Iguazu Falls: The Devil’s Throat
Iguazu Falls is located on the Iguassa or Iguaça River on the border of Brazil and Argentina. Iguazu is composed of an impressive set of nearly 300 waterfalls all plunging over the border between two countries. In total the falls are over 492 feet long, although the cliff from which the water falls is up to 2.5 miles long and at its tallest falls reaches heights of 269 feet.
Iguazu is a wide horseshoe shaped set of falls, some would call it crescent shaped, surrounded by thick green jungle forests filled with bamboo and palm trees. The river before it hits the falls is meandering over the Parana Plateau in its attempt to make it to sea level. Most of the Iguazu Falls are cascade waterfalls and in the process of falling they send up lots of mist which prisms the daylight creating lots of rainbows to dazzle the observer. Its said that the sound of the falls can be heard from miles away.
In fact one of its waterfalls is called, ‘Garganta del Diablo’ or Devil’s throat may hearken from the thunderous roaring of the falls. This area of the falls is particularly tumultuous, sending a spray of water high over the cliff and is thought to be the home of the river’s god. The name Iguazu comes from the local Guarani language, which is ‘y guasu’ or big water.
There is a creation myth for the waterfalls. A god wanted to marry a beautiful woman named Naipú. She however had other plans and fled the god in a canoe with her human lover. The god became enraged at their flight and literally sliced the river which thus created the waterfalls. This condemned the lovers to fall eternally in the Iguazu.
In geological terms the falls were really created by a fault in the earths crust that causes one section of the land to be higher than the other. The land in the area is characterized by volcanic rock that has dried in mantles that layer one on top of the other. As a result of it volcanic beginnings some areas of the river bed are more resistant to erosion than others. However the water from the falls does erode the rock slowly and over time the falls have gradually eroded backwards and will continue to do so.
A tremendous 450,000 cubic feet per second of water flows over the falls in the months between November and March. The falls are seasonal and in the winter the water level of the river much lower so that considerably less water flows over the falls.
The first European to see the falls was Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca. He was a Spanish explorer who saw the falls in 1541. Although the falls weren’t seen by very many people until the two National parks, Iguazu National Park and Iguacu National Park were created on either side of the falls by Argentina and Brazil. Later on both parks were designated UNESCO World Heritage Sites.