Wallaman Falls
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 Wallaman Falls, Girringun National Park, Queensland |
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| Location | Australia |
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| Type | Plunge |
| Total height | 340 m |
| Height of longest drop | 340 m |
| Number of drops | 1 |
The Wallaman Falls are notable for their single-drop of 268 metres, which is Australia's highest permanent waterfall.[1] With the addition of additional related minor drops the overall height of the falls is approximately 340 metres. The pool at the end of the waterfall is 20 metres deep.
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[edit] Formation
The waterfall is formed by a tributary of the Herbert River, Stony Creek, which plunges over an escarpment in the Seaview Range. The geological history of the formation may be traced back some 50 million years, when the uplift of the continental margin in this region resulted in the ancestral Herbert River to change its course from westwards to eastwards. As a result it began to cut through the raised igneous substrata en-route to its outflow in the Coral Sea. The gorge produced by this erosive action gradually retreated inland along the Herbert River's course, and in the process eventually causing tributaries such as Stony Creek to be suspended, forming the waterfall.
