Waterfalls

Waterfalls are made when the river is normally young , during this time the channels are deep and narrow.Eventually overtime will recede back to form a canyon or a gorge as it makes its way downstream and will crave deeper into the ridge above it. You can find waterfalls in a rocky area because of erosion. Erosion can be caused by earthquakes , volcanoes , and mudslides when this happens it alters the natural course of the water flow in the waterfall.

 ( Formation Of A Waterfall)

There are at least 12 different kinds of waterfalls , these include block , cascade , cataract ,chute , fan , frozen , horsetail , plunge , punchbowl, segmented , tiered , and multi-step.

• Block: Water descends from a relatively wide stream or river.
• Cascade: Water descends a series of rock steps.
• Cataract: A large, powerful waterfall.
• Chute: A large quantity of water forced through a narrow, vertical passage.
• Fan: Water spreads horizontally as it descends while remaining in contact with
• Frozen: Any waterfall which has some element of ice.
• Horsetail: Descending water maintains some contact with bedrock.
• Plunge: Water descends vertically, losing contact with the bedrock surface.
• Punchbowl: Water descends in a constricted form and then spreads out in a wider pool.
• Segmented: Distinctly separate flows of water form as it descends.
• Tiered: Water drops in a series of distinct steps or falls.
• Multi-step: A series of waterfalls one after another of roughly the same size each with its own sunken plunge pool

 Examples of Different Waterfalls
 Horsetail

Tiered

Frozen

Some common waterfalls that you may know are Niagara falls ,Angel Falls, James Bruce Falls , Rhine Falls , and Jog Falls. There are lots of waterfalls located all over the world but these are just some of the ones I thought you might recognize.

My  Personal Opinion

I decided to talk about this topic because I have always found waterfalls to be calm and relaxing in a way .Also I think that waterfalls are probably one of nature's most beautiful rivers in our world today , I don't know what it is about them that makes me so interested.   I wouldn't mind going to Niagara Falls and seeing that waterfall , it has always been something I wanted to do in  my life. I would travel across the world just to be able to see one waterfall before they are gone. I never knew that there were different kinds of waterfalls , to me at first they all looked the same , but I guess you learn something new everyday.


Gushing about waterfalls: Danvers High grad pens guidebook for New England

Bash Bish Falls is "just out of this world," said the Danvers resident, who should know, since he has visited 400 waterfalls in New England over the past couple of years.

"It's just the most surprising, dramatic waterfall you'll find in New England," he raved.

Parsons, 21, an accounting major at Babson College, is the co-author of "New England Waterfalls -- a Guide to More than 200 Cascades and Waterfalls." He and his friend, Kate Watson, also an accounting major at Babson, set out to write the book after they looked for a guide but could not find one.

The pair drew up a 30-page proposal and submitted it to Countryman Press, a Vermont-based subsidiary of W.W. Norton in New York. Countryman accepted the proposal and published the guide in July. This week the book goes into its second printing. "Countryman accepts 1,000 proposals a year, but only publishes 30 titles," Parsons said, saying he was thrilled his project made it into print.

Looking at the book, it's easy to see why Countryman bet on the guide. The duo came up with a classification system for waterfalls, describing how high and what shape each waterfall fits into. The description that accompanies each entry puts the reader right on the trail, which is rated for difficulty. Directions are clear and concise, and many entries include a good map.

In the case of Bash Bish Falls, the guide describes it as a "plunge," with a total drop of 80 feet, at the end of a half-mile trail "on the easy side of moderate." Hiking time should be about 25 minutes for an average hiker. The description also warns that this spot is just about the most popular waterfall in the state. "We have heard accounts of as many as 3,000 people a day visiting the falls on hot weekend summer days," reports the guide. "On the upside, Bash Bish Falls sees very few visitors in the cooler days of early spring."

There's a great black-and-white photo accompanying the entry. But those who want to see a more spectacular color shot can find it on the Web site Parsons set up for the book: www.newenglandwaterfalls.com. The site includes color photos for most of the waterfalls in the book, as well as links to other Web sites describing waterfalls outside New England. The descriptions are all there, but the nitty-gritty details, including directions, are not. The site is meant as a companion to the book, which costs $17.95.

Parsons remembers visiting a waterfall for the first time as a boy of 5 or 6. His grandfather took him to a lovely little waterfall somewhere in Maine, and he loved the place so much he remembered it, and wanted to return. But his grandparents couldn't figure out which falls he was remembering, since they were hikers themselves, and visited quite a few when Parsons was little boy.

Doing research for the book Parsons and Watson eventually made it to Snow Falls, a small, 25-foot "plunge and cascades" on the Little Androscoggin River. "The second I visited it I recognized it, even though I was only 5 years old the first time I saw it," Parsons said.

After he reached elementary school, Parsons lost interest in hiking and camping. "My mom always tried to get me to climb mountains like Mount Monadnock, but I was a stubborn little kid and I absolutely hated it," he confessed. But he rediscovered his love of trails, mountains and waterfalls at Danvers High School, where many of his friends were outdoors enthusiasts.

Biology teacher Brian White turned on both Parsons and his group of friends to the joys of hiking. "He goes to Alaska about every other summer," he said. "It was through all his stories that my friends ended up going hiking with him."

Since college, Parsons and Watson have been on the trail just about every weekend, and all summer long. While researching the book, it was not unusual for them to visit six to 10 waterfalls in one day. Since the book was published, they still visit waterfalls, but they've also set out to climb all 48 of the 4,000-foot mountains in New England.

Parsons isn't sure why he loves waterfalls so much. People ask him that question all the time and he said it's the "toughest question" he has to answer.

"I like them because nature's kind of making a statement," he said. He also loves the sound of the rushing water. "It drowns out all other sounds. When you're there, there's nothing else to think about except the waterfall."