Waterfall

A waterfall is any point along a river or stream where the water drops over a vertical face or a series of steep drops, and the same term is applied to meltwater falling from icebergs or ice shelves. The most common waterfalls form where a river flows over resistant bedrock before reaching softer rock that erodes away faster, so the drop grows taller over time. Waterfalls interrupt river navigation, shape the ecology of the species living in and around them, and have long been treated as sacred sites by many cultures as well as popular tourist destinations and, more recently, sources of hydropower.