伊瓜苏瀑布

（葡萄牙语：Cataratas do Igua?u，西班牙语：Cataratas del Iguazú，当地的瓜拉尼语意为“大水”）是由位于巴西巴拉那州和阿根廷边界上的伊瓜苏河从巴西高原辉绿岩悬崖上落入巴拉那峡谷形成的瀑布。现时成为联合国世界自然遗产的一部分。

伊瓜苏瀑布与东非维多利亚瀑布及美加的尼亚加拉瀑布是世界三大瀑布。伊瓜苏瀑布实为一组瀑布群，由275股大小瀑布或急流组成，总宽度4公里，比尼亚加拉瀑布宽4倍，落差由平均60米至最高82米。年均流量1,750立方米/秒，雨季时瀑布最大流量为12,750立方米/秒，这时大小飞瀑也汇合成一个马蹄形大瀑布。

瀑布的成因

伊瓜苏瀑布群位于伊瓜苏河上。伊瓜苏河在与巴拉那河会合前的约23公里前有一段高崖，因而造成差落为72米的瀑布群。其实，此高崖的成因是由于巴拉那河的河谷是由南至北走，而伊瓜苏河的河床岩层却正好与巴拉那河垂直。因此，巴拉那河承受的河水冲刷远较伊瓜苏河高。在经过长年累月的侵蚀下，巴拉那河渐渐变得越来越低，从而造成宽达4000米伊瓜苏瀑布群的形成。

旅游

伊瓜苏瀑布群所在的阿根廷伊瓜苏国家公园和巴西伊瓜苏国家公国先后在1984年及1986年被列为联合国世界遗产。自此巴西政府当局在1990年代末开始发展该瀑布为旅游区，亦吸引到企业投入了大量资金，修建了约20公里长的游览栈道，铺设了电气铁路，旅游设施焕然一新。

由于旅游业带旺经济，由伊瓜苏瀑布地区附近的伊瓜苏河口一带幅射开去的三国边境地区：包括巴西的伊瓜苏市（Foz do Igua?u）、阿根廷的伊瓜苏港市（Puerto Iguazú）及巴拉圭的东方市（Ciudad del Este），都有受惠于日渐增长的旅客量。

传说

关于伊瓜苏瀑布，当地有流传着以下两个传说：

古代酋长的女儿爱上了聪明英俊的青年，却得不到酋长的同意，于是挥泪投进伊瓜苏河以示对爱情的忠贞不渝，而她洒下的眼泪也化作终年飞流的瀑布。

古代一位叫做奈比（Naipi）的女子与一个叫做塔罗巴（taroba）的男青战士相爱，女子美丽异常，招来当地水神，一条叫做恩波宜（M`Boy）的大蛇的窥视，在祭神典上，塔罗巴划船带着奈比在巴拉那河上逃命，大蛇为之大怒，追赶之中化作大瀑布，使小舟从高空跌下，塔罗巴化身为悬崖上的一棵树，奈比则成为悬崖下的一块石头，只有在彩虹出现时二人方得相聚。有趣的是大瀑布水流湍急凶猛，几乎天天都能见到彩虹。

其他

• 伊瓜苏瀑布的浩荡，引来摄影家和不少电影工作者的垂涎，有多部国际电影都有在这条瀑布拍摄取景。包括：
  • 1979年——太空城（Moonraker），是007詹姆斯·邦德电影系列的第11套电影。
  • 1986年——教会（The Mission）
  • 1997年——香港导演王家卫的同性恋电影《春光乍泄》（Happy Together）。电影里将伊瓜苏瀑布之飞瀑情况作近镜拍摄，为时长达3分钟，使部分观众慨叹这是所谓“王家卫的艺术”。
  • 1997年——(Mr.Magoo)
  • 2006年——迈阿密风云（Miami Vice）

