Product Description
by Lea Rawls (Author)
Iguaz Falls or Igua u Falls are waterfalls of the Iguazu River on the border of the Argentine provinceof Misiones and the Brazilian state of Paran . Together, they make up the largest waterfall system in the world. The falls divide the river into the upper and lower Iguazu. The Iguazu River rises near the heart of the city of Curitiba. For most of its course, the river flows through Brazil; however, most of the falls are on the Argentine side. Below its confluence with the San Antonio River, the Iguazu River forms the boundary between Argentina and Brazil.The name "Iguaz " comes from the Guarani or Tupi words "y" ɨ], meaning "water," and " as " waˈsu], meaning "big." Legend has it that a deity planned to marry a beautiful woman named Naip , who fled with her mortal lover Tarob in a canoe. In a rage, the deity sliced the river, creating the waterfalls and condemning the lovers to an eternal fall. The first European to record the existence of the falls was the Spanish Conquistador lvar N ez Cabeza de Vaca in 1541.The staircase character of the falls consists of a two-step waterfall formed by three layers of basalt. The steps are 35 and 40 m in height. The columnar basalt rock sequences are part of the 1000 m thick Serra Geral Formation within the Paleozoic-Mesozoic Paran Basin. The tops of these sequences are characterized by 8-10 m of highly resistant vesicular basalt and the contact between these layers controls the shape of the falls. Headwater erosion rates are estimated at 1.4-2.1 cm/year. The Iguazu Falls are located where the Iguazu River tumbles over the edge of the Paran Plateau, 23 kilometres (14 mi) upriver from the Iguazu's confluence with the Paran River.The Iguazu Falls are arranged in a way that resembles a reversed letter "J." The Argentina-Brazil border runs through the Devil's Throat. On the right bank is the Brazilian territory, which is home to more than 95% of the Iguazu River basin but has just over 20% of the jumps of these falls, and the left side jumps are Argentine, which makes up almost 80% of the falls.Two international airports are close to Iguaz Falls: the Argentine Cataratas del Iguaz International Airport (IGR) and the Brazilian Foz do Igua u International Airport (IGU). Bus and taxi services are available from and to the Airport-Falls. Aerol neas Argentinasand LATAM Argentina 5] have direct flights from Buenos Aires to Iguazu International Airport Krause. Azul, GOL, and LATAM Brasil offer services from main Brazilian cities to Foz do Igua u.The Iguazu Falls experience a humid subtropical climate (Cfa, according to the K ppen climate classification) with abundant precipitation and high temperatures year-round.
