Waterfalls: characteristics and types. How is a waterfall formed? How does a waterfall work in nature

Knowing my love for waterfalls, I was recently presented with a home fountain where water flows down the steps. I look at it and remember the beauty of the Shinoksky waterfalls in the Altai Territory. Although I have traveled a bunch of waterfalls in our country, it was the Shinoksky cascade that sunk into my soul. And only recently I thought, how do they even appear?

How do waterfalls appear?

If we talk about most rivers, then they calmly flow along the plains, and nothing interferes with them. If there are differences in height, then all this is caused by the natural relief. Whatever one may say, the water will slowly but surely wash its channel. And what will happen if there is a hard rock that is difficult to wash out on the way of the river? That's right, water from such steep slopes will not flow, but fall. Such a place is called a waterfall.

Some waterfalls were formed after the melting of glaciers, which leave behind deep depressions. By the way, the famous Finnish waterfall Imatra appeared in this way.

And some rivers still manage to wash out the channel with solid rock, and then we can observe a cascade with water falling along natural steps.

What are the most beautiful waterfalls

I'm not the only one who has special feelings for waterfalls. Every year, thousands of tourists come to different parts of the world to see the most beautiful of them live:

• Niagara Falls;
• Victoria Falls;
• Rhine Falls;
• Iguazu Falls.

In our country, there are also enough such natural attractions, including Kivach, Uchar, Olyapkin, etc. The western part of Russia is predominantly flat, so the most beautiful waterfalls are located among the mountains: in the Caucasus, Altai and the Urals.

What are the benefits of waterfalls

Waterfalls are not only a tourist attraction that works 100%, their benefits are hidden much deeper. Man managed to tame them. It's simple - the creation of a hydroelectric power station.

It works like this: falling water has a huge energy, and installing a turbine on the river path will make it rotate very quickly. It is the rotation of the turbine that launches the most powerful generators that generate electricity.

Huge, roaring, streams of water falling from great heights can bewitch anyone: the most beautiful waterfalls on the planet amaze, delight, impress and attract with their unique charm. And they also represent formidable natural boundaries, so the largest waterfalls in width are usually located on the border of two, and sometimes three states.

A waterfall is a falling stream of river water from a high sheer cliff or slope that crosses the river bed, forming a sharp drop in height, while the fall height must exceed one meter (everything less is ledges and rapids). Waterfalls are formed in the mountainous area, where the river carries its waters over various rocks. Some rocks are hard enough not to succumb to erosion, others are too soft and, under the influence of fast mountain rivers, can be destroyed rather quickly.

As a result, a height difference gradually begins to form: the waters of the river begin to fall from hard to softer soil, as a result of which a steep and sheer cliff is formed. So, it happens until the water reaches a solid layer of rock, which stops the fall of water, after which the river continues its movement in the channel, and at the foot, as a result of the impact of strong water jets, huge “erosive” boilers (reservoirs) are formed.

Waterfalls can be of tectonic origin, being on the border of a fault that separates two blocks of the earth's crust, one of which is lowered to a certain height in relation to each other. For example, the largest waterfall in the world, Angel, whose height is 1054 meters, was formed in the highlands, at the point of transition from one plateau to another (the Churun ​​River, which carried its waters to the cliff, had no choice but to start falling down and , once on the lower plateau, continue on your way).

These unique formations can suddenly appear in one place or another in the river - as a result of an earthquake, ground shift, volcanic activity, etc. Human activities can also cause waterfalls to form, such as when overflowing bodies of water overflow a dam.

Varieties

Since a cliff, like a river, can have different shapes and be of different sizes, there is a classification consisting of a large number of types of falling streams. They are divided by height, width and fullness.

For example, Angel in Venezuela (1034 m) is the highest waterfall in the world, Khon in Laos is considered the widest (its length together with the islands is 10,783 m), Inga in the Congo is the most full-flowing (42,476 m3 / s). But Victoria on the Zambezi River with a width of 1.8 km and a height of 120 m is considered the only waterfall in the world whose height exceeds 100 meters and a width of more than a kilometer.

Speaking about the types of waterfalls, the following types can be distinguished:

• Water cascades - the rock has a slight slope, and therefore the water flows do not have a steep angle of incidence;
• Cataracts - wide, but low;
• Cascades - consist of a series of water streams falling one after another from stone ledges (the widest cascade of our planet is Khon in Laos: its length along the river and its width together with the islands is about 10 km).

Movement

Interestingly, the waterfalls do not have a clearly fixed location and move up the river. This happens due to the enormous pressure of water flows, which every year erode the rocks more and more, and the rocks located at the edge break off and fall down, as a result of which the water begins to fall from the new edge of the cliff, located a couple of centimeters upstream.

