The Rhine Falls, Schaffhausen, Switzerland

Switzerland, September 12, 2010

The Rhine Falls, Schaffhausen, Switzerland are the largest plain waterfall in Europe.

The falls are located on the High Rhine between the municipalities of Neuhausen am Rheinfall and Laufen-Uhwiesen, near the town ofSchaffhausen in northern Switzerland, between the cantons of Schaffhausen and Zürich. They are 150 m (450 ft) wide and 23 m (75 ft) high. In the winter months, the average water flow is 250 m³/s, while in the summer, the average water flow is 700 m³/s. The highest flow ever measured was 1,250 m³/s in 1965; and the lowest, 95 m³/s in 1921.

The falls cannot be climbed by fish, except by eels that are able to worm their way up over the rocks.

The Rhine Falls were formed in the last ice age, approximately 14,000 to 17,000 years ago, by erosion– resistant rocks narrowing the riverbed. The first glacial advances created today’s landforms approximately 500,000 years ago. Up to the end of the Wolstonian Stageapproximately 132,000 years ago, the Rhine flowed westwards from Schaffhausen pastKlettgau. This earlier riverbed later filled up with gravel.

About 132,000 years ago the course of the river changed southwards at Schaffhausen and formed a new channel, which also filled up with gravel. Part of the Rhine today includes this ancient riverbed.

During the Würm glaciation, the Rhine was pushed far to the south to its present course, over a hard Late Jurassic limestone bed. As the river flowed over both the hard limestone and the easily eroded gravel from previous glaciations, the current waterfall formed about 14,000 to 17,000 years ago. The Rheinfallfelsen, a large rock, is the remnant of the original limestone cliff flanking the former channel. The rock has eroded very little over the years because not too much sediment comes down the Rhine from Lake Constance.

How to get there :

From Zurich to Scaffhausen or Schaffhausen to Zurich free

From Schaffhausen to The Rhine Fall using a bus

From The Rhine Fall area walk about 100 metres

From The Rhine Fall area just walk through the exist door then will find train go back to Zurich

The ticket price around The Rhine Fall using special boat pay CHF 13

What are you waiting for guys.

Just try it.

Have a nice trip.

Cheers,

kei

~ by keishinta on April 6, 2011.