8/14/2023 0 Comments Victoria waterfall images![]() ![]() ![]() The force of the falling water erodes the softer rock, cutting into the earth to create a deep chasm with steep sides. In this case, the gorge forms at the base of the waterfall. The geological process that erodes the rock at a waterfall produces a gorge. Geologists know that the formation of Victoria Falls is the result of the gradual erosion of the land by water. After that, Cecil John Rhodes and his British-born son, Cecil, made it their mission to explore the region and bring back gold and silver. After that, the area became known as Old Drift, and people began to settle in the area. In 1855, Dr David Livingstone wrote about the falls, saying that they were unlike anything he’d seen in England. Later, European explorers began to arrive in the region. The first Europeans to see the Falls were probably the Voortrekker hunters and Arab traders. Fortunately, the country ended up re-opening the border and allowing visitors to experience the natural wonder. During this period, many tourists opted to visit the Zambian side of the Falls. After the Rhodesian Bush War, Zambia imposed travel restrictions and stationed soldiers at the falls. Then, however, Zimbabwe and Zambia had conflict, and visitor numbers dropped. The Falls became an international tourist destination during the British colonial period, and the town of Victoria Falls grew up on the Zimbabwean side. ![]() Later, David Livingstone’s expedition named the falls Victoria Falls. These peoples called the falls Shungu na mutitima and Mosi-oa-Tunya. At the same time, the Khoisan and Bantu tribes moved to the area. ![]() Humans made stone tools in this region, and later migrated to the area. Hotels, restaurants, campgrounds, and other tourist businesses have cropped up to cater to them.The first known settlement around Victoria Falls is thought to be 3 million years ago. Several hundred thousand visitors from around the world trek to the falls each year. Today, tourism is essential to driving economic growth. More "modern" tools also evidence far more recent-50,000 years ago-Middle Stone Age settlements at Victoria Falls. Stone artifacts from the hominin Homo habilis have been identified near the falls and show that early humans may have lived here two million years ago. Humans have long relied on the falls, too. The gorges and cliffs below the falls in these parks are prime territory for raptors, including falcons and black eagles. The national border between Zambia and Zimbabwe lies midstream, and national parks of both nations exist on either side of the Zambezi. Photograph by Michael R Baynes, Getty Images Located on the Zambia side of the falls, the pool is only accessible during the dry season from August to January. While it looks as if these visitors to Victoria Falls are flirting with disaster, swimming in the Devil's Pool is not quite as dangerous as it looks, thanks to an underwater lip. The mists of Victoria Falls sustain a rainforest-like ecosystem adjacent to the falls and on the opposite cliff that faces them like a dried-up mirror image, thick with mahogany, fig, palm, and other species of vegetation. ( Learn how climate change is contributing to global economic inequities.) Life-giving waters The Guardian reports that recent droughts have caused power cuts in both countries, which rely on hydropower from the downstream Kariba Dam. This extreme weather threatens not only the majesty of the falls, but also the health of its ecosystem and the local economy. Last year, the area suffered its worst drought in a century, bringing the falls to a trickle in December. Temperatures, too, are rising-in a July 2018 paper, South African researcher Kaitano Dube found that the average daily high temperature in October has warmed 6.8 F (3.8 C) from 1976 to 2017. While the region still sees roughly the same annual rainfall, those rains are compressed into a smaller period of time. Victoria Falls is getting drier and hotter. ![]()
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