earth science

Kaieteur Falls

Kaieteur Falls is a earth science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Kaieteur Falls rather than just read about it. In short: Kaieteur Falls is one of the most powerful single-drop waterfalls in the world. It is located on the Potaro River in Kaieteur National Park, central Essequibo Territory, Guyana.

Key takeaways

Kaieteur Falls belongs to earth science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Kaieteur Falls to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Kaieteur Falls from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Kaieteur Falls is one of the most powerful single-drop waterfalls in the world. It is located on the Potaro River in Kaieteur National Park, central Essequibo Territory, Guyana. It is 226 metres (741 ft) high when measured from its plunge over a sandstone and conglomerate cliff to the first break. It then flows over a series of steep cascades that, when included in the measurements, bring the total height to 251 metres (822 ft). While many falls have greater height or greater flow, few have the combination of height and water volume, and Kaieteur is among the most powerful waterfalls in the world with an average flow rate of 663 cubic meters per second (23,400 cubic feet per second). Kaieteur Falls is about four and a half times the height of Niagara Falls, on the border between Canada and the United States, and about twice the height of Victoria Falls, on the border of Zambia and Zimbabwe in Africa. Upriver from the falls, the Potaro Plateau stretches out to the distant escarpment of the Pakaraima Mountains. The Potaro River empties into the Essequibo River which is the 34th longest river in South America and the longest river in Guyana.

History and discovery Long known about by Indigenous nations in the area, the falls were noticed by Europeans in 1870 by a party led by Charles Barrington Brown, a British geologist appointed as a government surveyor to the colony of British Guiana. Brown and his partner James Sawkins had arrived in Georgetown in 1867; they worked both together and independently, which resulted in Brown discovering the falls alone. He did not have time to investigate Kaieteur Falls closely, so he returned one year later to make comprehensive measurements. Brown's book Canoe and Camp life in British Guiana was published in 1876. Two years later, in 1878, he published Fifteen Thousand Miles on the Amazon and its tributaries. According to a Patamona Indian legend, Kaieteur Falls was named for Kuik'tuwuk old man or man, a Toshao (chief) who sacrificed himself. Makonaima is a god for Patomana people so by paddling over the falls to save his people. Another legend though was told to Brown by indigenous people on the night of discovery of the falls. Thus, the fall was named "Kaieteur"(kuik-man, tu'wuk -large place, falls means e'me'lú which means "old-man-fall").

Tourism Kaieteur Falls is a major tourist attraction in Guyana. It is in Kaieteur National Park in the centre of Guyana's rainforest. The park is served by Kaieteur International Airport, about a 15-minute walk from the top of Kaieteur falls, with frequent flights to Ogle Airport and Cheddi Jagan International Airport in Georgetown.

Popular culture Kaieteur Falls is featured in:

the documentary film The White Diamond by Werner Herzog and Animal Planet's River Monsters with Jeremy Wade. the science fiction animation television series G Gundam. The lead character trains and bathes under the falls before his final fight. the opening of the fourth season credits of the Discovery Channel's series Gold Rush (2013). It also features in the body of a few episodes of that season. episode 6 of David Attenborough's series Life on Earth in which the native frogs, which thrive in the moist conditions, are discussed. episode 1 of Steve Backshall's series Deadly Adventures where Steve abseils to the bottom and camps overnight. the ending of the final episode of the fourth season of River Monsters features the falls. Evelyn Waugh's 1934 travel book Ninety-two Days.

Gallery

See also List of waterfalls List of waterfalls by flow rate

References

External links

Kaieteur National Park, home to Kaieteur Falls Kaieteur Falls Kaieteur Falls at Beautiful World

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Kaieteur Falls

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Kaieteur Falls claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In earth science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Kaieteur Falls before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Kaieteur Falls ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Kaieteur Falls

In research: Kaieteur Falls appears in earth science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Kaieteur Falls in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Kaieteur Falls is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Geological type localities, Largest things, Potaro-Siparuni, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Kaieteur Falls outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Kaieteur Falls in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Kaieteur Falls means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Kaieteur Falls out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Kaieteur Falls in simple terms?

Kaieteur Falls is one of the most powerful single-drop waterfalls in the world. It is located on the Potaro River in Kaieteur National Park, central Essequibo Territory, Guyana.

Why does Kaieteur Falls matter?

Because it connects several earth science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Kaieteur Falls?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Kaieteur Falls.