For example, the famous Niagara moves 70-90 cm a year, and at the moment it has moved more than ten kilometers away from its place of formation. Therefore, there is a possibility that in 20 thousand years this large waterfall will reach Lake Erie and cease to exist.

Soothing Sounds

Scientists have long noticed that the sound of a waterfall has a calming effect on the human psyche. For example, Khon in Laos is the calmest, so its sound is considered the most favorable for sick people. If the patient's financial capabilities allow, the doctors recommend visiting Khon, if not, they let you listen to the soothing sound of the waterfall on the disc.

During treatment, the sound of not only this, but also other most famous waterfalls of the planet is used, and the sound of a waterfall can be completely different - from a gentle murmur to thunderous peals.

For example, the noise of Niagara during the day can be quite heard at a distance of two kilometers, and at night, when the audibility improves, up to seven. Interestingly, not only people, but also representatives of the animal world take advantage of thunderous peals: the sound of the waterfall is also a guide for birds during migrations.

Valleys of rushing rivers

The number of waterfalls in a particular area directly depends on how many rivers flow in a given area and the complexity of the terrain. If only one river flows, there is only one falling stream. But if a sufficient number of rivers and mountain streams are observed in the area, then the abundance of rivers rushing down from the slopes is often amazing.

For example, the second name of Norway is the Land of Waterfalls: due to the huge number of rivers and high rocky mountains, they are observed almost everywhere, while fourteen of them are the highest in Europe, and three are among the eight highest waterfalls in the world.

In addition, there are many countries that, although they cannot be described as Norway, but on their territories you can see the most beautiful waterfalls in the world, located one after another - the valley of waterfalls. One of the most famous areas of this kind is Yosemite National Park: the valley of waterfalls located on its territory is the only place in the world where there are many large and world-famous waterfalls in a small area.

But in Europe, the most famous valley of the Lauterbrunnen waterfalls is located in the Swiss Alps: there are 72 cascading streams, some of which are over a hundred meters high, and the most popular waterfall in this area is Staubbach - its height exceeds 300 meters.

Another valley of waterfalls is located in the Caucasus near Sochi. These are “Thirty-three waterfalls on the Dzhegosh stream”, located one after another with a length of half a kilometer. The highest waterfall reaches only ten meters.

At the bottom of the ocean

Relatively recently, scientists discovered that waterfalls at the bottom of the world's oceans (and some of them actually exist, and some are an optical illusion) over the past decades, about seven underwater waterfalls have been found. Unfortunately, moving streams in the middle of a body of water are extremely difficult to capture on camera and fully explore them, and therefore it is quite difficult to see and detect these natural phenomena.

It is known that they arose in places with a complex topography of the ocean floor, where there is a difference between the level of salinity of water and its temperature: warm salty water, which has a higher density, rushes down in a huge stream to displace less dense and more fresh water.

Underwater waterfalls are quite large and their size is not inferior to land-based counterparts, and some are even much larger. For example, between Tasmania and Australia there is a large underwater waterfall, which is 400 m long and 150 km wide. The largest underwater waterfall is located in the Gulf of Denmark between Iceland and Greenland: its height is 4 km, and its length reaches 200 km (it can be called the most full-flowing waterfall on our planet).

Despite the fact that it is not easy to see underwater waterfalls, nature provided us with the opportunity to imagine exactly how this amazing phenomenon looks like by creating an illusion of an underwater waterfall near the island of Mauritius, located in the west of the Indian Ocean, not far from Madagascar. It was formed thanks to a unique combination of coral reefs, amazing water clarity, sand and silt deposits.

Unfortunately, this amazing natural phenomenon can only be observed from a bird's eye view, and such a walk is not cheap: a 15-minute helicopter sightseeing tour will cost $ 450 for two.

GOU NPO PU No. 24

Supervisor:, teacher of computer science

Research:

Origin of waterfalls

waterfall signs,

The use of waterfalls

Tell about the largest and most popular waterfalls.

Tell about the waterfalls of the Kandalaksha region

Waterfall- a ledge in a riverbed from which water falls. Depending on the

the outlines of the ledge distinguish between transitional forms from a waterfall to a rapid. A typical waterfall has a steep or sheer ledge. Less steeply falling waterfalls are called

waterfalls. On a stepped ledge, a series of low waterfalls are formed, (cascades or

cataracts). With even greater destruction of the ledge, the waterfall turns into rapids,

rapids or rapids. The ledge of the waterfall is continuously destroyed both from above and at

grounds. Water, hitting the bottom of the tracks at the foot of the ledge, gradually develops

a pothole where whirlpools form. Fragments of rocks carried along by the current of the river from above,

falling into whirlpools, they come here in rotational motion. Water, acting with them as millstones, grind deep (1m or more) "giant boilers", as well as various water-cutting wells and niches that destroy the base of the ledge.

less durable rocks (such as Niagara), the waterfall will have

longest lifespan. Such a structure

even with a fairly rapid retreat of the waterfall, favors

maintaining the steepness of the ledge, and often the initial height

fall. On the contrary, layers that do not lie horizontally, although

consisting of dense rocks, are subject to more energetic

washout and allow for faster degradation of the ledge.

