.

(Kohn waterfall)

So, the widest waterfall in the world - Kon- located on the border of Cambodia and Laos on the Mekong River. The width of the Kona runoff is more than 12.5 km. Actually, this is a cascading system of waterfalls, located in an amazing beautiful place. By the way, Kohn is also considered one of the most peaceful among the known waterfalls. Opened in 1920.

(Iguazu Falls)

The title of the most powerful waterfall in the world belongs to Iguazu, aka "Devil's Throat", on the border of Argentina and Brazil. Through the ledge of the waterfall, such an amount of water falls every minute, which is difficult to even imagine - 700 thousand m 3! Iguazu, which has 275 cascades, is not only dangerous and powerful, it is also mesmerizingly beautiful. The waterfall was discovered in 1541.

(Niagara Falls)

And, of course, one cannot fail to mention the most famous waterfalls peace - NiagaraVictoria. Niagara Falls, located on the Niagara River on the border of the USA and Canada, is relatively low - its height is only 52 m. However, due to the huge amount of water discharged and the long length, Niagara Falls is considered the most powerful in North America.

(Victoria Falls)

Waterfall Victoria, named after the Queen of Great Britain, was known to the local tribes under the name "Thundering Smoke", which, of course, is more in line with the impression it makes. The waterfall is 1800 meters wide and 128 meters high.

highest waterfall

(Angel Falls)

The highest waterfall in the world is Angel located on the Churun ​​River in beautiful Venezuela. The total height of Angel is 1054 m, the height of free fall of water is 979 m. local residents its name translates as "Waterfall of the deepest place".

Angel was discovered in 1935 by Juan Angel, a Venezuelan pilot who first flew over the waterfall, after whom he got his name.

For the sake of this phenomenon of nature, dozens of different peoples, without saying a word, combined two roots into one word: "water" And "fall" .

Thus was born the English waterfall, Finnish weighty, Thai "nyamtok" and others. The Japanese designate the waterfall with a compound hieroglyph "daki"; one part is "water" , the other - "the Dragon" . A powerful stream of roaring water, indeed, reminds of some fabulous creature.

Scientists-geographers put a strictly defined meaning into the term: a waterfall is free fall water with a sharp difference in heights in adjacent areas or a stream. A waterfall is usually born if:

- the slope between the sections of the channel is steep, steep, overhanging;

- the current is quite fast;

- flow more or less full-flowing;

- the height difference is great.

When at least one of the first three conditions is absent, water most often does not come off the bed, but flows peacefully. And if the slope is at least 30 °, not a waterfall appears on the river, but a threshold. Waterfalls are common in the mountains, where hard rocks come to the surface and where elevation changes are common. There are also waterfalls underground - in caves and other cavities through which water streams have made their way.

Changes in nature affect the waterfalls. During the hot season, the influx of water and its speed sharply decrease, and many waterfalls turn into weak streams, or even temporarily disappear. In winter, many waterfalls become ice mountains with a "beard" of icicles. Influence and. So, on the Isle of Mull (Scotland), they are so strong that they turn up and back the streams of water falling from the mountains, and they turn into pillars.

How are waterfalls formed?

There are at least three groups of factors that can be called the "parents" of waterfalls.

1. Water erosion. Usually the rivers downstream more full-flowing and faster. Therefore, here the stream erodes the bottom and shores more strongly. This is helped, as well as the sand and stones that it carries. If soft rocks come across along the way, the river pulls out and carries away their fragments, the bottom sags. This is how the height difference is formed. Then the water begins not to flow down the slope, but breaks and falls.

2. Disasters. Volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and landslides shift the earth's layers. After them, the course of the rivers is cut through by deep cracks, one of the "banks" of which has sunk or, conversely, risen. In addition, fields of hardened volcanic lava, mountain landslides can dramatically raise one area of ​​the terrain above another, or even block the flow of the river.


