Page 122 - Super Earth Encyclopedia

GIGANTIC

WATERFALL

VICTORIA FALLS

In the heart of southern Africa, the mighty Zambezi
River pours into a deep gorge, forming the biggest
waterfall on Earth—Victoria Falls. The gorge is the first
of six that carry the river away to the south along a zigzag
route. The gorges have been carved into a vast sheet of
hard basalt rock, which forms the lip of the waterfall.
During the tropical rainy season, the entire width of
the falls is a mass of roaring, tumbling water, almost
obscured by billowing clouds of spray.

AT A GLANCE

• LOCATION On the border between
Zambia and Zimbabwe
• HEIGHT 355 ft (108 m)
• WIDTH 5,604 ft (1,708 m)
• AVERAGE FLOW 38,423 cubic feet
(1,088 cubic m) per second

STATS AND FACTS
10,594
CUBIC FEET RAINY SEASON VOLUME SPRAY
(300 CUBIC M) Enough water The tall cloud
MIN FLOW PER SECOND
cascades to fill of spray can
an Olympic-sized be seen from
swimming pool 30 miles
every two seconds. (48 km) away.
The Victoria Falls
were named by AREA The Victoria ROYAL NAME
WATER WORLD MAX FLOW PER SECOND Falls cover an named after the
Scottish explorer
David Livingstone
The falls were
in 1855.
British monarch,
area equal to
Queen Victoria.
25 soccer fields.
452,000
CUBIC FEET
(12,800
CUBIC M)
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