The ledges of the waterfalls have a different origin. First of all, they are characteristic of newly formed rivers. In this case, the ledges are an expression of the original relief that existed before the emergence of rivers. Very often waterfalls are created by tectonic causes - the latest faults. Waterfalls are known, formed by springing river valleys with lavas and landslides. Often, ledges also arise from the eroding force of the river itself, which is unequal in intensity.

The river, crossing the terrain, composed of successively solid, then loose rocks, cuts into rocks that are susceptible to erosion much faster than into resistant rocks. The resistant layers exposed at the same time form ledges that can cause a waterfall and rapids even in plains.

Most often, waterfalls are found in mountainous countries, especially in areas that have undergone glaciation. This type includes the grandiose waterfalls of Norway, breaking down from the sheer cliffs of the Fjords. There are many waterfalls in countries that have survived continental icing (Karelo-Finnish SSR, Scandinavia, Finland and Canada), composed of resistant crystalline rocks, in which rivers slowly develop their channels.

According to external signs - the width and height of the fall - waterfalls are divided into two types. In the first type of waterfall, the width is much greater than the height of the fall; this type is characteristic of large rivers, which discharge a huge mass of water from the entire width of the cornice. Thus, the width of the Canadian part of Niagara Falls reaches 914 m with a ledge height of approx. 50m. The second type of waterfall is characterized by a huge fall height and a narrow stream, often breaking into several cascades. This is one of the falls on the Merced River in the Yosemite Valley in California with a height of 792.5m (three separate cascades). There are also combinations of both types.

The presence of waterfalls on the rivers hinders navigation. The waterfall is a source of inexhaustible reserves of white coal.

In the capitalist countries, with some exceptions, the energy of waterfalls is used to an extremely small extent, which is especially true for colonial and dependent countries.

There are many waterfalls on the territory of the Russian Federation, the energy of which is widely used. The energy of the Narva waterfall on the River Narva has been used for a long time, falling from a ledge 7m high and 150m wide. develops a power of 75000 kW. On the same ledge is known Sablinsky waterfall. Widely known waterfalls in the Karelian-Finnish Republic: Kivach (Im, almost ceased to exist due to the diversion of the waters of the river

In Crimea, the Uchan-Su waterfall in the vicinity of the city of Yalta is the most popular. From the waterfalls of the Caucasus, the Honey waterfall near the city of Kislovodsk, the Agur waterfalls near the city of Sochi are known. Tseysky waterfall (15m) on the Tsey River, a powerful waterfall on the Kuban River, 3 km above the mouth of the Teberda River, as well as waterfalls of the Teberda region and the Klukhorsky Pass (for example, Muruju) and many others. etc. A large number of waterfalls up to 60 m high are concentrated in the Eastern Sayans. One of the most beautiful waterfalls in Russia is especially remarkable.

Ukovsky on the river Uk, 18 km from the city of Nizhneudinsk. Of the countless waterfalls of Altai, they have long been famous for their beauty: Gudon on the Chulyshman River, Dzhenaek on the Ploskaya River, alluvial in the Upper Katun basin, beautiful waterfalls in the area of ​​Lake Teletskoye and many others. etc. Large waterfalls are also found on the Kuril Islands. The most majestic of them is the Ilya Muromets waterfall (141m) on the island of Iturup. A large number of waterfalls in the cities of Central Asia.

Outside the Russian Federation, the largest waterfalls include the following in the North

America (except Niagara): Yosemite Falls, one of the highest on earth,

of which the highest is located in Yosemite National Park (altitude 792.5m),

Yellowstone Falls, as well as the Great Falls on the Missouri River, near its confluence with the Mississippi River; Large waterfall (90m) on the Hamilton River in Labrador, four waterfalls on the Serpent River (55-65m); in South America, the Tekendam Falls on the Bogota River, the multi-cascade La Guaira Falls on the Parana River, the Roraima Falls (457m) and Caieter (226m) on the Potaro River, the Iguazu Falls (maximum height 65-70m) on the river of the same name, the width of which exceeds 3 km (including islands); in America, Victoria Falls (120 m high, 1800 m wide) on the Zambezi River and Kalambo Falls (427 m) on the river of the same name on the border of Northern Radesia and Tanganyika, as well as Stanley Falls on the Congo River (seven waterfalls with a total fall of 40 m ). There are many waterfalls on the rivers in the People's Democracies of Asia: in China (especially on the island of Taiwan), in the Diamond Mountains of Korea. In other countries, horseshoe-shaped Kuril waterfalls (253m) are known, in South India on the Shiravati River. There are many gigantic waterfalls in the Himalayas (India), as well as in Japan. On the island of New Zealand, the three-cascade waterfall Sutherland (580m) on the Arthur River is widely known.