3. Glaciation. When an ice sheet up to 3.5 km thick slides down from the mountains, it plows through the valleys with thousands of tons of ice. The mass of ice in the main valley is greater than in the shallower side valleys - its "tributaries". Therefore, its bottom becomes much lower. When the glacier melts and recedes, streams of water, flowing down from the mountains, form waterfalls as they flow into the main valley. That is why they are so characteristic of the mountainous northern regions (Scandinavia, Karelia, Canada).

What waterfalls can be considered champions?

The highest waterfall in the world is the Venezuelan Angel Falls, recently renamed Kerepakupai Meru. Its height is at least 979 m (according to other sources - 1054 m). From such a height, the stream does not have time to reach the ground and is all sprayed in the form of fog.

The widest on Earth is the Khon waterfall cascade in southern Laos. With a modest height (21 m), it reaches almost 13 km (12,954 m) at its widest point. The most full-flowing is the Inga Falls in the lower reaches of the African Congo River. It releases over 42 million liters of water every second! And during the rainy season, this figure almost doubles.

Records in the nomination "beauty and grandeur" are not recorded, but most often include Iguazu (on the border of Argentina and Brazil), Niagara (USA), Victoria (Zambia and Zimbabwe).

And in terms of the number of waterfalls, the first place is in the highland kingdom of Lesotho in South Africa. On its territory, approximately equal to the Kursk region, there are over 3000 of them!

Are there waterfalls in Antarctica?

In Antarctica, they appear when the snow and ice begin to melt. Moulins are often born here - waterfalls in which the stream breaks off the edges of ice cracks or holes and goes under the ice. In the east of Antarctica there is also a unique "bloody waterfall".

Brick-red water rushes down from the crack from time to time. It is pushed out by the glacier from the subglacial lake. This water is rich in iron salts washed out of the rocks. When it breaks out to the surface, the iron oxidizes, forming rust particles. They make the waterfall "bloody".

Is it true that waterfalls can move along the river by themselves?

Yes, this happens often. If the place of fall is composed of not very strong rocks, then a powerful stream gradually erodes them. There are collapses, and the beginning of the waterfall moves upstream the river. This happens, for example, with Niagara. The ledge from which she "jumps" down is composed of hard limestone. Under them, softer shales and sandstones lie, on which water falls. The bottom of the waterfall deepens, under the pressure of water and its own mass, stones break off from solid layers.


As a result, the waterfall is steadily moving up the river. In former times, it moved by a meter and a half, now by 30 cm per year. Since his birth, he has already retreated 11 km!

Waterfalls - wonder of the world

Among all the wonders bestowed on man by nature, perhaps the most popular are waterfalls. Their beauty fascinates tourists, their power is admirable. "Falling water", as the most majestic phenomenon of nature, has long attracted a person with its unique beauty. It has been noticed that any waterfall with its thunderous peals for many kilometers serves as a guide for birds during migrations.

A very curious pattern: all the largest waterfalls in the world are located on the border of two or even three states. And this, apparently, is not accidental - wide waterfalls represent insurmountable natural boundaries, along which boundaries were established.

On our planet, there are whole clusters of "water diamonds". In the Caucasus, on the territory of the Teberdinsky Reserve in the gorge of the river. Salynngan (a tributary of the Kizgych River) is the valley of "Thirty Waterfalls". In Japan, in the national park of the island of Honshu, 100 waterfalls fall into the Osugidani Valley. And Norway is even called the Land of Waterfalls. But few people know that the small highland kingdom of Lesotho in Africa in South Africa is a unique intricacies of 3000 waterfalls.

And if you ask someone a question: what is the most big waterfall- rest assured, the majority will answer: Niagara. Some will remember the Victoria Falls, discovered in Africa famous traveler David Livingston in 1855. And only a few, geographers, will ask again: what is meant - width, height or power, since the term "largest" in relation to waterfalls sounds very vague.

Angel and Cohn

Angel Falls is the highest waterfall in the world, and the highest in Russia is the Talnikovsky waterfall. You can read about these two waterfalls and the height of the highest waterfalls in the world in our article - The highest waterfall in the world.

