Augrabies Falls

Augrabies Falls

Augrabies Falls
Location Northern Cape, South Africa
Coordinates 28°35′29″S 20°20′27″E / 28.59139°S 20.34083°E / -28.59139; 20.34083Coordinates: 28°35′29″S 20°20′27″E / 28.59139°S 20.34083°E / -28.59139; 20.34083
Type Cascade
Total height 56 metres (183 ft)
Average width 24 metres (80 ft)
Watercourse Orange River
Average
flow rate		 313 cubic metres (11,050 cu ft)

The Augrabies Falls /ɔːˈxrɑːbiːz/ is a waterfall on the Orange River, South Africa, within the Augrabies Falls National Park. The falls are around 183 feet (56 m) in height.[1] Some sources cite an approximate height of 480 feet; this is actually the height from the base of the canyon to the top of the walls, not that of the falls themselves.[1] The original Khoikhoi residents named the waterfall "Ankoerebis" — "place of big noises" — from which the Trek Boers, who settled here later on, derived the name, "Augrabies".[2]

The falls have recorded 7,800 cubic metres (280,000 cu ft) of water every second in floods in 1988 (and 6,800 cubic metres (240,000 cu ft) in the floods of 2006). This is over three times the average high season flow rate of Niagara Falls of 2,400 cubic metres (85,000 cu ft) per second, more than four times Niagara's annual average, and greater than Niagara's all-time record of 6,800 cubic metres (240,000 cu ft) per second.

The gorge at the Augrabies Falls is 240 metres (800 ft) deep and 18 kilometres (10 mi) long, and is an impressive example of granite erosion.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Augrabies Falls | World Waterfall Database". www.worldwaterfalldatabase.com. Retrieved 2017-02-21.
  2. ↑ Scheffel, Richard L.; Wernet, Susan J., eds. (1980). Natural Wonders of the World. United States of America: Reader's Digest Association, Inc. p. 62. ISBN 0-89577-087-3.

"Augrabies Falls in the World Waterfall Database". Retrieved 2009-05-19. 

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