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Africa -Zambia -Victoria Falls

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The falls lie about midway down the course of the Zambezi, at approximately 17.925° S 25.855° E. For a considerable distance above the falls, the Zambezi flows over a level sheet of basalt, in a valley bounded by low and distant sandstone hills. The river's course is dotted with numerous tree-clad islands, which increase in number as the river approaches the falls.

The falls are formed as the Zambezi plummets into a narrow chasm about 120 m (400 ft) wide, carved by its waters along a fracture zone in the earth's crust. Numerous islets at the crest of the falls divide the water to form a series of falls. Over the centuries, the falls have been receding upstream, falling at different eras into numerous chasms which now form a series of sharply zig-zagging gorges downstream from the falls.

The falls are extremely broad at about 1.7 km across, and the height of the cascade varies from 80 m at the right bank to 108 m in the centre. This makes Victoria roughly twice the height of Niagara Falls, and well over twice the width of the horseshoe falls (Niagara's main portion). The falling water generates spray and mist that rises typically to a height of over 400 metres (and sometimes even twice as high), and is visible from up to 50 km (over 30 miles) away. At full moon, a "moonbow" can be seen in the spray instead of the daylight rainbow.

During the wet season the falls have over 500 million litres (19 million cubic feet) of water falling over its crestline each minute, and spray from this rises hundreds of metres into the air because of the incredible force of the falling water. The 1958 flood of the Zambezi saw the falls reach record volumes of over 770 million litres (27 000 000 cubic feet) per minute. This is far larger than Niagara Falls (North America's largest and most famous) which has slightly over 6 million cubic feet (less than 170,000 m³) of water passing its crestline per minute in peak flow. Only the magnificent Iguazu Falls of South America rivals the Victoria falls in terms of size (with its record being only slightly less, at 750 millon litres (26 550 000 cubic feet) per minute). In terms of surface area of falling water, Victoria is significantly larger than Iguazu (in peak flow Iguazu's water has a surface area of about 1.3 million square feet, whilst Victoria in peak flow has a surface area of over 1.8 million square feet. By comparison, Niagara has a surface area of under 600 000 square feet). These two waterfalls are almost unanimously regarded as the two most spectacular falls on earth, with people divided as to which is more so.

The fall is broken into four parts by islands on the lip of the precipice. Close to the right bank is a sloping cataract 35 m wide called the Leaping Water, then beyond 300 m wide Boaruka Island is the main fall, about 460 m across. Livingstone Island divides the main fall from another broad channel about 530 m wide, while on the left bank of the river is the Eastern Cataract.

....... Wikipedia

Africa -Zambia -Victoria Falls Location: Africa, Zambia, Victoria Falls Keywords: waterfall, water Hits: 59 Recommendations: 45	recommend this picture more details ...	Africa -Zambia -Victoria Falls Location: Africa, Zambia, Victoria Falls Keywords: waterfall, water Hits: 56 Recommendations: 42	recommend this picture more details ...
Africa -Zambia -Victoria Falls Location: Africa, Zambia, Victoria Falls Keywords: waterfall, water Hits: 58 Recommendations: 54	recommend this picture more details ...	Africa -Zambia -Victoria Falls Location: Africa, Zambia, Victoria Falls Keywords: waterfall, water Hits: 63 Recommendations: 46	recommend this picture more details ...
Africa -Zambia -Victoria Falls Location: Africa, Zambia, Victoria Falls Keywords: waterfall, water Hits: 51 Recommendations: 41	recommend this picture more details ...	Africa -Zambia -Victoria Falls Location: Africa, Zambia, Victoria Falls Keywords: waterfall, water Hits: 51 Recommendations: 48	recommend this picture more details ...
Africa -Zambia -Victoria Falls Location: Africa, Zambia, Victoria Falls Keywords: waterfall, water Hits: 53 Recommendations: 42	recommend this picture more details ...	Africa -Zambia -Victoria Falls Location: Africa, Zambia, Victoria Falls Keywords: waterfall, water Hits: 57 Recommendations: 41	recommend this picture more details ...

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