南美洲的伊瓜苏瀑布是世界三大瀑布之一，1984年，伊瓜苏瀑布被联合国教科文组织列为世界自然遗产。层层叠叠的瀑布环绕着一个马蹄形峡谷咆哮着倾泻而下，激起的水雾弥漫在密林上空，奔流而下的水流声几公里外都能听见。“伊瓜苏”在南美洲土著居民瓜拉尼人的语言中，是“大水”的意思。发源于巴西境内的伊瓜苏河在汇入巴拉那河之前，水流渐缓，在阿根廷与巴西边境，河宽1500米，像一个湖泊。水往前流陡然遇到一个峡谷，河水顺着倒U形峡谷的顶部和两边向下直泻，凸出的岩石将奔腾而下的河水切割成大大小小270多个瀑布，形成一个景象壮观的半环形瀑布群，总宽度3000米至4000米，平均落差80米。伊瓜苏瀑布与众不同之处在于观赏点多。从不同地点、不同方向、不同高度，看到的景象不同。峡谷顶部是瀑布的中心，水流最大最猛，人称“魔鬼喉”。瀑布分布于峡谷两边，阿根廷与巴西就以此峡谷为界，在阿根廷和巴西观赏到的瀑布景色截然不同。

Iguazu Falls: 15 Amazing Pictures, 10 Incredible Facts

Whenever I come across images of places like Iguazu Falls, my urge todrop everything and travel this beautiful planet overwhelms my senses.There is so much to experience in this world, it’s a little saddening toknow how many people never get to explore the world beyond theirimmediate surroundings. Thankfully there’s pictures and the power ofhuman imagination to take us to places we may never see in real life

Photograph by Martin St-Amant – Wikipedia

1.

Iguazu Falls aka Iguassu Falls or Igua?u Falls, arewaterfalls of the Iguazu River located on the border of the Brazilianstate of Paraná and the Argentine province of Misiones. The falls dividethe river into the upper and lower Iguazu.

Devil’s Throat – Photograph by Luca Galuzzi – www.galuzzi.it

2.

The waterfall system consists of 275 falls along 2.7 kilometers (1.67 miles) of the Iguazu River.

Photograph by Martin St-Amant – Wikipedia

3.

The first European to find the falls was the SpanishConquistador álvar Nú?ez Cabeza de Vaca in 1541, after whom one of thefalls in the Argentine side is named. The falls were rediscovered byBoselli at the end of the nineteenth century, and one of the Argentinefalls is named after him.

Photograph by Claudio Elias

4.

Some of the individual falls are up to 82 meters (269 ft) inheight, though the majority are about 64 metres (210 ft). The Devil’sThroat (Garganta del Diablo in Spanish or Garganta do Diabo inPortuguese), a U-shaped, 82-meter-high (269 ft) , 150-meter-wide and700-meter-long (490 by 2,300 feet) cataract, is the most impressive ofall, marking the border between Argentina and Brazil. Two thirds of thefalls are within Argentine territory.

Photograph by Martin St-Amant – Wikipedia

5.

About 900 meters (0.56 miles) of the 2.7-kilometer length(1.67 miles) does not have water flowing over it. The edge of the basaltcap recedes only 3 mm (0.1 in) per year. The water of the lower Iguazucollects in a canyon that drains into the Paraná River at Argentina,shortly downstream from the Itaipu dam.

Photograph by hrs518942

6.

Iguazu currently has the greatest average annual flow of anywaterfall in the world. The water falling over Iguazu in peak flow has asurface area of about 40 Ha (1.3 million ft2) whilst Victoria in peakflow has a surface area of over 55 ha (1.8 million ft2). By comparison,Niagara has a surface area of under 18.3 ha (600,000 ft2).

Photograph by Argentina Travel Pictures

7.

Taller than Niagara Falls and twice as wide, Iguazu Falls arethe result of a volcanic eruption which left a large crack in theearth. During the rainy season of November – March, the rate of flow ofwater going over the falls may reach 450,000 cubic feet (12,750 cubic m)per second.

Photograph by 01argentina.com

8.

The best times to see Iguazu Falls are in the spring andfall. Summer is intensely tropically hot and humid, and in winter thewater level is considerably lower.

Photograph by roaming-the-planet

9.

The area is on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Photograph by pics721

10.

On her first sight of the tremendous falls, Eleanor Roosevelt exclaimed: “Poor Niagara!”

Photograph by keithhull

SOURCE
- Iguazu Falls – Wikipedia Entry

Photograph by vtveen

Photograph by pics721

Photograph by riclopes 2008