The widest in the world waterfall - Kohn waterfall(Khon) on the Mekong River, on the border of Laos and Kampuchea (12-13 km). The width of the area of ​​its flow is more than 12.5 kilometers.

Cohn was discovered in 1920 by the explorer E. Khohan and was named after him.

Kohn Falls is a cascading structure, includes many waterfalls flowing down from different levels Mekong plateau. The beauty of this waterfall is due to the brightest colorful flowers growing along its banks.

Kohn waterfall is good for health

Kohn is also a well-accessible spot for observation. Its viewing area is well equipped. Tourists appreciate it.

This waterfall is the calmest of all waterfalls. His disposition is most favorable for sick people. The power of this waterfall is aimed at a calming effect, it has magical energy. Many people who have visited the Kohn waterfall were convinced of its positive effect on the human body.

Kohn Falls is one of beautiful waterfalls peace. He is under guard national reserve and recognized national treasure Earth.

Most powerful waterfall- Iguazu

The most powerful waterfall in the world - Iguazu("Devil's Throat"), whose height is only about 80 m.

A monstrous mass of water falls over the crest of the ledge of this waterfall - more than 700 thousand cubic meters per minute.

The thunder of this powerful waterfall can be heard for many kilometers.
Iguazu - 275 cascades in one system - this is the most beautiful panorama on our planet. It was opened to Europeans in 1541 by the Spanish conquistador Alvaro de Veca. Crossing the Brazilian Highlands with his detachment and hearing a distant rumble, he went to a waterfall. The religious Spanish conqueror, who exterminated the natives with fire and sword, was so shocked by the grandiose grandeur of Nature that he did not find best name waterfall, like the "jump of St. Mary" - "mother of God." And the border between Brazil and Argentina along the "Devil's Throat" was finally established only in 1928.

It is impossible to capture the entire front of the Iguazu Falls from one point - the cascades are interspersed with rocks, which interferes a tropical forest. Therefore, at the service of numerous tourists from all over the world, 2 kilometers of footbridges have been laid here, connecting the "rock-islands" protruding from the boiling foam at the crest of the abyss. Several hotels, bars and restaurants have been built nearby, an airfield (the nearest railroad station 400 km).

The greatest waterfalls in the world

IN national parks Iguazu (180,000 ha in Brazil and 55,000 ha on the Argentinian side) grow palm trees and quebracho iron tree, diverse animal world, inhabited by hummingbirds and rare butterflies the size of a saucer, the most unthinkable colors.

The greatest waterfalls in the world:

Most famous waterfall- Niagara

A "most famous" Niagara Falls- only 50 meters high, and inferior in power to both Iguazu and even Victoria.

And for some reason, many believe that Niagara belongs to the United States. This is not entirely true. Niagara, at the very ledge, is divided by Goth Island into two streams: the left, Canadian - 914 m wide and the right, American - 305 m wide.

But the Americans skillfully present the miracle of nature. They installed dozens of multi-colored floodlights here with a total capacity of 1.5 million kW. As soon as it gets dark, their rays are directed to the continuously moving wall of the waterfall, creating a fabulous illumination.

Bridges have been built above and below the waterfall for the convenience of tourists, and hotels, motels, observation towers 100 meters high, suspension road. There are galleries on both banks, their lifts lower tourists down to the very foot of the waterfall. Being on concrete platforms a meter from the giant wall of the collapsing elements (with reverse side), tourists experience awe before the unbridled forces of nature.

