Saturday, 22 October 2016

Information To Know About Rock Waterfalls

Posted by Unknown at 13:44
By Jeffrey Adams


Waterfalls usually occur in the courses of streams or rivers. A waterfall refers to a place in the course of a river/stream where water flows over a vertical drop. There may only be one vertical drop involved or multiple vertical drops. This feature can also be formed in a place where meltwater drops over an edge of a tabular ice shelf or iceberg. When the drops are happening over a rock, the features are called rock waterfalls.

Falls are predominantly formed in upper courses of a river where channels are deeper and narrower in width. The formation of this feature involves a river traversing a region with resistant rocks in its normal course of flowing. Because upstream water moves faster and slower downstream, whirlpools are formed. When the river comes across another area with soft rock after the resistant rock, the whirlpools start to gouge the soft rock, creating a step in its course. The step causes water to drop over when it reaches this point, forming a waterfall.

Areas above water-falls have shallow and wider channels because of the rock shelf over which water drops. Kinetic energy gouges the area directly beneath the fall to form a deep end. As a result, of soil erosion, water-falls predominantly get formed in rocky areas. A horizontal pit which is parallel to the waterfall is created beneath it as the feature continues to grow and mature.

Another method of formation of water-falls is composed of gradual land processes. These processes include soil erosion and movement in the earth surface. Earthquakes, landslides, and volcanoes are the main causes of earth movements. The effect is that these gradual processes result in differential land heights in the course of rivers. A waterfall is formed at the point where the differential in height occurs.

Waterfalls are of several different types. The various types are different from each other in various ways. Some have significant differences from one another while others have significant resemblance. Main types include ledge, plunge, horsetail, moulin, frozen, catadupa, segmented, cascade, staircase, and cataract waterfalls. Sub-types under a ledge waterfall are block, curtain, and classical falls. Main sub-types under a horsetail waterfall are ribbon, fan, slide, and chute water-falls.

Waterfalls have several benefits because they are used for several different purposes. The first purpose for which a waterfall can be used is power generation. The kinetic energy of the water dropping from a height can be used to turn turbines, which can in turn be used to generate electrical power.

In many places around the world, power is generated through this method. The disadvantage of this method of power generation is that, in case the water volume in the river goes down, the power generated can reduce significantly. Countries dependent on this mode of power generation usually ration power to their citizens during dry seasons.

The speed of the water beneath the fall is usually low, but the channel is deep. Fish favor such conditions for inhabiting. Therefore, local people usually fish in such waters because they have a lot of fish.




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