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Kaieteur Falls, Guyana
Full Sail/Ryan Farish
Kaieteur Falls is a high-volume waterfall on the Potaro River in central Guyana, Potaro-Siparuni region.
It is located in Kaieteur National Park. It is 226 meters (741 ft) when measured from its plunge
over a sandstone and conglomerate cliff to the first break.
It then flows over a series of steep cascades that, when included in the measurements,
bring the total height to 251 meters (822 ft). While many falls have greater height,
few have the combination of height and water volume.
This has given Kaieteur Falls the misleading label of "largest single drop" waterfall in the world
which is often misinterpreted as "tallest single drop." However,
it is likely one of the most powerful waterfalls in the world [1].
Kaieteur Falls is about five times higher than the more well known Niagara Falls,
located on the border between Canada and the United States and about two times the height
of the Victoria Falls located on the border of Zambia and Zimbabwe in Africa.
It is a single drop waterfall which is the 123rd tallest
(single and multi-drop waterfall) in the world, according to the World Waterfalls Database.
The same web site lists it as 19th largest waterfall in terms of volume [2], and in their estimation,
Kaieteur is the 26th most scenic waterfall in the world [3].
Its distinction lies in the unique combination of great height and large volume,
averaging 663 cubic meters per second (23,400 cubic feet per second).
Thus it is one of the most powerful waterfalls in the world,
rivaling even the Jog Falls of India's Karnataka state during the monsoon season.
Up river from the falls, the Potaro Plateau stretches out to the distant escarpment
of the Pakaraima Mountains. The Potaro river empties in to the Essequibo River
which is one the longest and widest rivers in South America.
(Wikipedia)
카이어투어 폭포
가이아나 중서부의 포타로 강에 있는 폭포로 사암(砂岩)으로 이루어진 고원의 가장자리에서
226m 아래로 곧장 낙하하여 8㎞에 달하는 협곡을 통과하는데,
이때 다시 고도가 25m가량 하강한다.
이 폭포는 정상부분의 너비가 90~105m 정도로 카이어투어 국립공원(1930)에서 가장 훌륭한 경관을 이룬다.
관광객들은 조지타운에서 전세 비행기를 주로 이용하지만 도로와 강을 통한 탐험여행도 가능하다.
1870년 영국의 지질학자 C. 바링턴 브라운이 처음 발견했다.
Sound of Nature's Waterfall
<출처/http://blog.chosun.com/jky3355/5763876>
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