AY Honors/Waterfalls/Answer Key

Hopetoun Falls near Otway National Park, Victoria, Australia

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. Waterfalls may also be artificial, and they are sometimes created as garden and landscape ornament.

Some waterfalls form in mountain environments where erosion is rapid and stream courses may be subject to sudden and catastrophic change. 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.

Types of waterfalls

Block: Water descends from a relatively wide stream or river.
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.
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

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Angel Falls, the world's highest at 979 m (3212 ft), in Venezuela
Tugela Falls, the world's second highest at 947 m (3110 ft), in KwaZulu-Natal province, Republic of South Africa
Ramnefjellsfossen, the world's third highest at 808m (2685 ft), at Stryn, Nesdalen, Norway
Gocta, the fifth highest in the world at 771 m (2533 ft), located in the province Chachapoyas, Peru
Yosemite Falls, arguably the tallest in North America, located in Yosemite National Park, United States
Rhine Falls, Europe's largest, located in Switzerland
Iguazu Falls, a tall and extremely wide fall located in South America on the Argentina/Brazil border
Jog Falls, India's highest and second highest in Asia, located in Karnataka state, India
Jurong Falls in Singapore is said to be the tallest man-made waterfall in the world
High Force on the River Tees is one of the tallest waterfalls in England
Niagara Falls is the most powerful falls in North America