DISCOVERING V

ICTORIA

FALLS

Victoria Falls, also known as

Mosi-oa-Tunya (the smoke
that thunders), is one of
the most impressive natural
wonders on the African
continent. The site is the
result of millions of years of
geological evolution and
tectonic shifts, the history
of which reveals much about
the development of the
world as we know it today.

ICTORIA

Victoria Falls stands at

108 meters tall and
1,708 meters wide.
It is located on the
border of Zambia and
Zimbabwe in southern
Africa, along the path of
the Zambezi River.
The mist cloud from the
falls can be seen as far
as 48 kilometers away!

FALLS: QUICK FACTS

IN

THE

BEGINNING

The foundational bedrock of

Victoria Falls is made of
basalt, a dark volcanic rock
that was formed around 180
million years ago. Over
millions of years of volcanic
eruptions, lava cooled into
layers of basalt, which were
then covered by new layers of
lava. This process repeated
many, many times over.

This ancient volcanic

activity created a 200kilometer basalt island in
the surrounding sandveld
(land characterized by dry,
sandy soil). In the area
around Victoria Falls, this
basalt is up to 300 meters
thick. As the land shifted,
giant cracks known as
joints appeared in the
rock, and were filled in by
softer, clay-like sediment.

ISLAND

OF

S TONE

THE RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT

When the basalt first formed,

the area of Victoria Falls was
a river-less desert. As the
land continued to shift,
water and tropical vegetation
began to move in and change
the landscape. Eventually, a
massive continental shift
caused the creation of the
Zambezi River, which began
to flow over the giant joints
in the basalt and erode the
clay sediment built up there.

THE BIG SPILL

What we know as the

Zambezi River was originally
two rivers that werent
connected. 10 to 15 million
years ago, geological
upheavals shifted the land
once again, causing the two
rivers to combine into the
modern Zambezi. This would
create the conditions
necessary for the formation
of Victoria Falls.

A F A U LT Y T H E O RY

For many years, it was

incorrectly believed that
Victoria Falls was created
as the result of a fault line
opening up in the path of
the river. This theory was
first presented by Dr. David
Livingstone, the famous
explorer who was the first
European to see the falls,
and who named them after
Queen Victoria.

A L ONG H ISTORY

Victoria Falls is not the

first giant waterfall in the
area. Though the current
falls are believed to be
between 100,000 and
250,000 years old, there
were at least seven
waterfalls of comparable
size that formed in the
area in the past.

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SOURCES

http://www.unmuseum.org/7wonders/victoriaf
alls.htm
http://www.siyabona.com/explore-victoriafalls-geology.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_Falls