Famous waterfalls and their records.
Test your knowledge with these top questions!
How do black fly larvae stay anchored in fast water around waterfalls?
Fanlike mouthparts let each anchored larva filter tiny food particles from the passing current.
Which glacial landform often sends a stream over a cliff into a deeper main valley?
A smaller tributary glacier cuts less deeply, so its valley can remain perched after the ice retreats.
Niagara Falls carries its higher regulated flow during:
Niagara Parks lists high-season tourist flow at about twice the reduced non-tourist rate.
Which two countries protect Iguazu Falls through adjoining national parks?
The Iguazu River forms the border between Argentina and Brazil inside two neighboring World Heritage parks.
Which Icelandic waterfall lies on the glacier-fed Jökulsá á Fjöllum?
The Jökulsá á Fjöllum emerges beneath the Vatnajökull ice cap before reaching Dettifoss.
Hydroelectric plants channel moving water onto blades in which machine?
A turbine spins a generator, which converts the water's motion into electrical energy.
To see a waterfall rainbow, where should the Sun usually be?
A primary rainbow sends internally reflected light back toward an observer standing opposite the Sun.
What in waterfall spray bends and reflects sunlight to form a rainbow?
Light bends as it enters and exits each droplet, reflects inside, and returns with its colors spread apart.
How can vertical movement along a fault create a waterfall?
Vertical fault movement can leave a scarp, or abrupt step, across a stream's existing path.
What forms the suction disk that lets many Hawaiian gobies climb waterfalls?
The disk lets native stream gobies attach to rocks as they climb cascades that stop many other fish.