南美洲的伊瓜苏瀑布是世界三大瀑布之一，1984年，伊瓜苏瀑布被联合国教科文组织列为世界自然遗产。层层叠叠的瀑布环绕着一个马蹄形峡谷咆哮着倾泻而下，激起的水雾弥漫在密林上空，奔流而下的水流声几公里外都能听见。“伊瓜苏”在南美洲土著居民瓜拉尼人的语言中，是“大水”的意思。发源于巴西境内的伊瓜苏河在汇入巴拉那河之前，水流渐缓，在阿根廷与巴西边境，河宽1500米，像一个湖泊。水往前流陡然遇到一个峡谷，河水顺着倒U形峡谷的顶部和两边向下直泻，凸出的岩石将奔腾而下的河水切割成大大小小270多个瀑布，形成一个景象壮观的半环形瀑布群，总宽度3000米至4000米，平均落差80米。伊瓜苏瀑布与众不同之处在于观赏点多。从不同地点、不同方向、不同高度，看到的景象不同。峡谷顶部是瀑布的中心，水流最大最猛，人称“魔鬼喉”。瀑布分布于峡谷两边，阿根廷与巴西就以此峡谷为界，在阿根廷和巴西观赏到的瀑布景色截然不同。

Iguazu Falls: 15 Amazing Pictures, 10 Incredible Facts

Whenever I come across images of places like Iguazu Falls, my urge todrop everything and travel this beautiful planet overwhelms my senses.There is so much to experience in this world, it’s a little saddening toknow how many people never get to explore the world beyond theirimmediate surroundings. Thankfully there’s pictures and the power ofhuman imagination to take us to places we may never see in real life

Photograph by Martin St-Amant – Wikipedia

1.

Iguazu Falls aka Iguassu Falls or Igua?u Falls, arewaterfalls of the Iguazu River located on the border of the Brazilianstate of Paraná and the Argentine province of Misiones. The falls dividethe river into the upper and lower Iguazu.

Devil’s Throat – Photograph by Luca Galuzzi – www.galuzzi.it

2.

The waterfall system consists of 275 falls along 2.7 kilometers (1.67 miles) of the Iguazu River.

Photograph by Martin St-Amant – Wikipedia

3.

The first European to find the falls was the SpanishConquistador álvar Nú?ez Cabeza de Vaca in 1541, after whom one of thefalls in the Argentine side is named. The falls were rediscovered byBoselli at the end of the nineteenth century, and one of the Argentinefalls is named after him.

Photograph by Claudio Elias

4.

Some of the individual falls are up to 82 meters (269 ft) inheight, though the majority are about 64 metres (210 ft). The Devil’sThroat (Garganta del Diablo in Spanish or Garganta do Diabo inPortuguese), a U-shaped, 82-meter-high (269 ft) , 150-meter-wide and700-meter-long (490 by 2,300 feet) cataract, is the most impressive ofall, marking the border between Argentina and Brazil. Two thirds of thefalls are within Argentine territory.

Photograph by Martin St-Amant – Wikipedia

5.

About 900 meters (0.56 miles) of the 2.7-kilometer length(1.67 miles) does not have water flowing over it. The edge of the basaltcap recedes only 3 mm (0.1 in) per year. The water of the lower Iguazucollects in a canyon that drains into the Paraná River at Argentina,shortly downstream from the Itaipu dam.

Photograph by hrs518942

6.

Iguazu currently has the greatest average annual flow of anywaterfall in the world. The water falling over Iguazu in peak flow has asurface area of about 40 Ha (1.3 million ft2) whilst Victoria in peakflow has a surface area of over 55 ha (1.8 million ft2). By comparison,Niagara has a surface area of under 18.3 ha (600,000 ft2).

Photograph by Argentina Travel Pictures

7.

Taller than Niagara Falls and twice as wide, Iguazu Falls arethe result of a volcanic eruption which left a large crack in theearth. During the rainy season of November – March, the rate of flow ofwater going over the falls may reach 450,000 cubic feet (12,750 cubic m)per second.

Photograph by 01argentina.com

8.

The best times to see Iguazu Falls are in the spring andfall. Summer is intensely tropically hot and humid, and in winter thewater level is considerably lower.

Photograph by roaming-the-planet

9.

The area is on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Photograph by pics721

10.

On her first sight of the tremendous falls, Eleanor Roosevelt exclaimed: “Poor Niagara!”

Photograph by keithhull

SOURCE
- Iguazu Falls – Wikipedia Entry

Photograph by vtveen

Photograph by pics721

Photograph by riclopes 2008