Niagara Water Falls

The Falls were created when glaciers began to recede at the end of the Wisconsin glacier period, with the water coming from the newly formed Great Lakes. A path was formed through the Niagara Escarpment by the slowly retreating ice. The waterfalls are estimated to be approximately 12,000 years old, and the name comes from the Iroquois word "onguiaahra", which is their word for "the straight". Originally, the falls was 7 miles farther downstream from where it is now. Erosion slowly causes the falls to move every year.

Located between New York state in America and the province of Ontario in Canada, the Falls are right on the international border between the countries. In terms of the next largest cities, Buffalo NY is 23 miles away and Toronto, ON is 79 miles away. There are actually 2 cities called Niagara Falls, one in each country.

The Falls themselves are 176 feet high, which is certainly not that impressive compared to many higher falls in the world. But the width is 1,060 feet which means Niagara Falls is one of the most powerful waterfalls on the continent in terms of how much water rushes over. Because of their shear size, the water never stops even in the frozen dead of winter. Even so, there can be huge formations of ice right across the river if it gets cold enough.

There are actually 3 sets of waterfalls at Niagara. The American falls are between Luna Island and Prospect Place, and the Bridal Falls are between Luna Island and Goat Island. The larger Canadian Falls lie between Goat Island and Tablerock. Because of the location of Goat Island, the water flow over the American Falls is considerably lower than the main Horseshoe Falls.

The first large-scale hydroelectric power generating dam in the world was build at the American Falls in 1895. Since more than 5 billion gallons of water pour over the falls, there is a great deal of power to be created. Half of the water is diverted to generation electricity for both Canada and the United States. It's the largest hydroelectric power source in the world.