Major waterfall in the world

MAJOR WATERFALLS IN THE WORLD

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ARJUN .P CLASS :8C

SCHOOL :KENDRIYA VIDYALAYA SAP

Anyone who’s seen a waterfall up close will agree that their majesty is almost indescribable. If even a small fall can inspire these feelings, imagine what it’s like to look at the world’s largest waterfall.

These are the 10 biggest falls [by width] on the planet, based on their width, rather than height or volume. Each one is wonderful in its own way.

1.KHONE FALLS, LAOS

Khone Falls Khone Falls is the largest waterfall in the world. At

35,376 feet wide, it’s almost twice the width of it next largest competitor. 

The Khone Falls  is a waterfall located in Champasak Province on the Mekong River in southern Laos, near the border with Cambodia . The falls are characterised by thousands of islands and countless waterways, giving the area its name Si Phan Don or 'The 4,000 islands'.

The highest falls reach to 21 metres (69 ft); the succession of rapids stretch 9.7 km (6.0 mi) of the river's length. The average discharge of the cataract is nearly 11,000 m3/s, though the highest volume on record was reached at over 49,000 m3/s .

2.SALTO PARA,  VENEZUELA

Salto Para Salto Para, or Para Falls, is an 18,400-foot

wide waterfall on the Rio Caura in the Bolivar region of Venezuela. These half-moon shaped falls are formed where two parts of the river come together and drop down almost 200 feet, each side of a lush, green jungle island.

The yearly precipitation range (3.300 l/) determines the heavy amount of water transported by this river.Halfway along the river course are the PARA FALLS, the most abundant in Venezuela.

3.CHUTES KONGOU, GABON

Chutes KongouAlso known as Kongou Falls, Chutes Kongou

measures 10,500 feet wide, making it the world’s third largest existing waterfall. It’s part of the Ivindo River in Gabon, and is roughly 185 feet tall. Amongst the most powerful waterfalls in the world, roughly 31,800 cubic feet of water flow down it each second.

These falls are truly a sight to behold, nestled amongst dense, equatorial rainforests. Kongou Falls is located within the Ivindo National Park, which was set up to protect the biodiversity of the Ivindo River

4.CATARATAS DEL IGUAZO, BRAZIL

Cataratas del IguazoCataratas del Iguazo are waterfalls of

the Iguazu River on the border of the Argentina province of Misiones and the Brazilian state ofParaná. The falls divide the river into the upper and lower Iguazu. The Iguazu River rises near the city of Curitiba. For most of its course, the river flows through Brazil, however, most of the falls are on the Argentine side.

The Iguazu River forms the boundary

between Argentina and Brazil. This waterfall can vary greatly in volume, depending on how much rain has fallen. At times it shrinks down to a fraction of its usual size, but at other times it will spread to up to 9,500 feet wide.

5.SALTOS DEL MOCON, ARGENTINA

Saltos del MoconoSaltos del Mocono is part of the River Uruguay

in Argentina. It’s amongst the most unique of all large-river waterfalls, as it drops down a 6,000-foot trough that has been carved lengthways into a basaltic formation. This makes it almost a full 180 degree semi-circle of waterfall.

This 6,775-foot wide waterfall drops down roughly 35 feet. Although the majority of the waterfall is in Argentina, some actually lies in Brazil, which is where most of the best viewpoint for the falls are.

6.VERMILION FALLS MINNESOTA

Vermilion FallsVermillion Falls is located in downtown

Hastings Minnesota. This is an urban waterfall, and apparently was once a working waterfall. A large factory is located right next to the falls. The falls is located in Vermillion Falls Park, which is located on 26th Street just off of Vermillion St . It is short walk from the parking area to the overlook for the falls. The views are somewhat obstructed.

The portion of the river that supports trout is upstream, around the towns of Farmington; Empire and the City of Lakeville. Near the town of Vermillion, the water becomes too warm to support trout.

7.VICTORIA FALLS, ZIMBABWE

Victoria FallsVictoria Falls is a 5,600-foot wide waterfall

located on Zambezi River in Zimbabwe. The river falls roughly 344 feet into a gorge made up of lateral volcanic dikes, which were formed as the river eroded the rock and soil of its bed.

As the water falls into the gorge, mist and spray rises up, more than 100 feet higher than the top of the falls, giving the appearance that smoke is rising out of a deep hole in the earth. This is where it gets its traditional name, Mosi-oa-Tunya, which translates to “the smoke that thunders.” The river is divided into four segments by two islands, resulting in four distinct falls, each of which has its own name: .

8.CHUTES WAGENIA, CONGO

Chutes WageniaChutes Wagenia is more commonly known as

Kisangani Falls or Stanley Falls, the former of which is accurate, but less often used, and the latter of which stems from British colonial . It stretches 4,500 feet, across the whole of the width of the Lualaba River, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Despite its width, it’s not an extremely visually impressive waterfall, only dropping 30 feet in total, with the highest single fall dropping just 15 feet.

At the bottom of the rapids, the Lualaba becomes the Congo River. The seven cataracts have a total drop of 61 m (200 ft). The two major cataracts are the first below Ubundu, forming a narrow and crooked stream that is hardly accessible, and the last that can easily be seen and also be visited from Kisangani.

9.NIAGARA FALLS, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Niagara Falls• Located on the Niagara River, which drains Lake

Erie into Lake Ontario, the combined falls form the highest flow rate of any waterfall in the world, with a vertical drop of more than 165 feet (50 m). Horseshoe Falls is the most powerful waterfall in North America, as measured by vertical height and also by flow rate. The falls are located 17 miles (27 km) north-northwest of Buffalo.

• Niagara Falls were formed when glaciers receded at the end of the Wisconsin glaciation , and water from the newly formed Great Lakes carved a path through the Niagara Escarpment en route to the Atlantic Ocean. While not exceptionally high, the Niagara Falls are very wide. More than six million cubic feet (168,000 m3) of water falls over the crest line every minute in high flow, and almost four million cubic feet (110,000 m3) on average.

10.INGA FALLS, CONGO

Inga Falls Inga Falls is a rapids 40 km from Matadi in

the Democratic Republic of the Congo where the Congo River drops 96 m (315 ft) over the course of 15 km (9 mi).

Inga Falls form a part of a larger group of rapids - Livingstone Falls and are located closer to the lower part of these falls. Falls have formed in a sharp bend of Congo River where the width of river fluctuates from more than 4 km to mere 260 m. At median discharge of 42,476 m³/s it is arguably the largest waterfall in the world,although Inga Falls is not a true waterfall. Its maximum recorded volume is 70,793 m³/s .