Famous waterfalls and their records.
Test your knowledge with these top questions!
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.
Which watershed trait usually makes a river-fed waterfall respond more slowly to a storm?
Runoff from distant parts of a large basin may travel for days before reaching the waterfall.
Which canal lets ships bypass Niagara Falls between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario?
The Welland Canal's eight locks lift or lower ships around the Niagara River's 99-meter drop.
Which Venezuelan waterfall drops from the table mountain Auyán-tepui?
Angel Falls descends nearly a kilometer through Venezuela's Canaima National Park.
Which bird often builds a moss-and-mud nest on a damp ledge behind a waterfall?
Black swifts often reuse the same hidden nest, adding fresh material in later breeding seasons.
Which term classifies a high-volume waterfall with especially powerful, dangerous flow?
Iguazu's many powerful drops along the Brazil-Argentina border form a famous cataract system.