According to gorodokn.ru and ru.wikipedia.org

IN grand canyon, USA. WATERFALL, the fall of water in a river from a ledge that crosses a river bed. Water can fall over several ledges, forming a series of cascade waterfalls; less steeply falling waterfalls are called waterfalls. Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe... Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary

WATERFALL, the fall of the waters of a river or stream from a steep slope or cliff. Where the bed of the river crosses the junction of various rocks, certain types of EROSION occur. Softer rock breaks down faster, creating a sharp level drop. If the layer is more ... ... Scientific and technical encyclopedic dictionary

WATERFALL, waterfalls, man. A stormy stream of water, rapidly falling from a ledge formed by a sharp drop in the channel. The river forms a waterfall. mountain waterfall. Dictionary Ushakov. D.N. Ushakov. 1935 1940 ... Explanatory Dictionary of Ushakov

Sutherland, utigard, tugela, water skid, angel, victoria, cascade, iguazu, boyoma, padun, vitoria, cataract, havarny Dictionary of Russian synonyms. waterfall n., number of synonyms: 23 angels (1) ... Synonym dictionary

The fall of water in a river from a ledge that crosses a river channel. Water can fall over several ledges, forming a series of cascade waterfalls; waterfalls that fall less steeply are called waterfalls ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

WATERFALL, a, husband. A stream of water rapidly falling from a height. Mountain c. | adj. waterfall, oh, oh. Explanatory dictionary of Ozhegov. S.I. Ozhegov, N.Yu. Shvedova. 1949 1992 ... Explanatory dictionary of Ozhegov

This is the name of the place where a river or stream falls over a steep or even steep ledge. Thresholds are not quite correctly distinguished from V. by a series of successive, but usually insignificant V. heights, which are often instead of one large one. IN.… … Encyclopedia of Brockhaus and Efron

A place where a stream bed forms a ledge from which water falls down. The following types of water are distinguished: 1) the Niagara mass of water is overthrown by a wide front and its width is equal to or more height; characteristic of horizontally occurring settlements decomp. ... ... Geological Encyclopedia

waterfall- sleepless (Fedorov); wildling (Bryusov); silvery white (Bryusov); gray-haired (Balmont) Epithets of literary Russian speech. M: The supplier of the court of His Majesty, the partnership of the printing press A. A. Levenson. A. L. Zelenetsky. 1913 ... Dictionary of epithets

waterfall- The fall of the water of the river from the ledge that crosses the river channel. Water can fall over several ledges, forming a series of waterfalls - a cascade. [Glossary of geological terms and concepts. Tomsk State University] Topics geology, geophysics ... ... Technical Translator's Handbook

Books

• Waterfall, Zulfiya. Waterfall…
• Waterfall, G. R. Derzhavin. On July 20 (8), 1816, Gavrila Romanovich Derzhavin, the greatest poet of his time, the predecessor of the great Pushkin, died. More than 150 years have passed since then, and many of Derzhavin's poems excite...

It is constantly washed away under the waterfall, the power of water smoothes rocks, stones, making a convenient path for itself. By smoothing the ground, waterfalls become calm rivers. But it happens that as the rocks corrode, pieces of stones break off, and a new stream of water flows down at the place of the break, forming a waterfall. A new waterfall can occur both downstream of the river and above the old waterfall. Thus, the waterfalls seem to travel along the river, sometimes for several kilometers. Such waterfalls are cataract-type waterfalls. This type of waterfall has many rapids on big river. Most often cataract waterfalls or, as they are also called - streams, flow down the rapids and carry with them a very large volume of water.

The most famous waterfalls

• The most powerful waterfall in the world is Iguazu Falls on the border of Brazil and Argentina.
• Niagara Falls in North America holds the record for the amount of water carried.
• Victoria Falls on the Zambezi River in Africa is the only one in the world that is over 100 meters high and over a kilometer wide.

Waterfalls in Russia

In terms of attendance, the waterfalls of the Krasnodar Territory are in the lead, located near Sochi, Gelendzhik, Anapa, 2-10 meters high, especially "33 waterfalls".

highest waterfalls

The highest waterfall in Central Asia is located in Kazakhstan in the mountains of the Dzungarian Alatau in the gorge of the Kora River. It is called Burkhan-Bulak. The total height of the 4 cascades is 168 m, and the visible part of the three lower cascades is 114 m.

In the world

In Russia