Niagara Falls

The Niagara Falls (in French: les Chutes du Niagara) – is a cascade of massive waterfalls situated on the Niagara River, on the international border separating the Canadian Province of Ontario from USA State of New York. The waterfall is located 27 kilometers north-west of Buffalo, New York and 120 kilometers south-east of Toronto, Ontario; between twin cities: Niagara Falls, Ontario, and Niagara Falls, New York.

Niagara Falls consists of two main sections separated by the Goat Island: Horseshoe Waterfall that is mainly on the Canadian side of the border and American Waterfall on the side of the United States. Smaller Bridal Veil Waterfalls is also on the American side, which is separated from the main waterfalls by the Silver Island. The Niagara Falls was formed when at the end of Wisconsin Glaciation (the last ice age) glaciers retreated and water from the newly formed Great Lakes cut a thoroughfare through the Niagara Escarpment on the way to the Atlantic Ocean. Although it is not exceptionally high, the Niagara Falls is very wide. More than 168.000 cubic meters of water break free over the crest line and fall every minute in a high stream, which is almost 110.000 cubic meters on average. It is the mightiest waterfall in North America.

The Niagara Falls is known both for its beauty and as a valuable source of hydroelectric power. Managing the balance between the regional, commercial and industrial exploitation was a difficult task for those overseeing the waterfalls starting from 1800s.

Niagara Falls is divided into the Horseshoe Falls and American Falls. The Horseshoe Falls sends down its waters from 52 meters high. The American Falls drop for about 21 meters before reaching chaotically scattered rocks, which were deposited by the mass lowering of the rocks in 1954. The Great Waterfall of the Horseshoe is close to 792 meters wide, while the American Waterfall is 323 meters wide. The volume of water that streams to the waterfalls during the peak season is 5.720 cubic meters per second. In comparison, the breathtaking Victoria waterfall in Africa has more than 424.750 cubic meters of water gushing over the crest line and falling every minute during the peak of rainy season at the rate of 7.079 cubic meters per second. Since the flow is the direct effect of the increase of water in the Erie Lake, it typically reaches its max at the end of spring or in the beginning of summer. In summer months 2.832 cubic meters per second virtually cross the waterfall and close to 90% of it run through the Horseshoe Waterfall, while the balance is deflected for hydroelectrical means of maintenance. It is achieved by using a weir with movable gates upstream from the Horseshoe Falls. The stream of the waterfall is then divided into two at nights and during the scarce tourist winter season it stops at the point of 1.416 cubic meters per second. Water diversion is regulated according to Niagara Treaty of 1950 and is managed by the International Niagara Board of Control (IJC).

The observation decks on the American side are actually higher or behind the waterfalls. The waterfall itself is located on the Canadian side. So, the fullest views of the Niagara Falls are available from the Canadian shore line. The peculiarities of the Niagara Falls’ origin were related to the Wisconsin Icing approximately 10.000 years ago. The same forces also created North-American Great Lakes and the Niagara River. All were dug by the continental ice plate, which was driving through the region as a huge bulldozer, deepening some river channels to make them into lakes and creating obstacles for others with rock debris. Scientists believe that there is an old valley buried under the ice drift, which is located somewhere nearby the existing Welland Canal.

As the ice was melting, Upper Great Lakes were flowing into the Niagara River, which followed the altered topography across the Niagara Escarpment. In time, the river cut a gorge through the north cliff or cuesta. Unusual formations of the rock were not eroding equally because of mutual influence of the three formations of the rock.

The rock formation was made of erosion-resistant limestone and dolostone. This hard layer of rock was eroding slower than the base materials. The aerial photography shows clearly the hard caprock – Lockport Formation (Middle Silurian Period) – which underlies the rapids above the waterfall and approximately the upper third of the high wall of the gorge.

A little lower of the formation of the hard rocks including about two thirds of the cliff a weaker, softer Rochester formation lies (Low Silurian Period). This formation mainly consists of shale rock although it has some thinner layers of limestone. It also contains ancient fossils. At that time the river was washing away the soft layer which was supporting the harder layers, undercutting the hard surfacing rocks. Eventually, the process carved out the waterfalls.

Queenston Formation (Upper Ordovician), dipped into the river in a lower valley, which is hidden from sight, consists of shale rocks and sand rocks. All three formations were laid down in an ancient sea and differences between them are caused by changing conditions within that sea.

The original Niagara Falls was located near the present Queenston, Ontario and Lewiston, New York, but the erosion of their crest forced the waterfalls to back several miles to the south. Just a little up the stream from the current location of the waterfalls the Goat Island splits the course of the Niagara River which results in the division of the Canadian Horseshoe Waterfall in the west from the American and Bridal Veil Waterfalls in the east. Although development slowed the erosion and backing process in this century, the waterfall, eventually, moved back well enough to drain most of the Erie Lake, the bed of which is higher than the level of the waterfalls. Engineers are working to decrease the rate of erosion to postpone this event for as long as possible.

The name “Niagara” (in Iroquois pronunciation «Nee-ah-GAh-rah»), as they say, derives from an Iroquois word meaning a “strait.” The original inhabitants of the region were Ongniaahra, a tribe of the Iroquois, called the Neutral people by the French settlers, who found them useful in negotiating in the conflicts with other tribes.

The Frenchman Samuel de Champlain visited the area as early as 1604 during his exploration of Canada, and members of his party reported to him the spectacular waterfalls, which he described in his journals. The Finnish-Swedish naturalist Pehr Kalm explored the area in the early 18th century and narrated his experience. The consensus honoree for the first description is the Belgian missionary Louis Hennepin, who observed and described the falls in 1677, earlier than Kalm, after traveling with the explorer René Robert Cavelier, thus making the information about the falls public. Further complicating matters, there is credible evidence that the French Jesuit Reverend Paul Ragueneau visited the falls some 35 years before Hennepin’s visit, while working among the Huron First Nation in Canada. Jean de Brébeuf also may have visited the falls, while spending time with the Neutral Nation.

During the 18th century, tourism became popular, and by mid-century, it was the area’s main industry. Napoleon Bonaparte’s brother Jérôme visited with his bride in the early 19th century. Later a demand for passage over the Niagara River led to the building of a footbridge and then Charles Ellet’s Niagara Suspension Bridge. This was supplanted by German-born John Augustus Roebling’s Niagara Falls Suspension Bridge in 1855. After the American Civil War, the New York Central railroad publicized Niagara Falls as a focus of pleasure and honeymoon visits. With increased railroad traffic, in 1886, Leffert Buck replaced Roebling’s wood and stone bridge with the predominantly steel bridge that still carries trains over the Niagara River today. The first steel archway bridge near the falls was completed in 1897. Known today as the Whirlpool Rapids Bridge, it carries vehicles, trains, and pedestrians between Canada (through Canadian Customs Border Control) and the U.S.A. just below the falls. In 1941 the Niagara Falls Bridge Commission completed the third current crossing in the immediate area of Niagara Falls with the Rainbow Bridge, carrying both pedestrian and vehicular traffic between the two countries and Canadian and U.S. customs for each country.

After the First World War, tourism boomed again as automobiles made getting to the falls much easier. The story of Niagara Falls in the 20th century is largely that of efforts to harness the energy of the falls for hydroelectric power, and to control the development on both sides that threaten the area’s natural beauty.