Niagara Falls: Natural Wonder Quiz

Niagara Falls is located on the border between Ontario, Canada, and New York state, U.S. The falls lie on the Niagara ______.

The larger division of Niagara Falls, adjoining the left, or Canadian, bank, is called Horseshoe Falls; its height is 188 feet (57 metres), and the length of its curving crest line is about 2,200 feet (670 metres). The American Falls are adjoining the ______ bank.

The rock strata in the Niagara gorge from the Silurian Period are nearly horizontal, dipping southward only about 20 feet per mile (almost 4 metres per km). An upper layer of hard dolomite is underlain by softer layers of ______.

For many decades, Niagara Falls was an attraction for honeymooners and for such stunts as walking over the falls on a tightrope or going over them in a ______.

The formation of the Niagara gorge and the maintenance of the falls as a cataract depend upon peculiar ______ conditions.

The water flowing over the falls is free of ______, and its clearness contributes to the beauty of the cataract.

In recognition of the importance of the waterfall as a great natural spectacle, the province of Ontario and the state of New York retained or acquired title to the adjacent ______ and converted them into public parks.

A large part of the great river above the falls is diverted and disappears into four great tunnels for use in the power plants ______.

Visitors may cross from the U.S. shore to Goat Island by ______ and may take an elevator to the foot of the falls and visit the Cave of the Winds behind the curtain of falling water.

The Horseshoe Falls, which carry about 90 percent of the river’s discharge, receded upstream at an average rate of about 5.5 feet (1.7 metres) per year in ______.