Scientists Drained Niagara Falls in 1969 And Made An Amazing Discovery

Now if you could get into a time machine and travel back to 1969,you'd see something spectacular.

The American side of Niagara Falls stayed without water.It lasted six months.Researchers wanted to study the rock face of the falls,they were afraid it was going to become too unstable because of erosion.

Erosion is the process when natural forces such as water and wind wear away Earthen materials.For example,if you see glacial ice become muddy it means erosion is happening.

Three waterfalls that cross the international border between Canada and the United States together makes something we know as The Magnificent Niagara Falls.

The three waterfalls are;

1.The Horseshoe Falls

2.The American Falls

3.The bridal veil Falls

The American Falls are fully on the American side while the Horseshoe Falls are primarily on the Canadian side divided by Goat Island.The bridal veil Falls the smallest of them all,are on the American side but separated from the others by Luna Island.

It took a 600 foot Dam across the enormous Niagara River to really shut down these astonishing Falls.This means they had to divert sixty thousand gallons of water every second so that the remaining flow traveled over the biggest horseshoe Falls.The ones that are completely on the Canadian side of the Border.

Over twenty seven thousand tons of rock were used to construct that Dam and more than a thousand trucks carried that rock back in the hot summer of 69.

On June 12th,the American Falls stopped after their Continuous Flow for more than twelve thousand years.So,the horseshoe falls then took the extra flow and absorbed it so that research could be done but the locals were still worried due to reasons such as;

1.They knew it wasn't possible to control such amounts of water.They were afraid the water might take a different route and cause acatastrophic flood.

2.They were worried that tourists wouldn't come anymore if teams didn't manage to make the waterfall flow again the way it used to.But tourists kept coming even that summer and they got a unique chance to see something no one had ever seen before or after.

During that period,there was even a temporary walkway built only 20 feet away from the edge of the now Dry Falls.It helped workers to clean the bottom of what used to be a river.So tourists could go there and explore the wild landscape of the falls that was usually under the water.Hostile and not accessible to visitors at all.

As they were exploring the dried bottom of the falls,researchers stumbled upon millions of different coins people had thrown in the water over decades.Maybe to make a wish or for some other purpose.

The idea of removing all the water and turning Niagara Falls into a desert proved to be possible but it may need to be done again.In 2020, the media reported that two pedestrian bridges in Niagara Falls needed to be either replaced or repaired no wonder,since they're almost 120 years old.These bridges are located above the Rapids.Experts discuss whether they should divert the water once again or not.

People talk about Niagara Falls a lot and some believe they're among the tallest waterfalls in the world but the truth is they're not they're famous,precious and breathtaking but when it comes to Hype,there are nearly 500 other waterfalls across the globe that are taller than Niagara.Let's take Angel Falls in Venezuela for example;there are more than three thousand feet tall.

What makes Niagara Falls so special among other waterfalls is the amount of water that flows over them.Very high waterfalls don't usually have great amounts of water.The combination of all those huge amounts of water and the height is what makes Niagara Falls so breathtaking.The Niagara River appeared after the last ice age together with a whole Great Lakes Basin,the Niagara River is part of it.

Eighteen thousand years ago,this awesome waterfall didn't exist.Ice sheets covered the area of Southern Ontario.They were one to two miles thick.As the ice sheets were moving Southward,they created the Basin of the Great Lakes then they melted releasing enormous amounts of water into the basins.

Generally,the water we drink is fossil water.Only one percent of it renews through the year with the remaining 99 coming from Ice Sheets.

The Niagara Peninsula hasn't been beneath the eyes for nearly 12 500 years.As the ice melted the resulting Water started to flow down through what later turned into Niagara River,Lake Erie and Lake Ontario.

It took a lot of time but the water eventually eroded Cliffs and formed these spectacular Falls.

Now you might have noticed that the Niagara River is amazingly green.This specific color tells us how powerful the water is when it comes to erosion.Every minute Niagara Falls spews over 60 tons of dissolved minerals.All that,together with dissolved salt and finely ground rock makes the color so magnificent.

People who live in the United States and Canada or more precisely over a million people who have access to the area use the Waters of Niagara River for different purposes.

For example;-Fishing

-Getting drinking water

-Doing recreational activities including;swimming,boating and bird watching.

-Producing hydroelectric power etc.

The first hydroelectric Generating Station in the world was built at the end of the 19th century and it was right next to the falls.Pretty soon it started paying off because people were getting electricity from it.But this electricity could travel only 300 feet so something needed to be improved there.

Nikola Tesla was the one who took up the challenge and made the necessary changes.He discovered that electricity could travel long distances if an alternating current was used.Today,several Niagara Falls power plants provide over 2 million kilowatts of power.

Another interesting thing,1969 wasn't the only time whenNiagara Falls stopped.Back in 1848,the water didn't flow over the falls for upto 40 hours.Now the Falls were already very popular among tourists and a useful source of energy for local people so no wonder they freaked out.Nature was to blame this time.

Ice blocked the source of the Niagara River.An American Farmer was the first one to notice it.It was March 29th and he went for a walk right before midnight.Soon he realized he couldn't hear the powerful Roar of the falls.He quickly went to the edge of the river and stood there.In shot,there was hardly any water.

Factories and Mills had to shut down because they depended on that water.Turtles were just wandering around,fish didn't survive.Some people took a walk on the River Bottom,taking little things they could find there as souvenirs.

But two days later,on March 31st,people heard a distant rumbling coming from up river.It was getting nearer and louder,until a wall of water appeared in front of their eyes and one of the World's greatest attractions that millions of tourists visit every year was back in business again.Magnificent and in the end,Invincible as it should be.