About water fall
A waterfall is a place where water flows over a vertical drop in the course of a stream or river. Waterfalls also occur when meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf.
Different Types of Waterfalls in the World
1. Ledge Waterfall: Water descends vertically over a vertical cliff, maintaining partial contact with the bedrock.
- Block/Sheet: Water descends from a relatively wide stream or river.
- Classical: Ledge waterfalls where fall height is nearly equal to stream width, forming a vertical square shape.
- Curtain: Ledge waterfalls which descend over a height larger than the width of a falling water stream.
2. Plunge: Fast-moving water descends vertically, losing complete contact with the bedrock surface. The contact is typically lost due to the horizontal thrust of the water before it falls. It always starts from a narrow stream.
Punchbowl: Water descends in a constricted form and then spreads out in a wider pool.
3. Horsetail: Descending water maintains good contact with bedrock most of the time.
Slide: Water glides down maintaining continuous contact.
Ribbon: Water descends over a long narrow strip.
Chute: A large quantity of water forced through a narrow, vertical passage.
Fan: Water spreads horizontally as it descends while remaining in contact with bedrock.
4. Cascade: Water descends a series of rock steps.
5. Tiered/Multi-step/Staircase: A series of waterfalls one after another of roughly the same size each with its own sunken plunge pool.
6. Cataract: A large, powerful waterfall.
7. Segmented: Distinctly separate flows of water form as it descends.
8. Catadupa: A cataract or waterfall, originally those of the Nile. The term catadupae refers to people inhabiting near such cataracts; there are suppositions that these people are deaf due to the constant din.
9. Tide Fall: A waterfall that directly empties into the sea or ocean.
10. Frozen: Any waterfall which has some element of ice.
10 Highest Waterfalls in the World
Angel Falls
The tallest waterfall in the world is Angel Falls, situated in Venezuela. It is the most uninterrupted waterfall, with a height of 979 meters and a plunge of 807 m. The waterfall descends over the periphery of the Auyán-tepui mountain in the Canaima National Park.
Tugela Falls
The second world’s highest waterfall is the Tugela Falls observed in the Drakensberg of Royal Natal National Park in the KwaZulu-Natal area, Republic of South Africa. The total integrated drop of its five different free-leaping falls is 948 m (3,110 ft).
Mattenbachfall
The third biggest waterfall in the world is the Mattenbach Falls, found in the Lauterbrunnen Valley in the canton of Bern ( Switzerland ). This waterfall forms a flood of several waterfalls with a total height of 840 meters.
Tres Hermanas Falls
Tres Hermanas Falls is the fourth tallest waterfall in the world, with a height of 914 meters. It is located inside Otishi National Park, near the northern fork of the Cutivireni River, in the Peruvian region of Junín.
Olo’upena Falls
The fifth largest waterfall in the world is Olo’upena Falls. It is located in the northeastern part of the Hawaiian Island of Molokai. The falls occur where a short, seasonal stream spills over the boundary of one of the tallest sea-side cliffs in the world.
Yumbilla Falls
The sixth world’s highest waterfall is Yumbilla Falls. It is found near the town of Cuispes, in the northern Peruvian region of Amazonas. It is famous worldwide due to a geographical survey held back in 2007 by the Geographical Institute of Peru.
Skorga
The Skorga waterfall is included in the list of the highest waterfalls in the world and is also commonly known as Skorgefossen or Skorgafossen. These fall 875 meters (2,870 feet) over a straight run of 1,125 meters (3,700 feet) in Norway.
Vinnufossen
The eighth world’s highest waterfall in Europe is Vinnufossen or Vinnufallet. The tiered horsetail waterfall is 865 m (2,838 ft) tall, located in the city of Sunndal in Romsdal county, Norway. The Vinnufossen falls are a portion of the river Vinnu.
Balåifossen
This waterfall is situated six kilometres south of Osa, east of the Osafjorden, in the municipality Ulvik of Norway. It is the ninth-highest waterfall in the world. The river Balåi is fed by the melting water of the Kyrelvfjellet with a small glacier called Onen and a large lake called Langvatnet.
Pu’uka’oku Falls
The last on the list of the highest waterfall in the world is Pu’uka’oku Falls. It is a waterfall in Molokai, Hawaii. Its height is approximately 2,756 feet (840 m) down into the valley of lush vegetation. It’s best to access the falls by either boat or pay for a flight over them.