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The waterfall system consists of 275 falls along 2.7 kilometers (1.67
miles) of the Iguazu River. Position is at latitude (DMS): 25° 40' 60 S,
longitude (DMS): 54° 25' 60 W . Some of the individual falls are up to
82 meters (269 ft) in height, though the majority are about 64 metres
(210 ft). The Devil's Throat (Garganta del Diablo in Spanish or Garganta
do Diabo in Portuguese), a U-shaped, 82-meter-high, 150-meter-wide and
700-meter-long (490 by 2300 feet) cataract, is the most impressive of
all, and marks the border between Argentina and Brazil.
Two thirds of
the falls are within Argentine territory. About 900 meters of the
2.7-kilometer length does not have water flowing over it. The edge of
the basalt cap recedes only 3 mm (0.1 in) per year. The water of the
lower Iguazu collects in a canyon that drains into the Paraná River at
Argentina, shortly downstream from the Itaipu dam. |
