Canada
Canada facts & history
in brief
Niagara Falls made up of two waterfalls, the
Horseshoe Falls in the province of Ontario, Canada,
about 51 metres high and 792 metres wide at its widest
point and the American Falls, in the state of New York
US, is about 54 metres high and 305 metres wide.
The crescent-shaped Horseshoe Falls is 49 m high and
carries nine times more water than the American Falls.
The Falls are illuminated with bright, coloured lights
at night.
More than 12 million people visit Niagara Falls annually.
The Niagara River plunges into a deep gorge that extends
for about 11 kilometres, to Lewiston, New York.
The famous Whirlpool Rapids are about 5 kilometres below
the falls, where the violent currents have carved a
deep basin out of the rocks.
The 60 metres deep gorge consists of many layers of
different kinds of stone.
The top 25 metres is hard limestone, covering the softer
layers of limestone, sandstone, and shale.
The Cave of the Winds, under the American Falls, is
formed under an extended shelf of hard limestone.
The running water slowly erodes the soft rock layers,
causing the hard rock ledge to collapse.
Niagara Falls slowly moved about 11 kilometres back
upstream from about Lewiston gradually over many years.
The Horseshoe Falls wears away about 8 centimetres a
year because of the large amount of water flows over
it.
Niagara Falls was formed about 12,000 years ago, after
melting ice caused Lake Erie to overflow to form the
Niagara River running northward over the Niagara Escarpment
and forming the Niagara Falls over the centuries.
The Iroquois Indians lived in the Niagara Falls area
before the arrival of the Europeans.
French explorer Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle,
was the first European to see the falls.
Since the 1800's the falls were a popular tourist attraction
helping the developments of the surrounding towns and
districts.
In 1886, Canada established Queen Victoria Park on 79
hectares of land near the Horseshoe Falls.
More land has been added to the parks over the years.
The appearance of Niagara Falls changes all the time
through the years.
There were major rock collapses over the years including
1931 and 1954 when many thousands of tons rock was washed
down.
The United States and Canadian governments control the
amount of water may be divert for hydroelectric power
generation.
For scenic reasons, the treaty states that at least
2,800 cubic metres of water a second must pass over
the falls during daylight hours of the tourist season
and may be decreased to 1,400 cubic metres a second
at other times.
I visited Canada a couple of times during April
in 1996.
First I flew to Vancouver.
A few days later I went by bus to Seattle and other
U.S. cities, to return later to see Toronto.
After thoroughly exploring Toronto I went by train to
the Canadian Niagara Falls.
Hui Chin and I arrived in the early hours
of the morning by bus from Buffalo.
We joined a sightseeing tour straight away.
The tour included a major sightseeing mainly on the
Canadian side and a trip on the "Maid of the Mist" boat
going to the bottom of the falls, pretty near under
the cataract.
Awesome!
Got thoroughly wet!
Even though we were issued plastic raincoat before boarding.
Fantastic!
Hands on experience!
A multicultural and multimedia experience!
Alright!!!
I will explain these reckless over-statements.
It was a brilliant sunny day, the wind was covering
half the Canadian Niagara Falls city with mist from
the falls.
There were many, many people from many, many different
countries, screaming in many tongues in excitement as
we got drenched by buckets full of water, despite the
sunny day and protective clothing.
There were hundreds of rainbow all around us.
Noah must have experienced something similar I suppose.
Great!!!!
Cool!!!
Great viewing we have had from the Minolta Tower.
Although I have been here before, this time it was much
better.
Good company?!
We had a very good time, mainly on the Canadian side,
where the view is superior.
Hui Chin and I were visiting the Iguazu Falls only 2-3
weeks before our visit to the Niagara Falls.
My opinion is....?!?!
I'm not sure.
The jury is still out on this.
On second thought, I would say probably the Iguazu Falls.
Bigger.
Wider.
Deeper.
What nearly 5 km of it?!
Yeh, I think Iguazu will take the cake, and the gold
medal.
You can click on these photos for an enlargement.
1996
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