NATURE

A Natural Wonder or Not? Niagara Falls is known for it’s large continuous flow of water and beauty. The waterfall formed naturally, so why isn’t it considered a natural wonder? The Horseshoe Falls was the beginning of the Falls. About 12,500 years ago near the ending of the Ice Age, recession began at the Niagara Escarpment. There the gorge was being cut out by undermined dolostone pieces as they fall from the falling waters of the Horseshoe Falls and winter ice. The Horseshoe Falls also eroded a thick layer of soft shale from the underlying bedrock. This all formed the Niagara Falls. Father Louis H. Hennepin, a Roman Catholic priest, discovered the waterfall in 1678 with the navigation of the Native Americans. When he had been on a quest with Explorer Robert LaSalle. Niagara Falls is from an aboriginal name. Native Americans say “Niagara” means “neck” or “split in the flatland”. The Americans and Canadians have been working together to preserve the natural beauty of the fall. In doing so they’ve dewatered the Falls before, slowed it’s erosion, and controlled lots of change in the feature with the help of a hydroelectric dam. Diverting water intake from the hydroelectric power plants controls the Niagara River. In order to dewater the Falls a cofferdam was built on the main lands of Goat Island. Slowing its erosion from 3 to 8 feet per year in modern times with the help of the hydroelectric power. Also, the fresh lake water flowing over has been slowed down by 50% to 75%. All of this has kept surrounding islands from being washed away and kept water flowing over every fall. Niagara Falls is the beautiful, naturally formed waterfall that can be seen from a boundary of Canada and the United States. It carries water from the Great Lakes that eventually travels into the Atlantic Ocean.