Horseshoe Falls in Rising Mist

Horseshoe Falls in Rising Mist is an original illustration set in Horseshoe Falls, Niagara, Canada/USA. It lies in mid-latitudes, where the climate is hot-summer humid continental.

A wide green river folds over a great horseshoe-shaped brink and falls as a white curtain into a deep pool. Mist rises from the base, dark layered cliffs border the gorge, and leafy trees on the banks provide a scale for the enormous flow.

Why does a broad river drop over a curved cliff into a deep gorge?

Water flowing from the upper Great Lakes toward Lake Ontario crosses resistant caprock above softer sedimentary layers. Erosion beneath the harder rim promotes collapse and moves the waterfall upstream, carving the gorge behind it. The concentrated discharge, curved brink, and layered escarpment identify Niagara's Horseshoe Falls, where the shape records sustained river erosion.

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