9/22:Niagara Falls American Side

Wow!! Niagara Falls are a roaring rush of water. The largest falls, Horseshoe Falls, has 675,000 gallons of water per second thundering over the falls and it's plung pools are around 160-200 feet deep. It's so powerful that we could see the mist from miles away. There are two other falls in the area. They are American Falls and the Bridal Valle Falls. They are a little bit taller than the Horseshoe Falls.  Down river of the falls is another strong force at work a whirlpool.  The whirlpool is caused by the weakness in the rock because of the last Ice Age that carved a valley where the river used to flow.

Many geologic processes have shaped the Niagara Falls. The last Ice Age changed the channel that the Niagara River used to flow in. The old channel was filled in with moranine. The falls started ona  fault line that caused an escrapment. The cliffs are made of Dolostone, Limestone and Shale. The Dolostone is on top and also is the strongest rock. Under that is the Shale which is the weakest. There is limestone at the bottom. The Dolostone breaks away when the falls erodes the shale and undercuts it.. During the last 12,000 years the falls have moved back 7.5 miles. This formed the falls we see today.

The falls were first discovered by American Indians. Then the first westerner to discover the falls was a French explorer. Then people started to develope the area. On one of the islands there was a paper mill and by the river there is ruins of a power plant that fell into the river. There are many tours to the falls and around the area.