Of the many waterfalls in Western Europe, in addition to the very abundant water of the Rhine Falls (21m) near Schaffhausen, Alpine waterfalls stand out in terms of size and high water content. In Scandinavia, the Norwegian waterfalls Bjölvefoss (866m), Tyusse (414m), Rjukanfose (“smoking”, 145m) are most famous for their abundant water. In Sweden - Trollhet waterfalls (33m) on the Göta Elf River and others. In Finland, there are more than two thousand rapids and waterfalls, of which there are 12 rapids, waterfalls and waterfalls on the Vuoksa River for 25 km, including the Tanienkoski waterfall (5.6m) and the Bolshaya Imatra waterfall.

Waterfalls in the vicinity of the Kandalaksha region:

Imagine a calm river that flows peacefully through the plains, without encountering any obstacles in its path. Such rivers have a small elevation difference, which is caused by the natural topography of the earth, and over time the river washes its channel in it. But sometimes on its way the river meets various hard rocks and it takes a long time to wash them away. Until this happens, steep slopes can be observed in the riverbed, and water no longer flows calmly from them, but rapidly falls down, and we call this place a waterfall.

The beginning of the waterfall, the place from which the water begins to fall, is called the crest of the waterfall. Over time, after the waterfalls are formed, the water begins to destroy the ridge, washing the bed in the steep slope, and the water stops falling vertically, it seems to roll down. This movement of water is called a waterfall. Sometimes, when water begins to wash away a solid channel, one can observe something similar to steps along which water descends, as if falling from one step to another. Such waterfalls are called cascades.

The formation of waterfalls can be affected by sudden mountain falls or volcanic eruptions. In this case, the stone blocks that blocked the path of the river will be the beginning of the waterfall. Obstacles to the movement of the river can be not only elevations, but also deep depressions. Earthquakes and displacements of the layers of the earth's crust can also be the reasons for the formation of waterfalls: in those places where rivers flow, deep cracks or dips can form, flowing from which water forms a waterfall. Glaciers contributed to the formation of some waterfalls.

But no matter how strong solid rocks are, none of them is able to withstand such an onslaught of rapidly moving water forever, so there is not only the birth of a waterfall, but also its death. Both the birth and death of a waterfall takes whole millennia. The soil under the waterfall is gradually eroded by constantly moving water. Stones adjacent to the edges of the falls also gradually erode and break off, forming a new stream of water upstream. As we can see, waterfalls "travel", moving upstream for several kilometers, but this movement stops when the surface layer is completely destroyed: the waterfall has turned into a threshold. Gradually, the rapids turn into calmer sections of the river.

Waterfalls have always attracted people. The view of the water rapidly falling down is mesmerizing, often the waterfall becomes a "calling card" of the area where it is located. Millions of tourists annually go to see the waterfalls, the power and beauty of which is so attractive. In addition, some of them bring invaluable benefits to humanity: people use the enormous power of waterfalls as a source of energy and build hydroelectric power stations on the site of waterfalls.

The waterfall is formed only where the rock in the riverbed is hard enough. If the rock is easily exposed to water, the waterfall disappears. Of course, it is impossible to withstand the onslaught of flowing water, so all waterfalls eventually collapse or move upstream.

It happens that the river suddenly blocks a sudden mountain collapse or lava flow during a volcanic eruption. The water level rises, reaches the top of the blockage, and the river falls from a great height to the place where it flowed before. The very top of the stone ledge, from where the water begins its fall, is called the crest of the waterfall.

Giant boilers, formed in the river along the entire path of the receding waterfall, are interconnected and form gorges. The depth of some cauldrons can be equal to the height of the waterfall itself.

The waterfall moves for hundreds of years before the blocks of stone, washed away by the flowing water, begin to fall out and are carried away by the seething stream. The place from where the water falls gradually shifts, becomes lower or collapses completely. That's when the waterfall disappears.

Most often, water falls from ledge to ledge, forming a chain of large and small waterfalls, which are called cascades. Sometimes the water destroys the ridge so much that it washes the bed in a sheer cliff, and therefore does not fall vertically, but rolls down a rocky gutter. These are waterfalls. Very often, waterfalls are a complex system of waterfalls and cascades.

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