Gorges
What is a Gorge?
A canyon, or gorge, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tendency to cut through underlying surfaces, eventually wearing away rock layers as sediments are removed downstream.
How are they formed?
How are they formed?
Streams carve through hard layers of rock, breaking down or eroding it. Sediment from the worn-away rock is then carried downstream. Over time, this erosion will form the steep walls of a gorge. The flooding of streams or rivers increases the speed and intensity of this erosion, creating deeper and wider gorges.
Hokitika Gorge, West Coast
Hokitika Gorge, West Coast
New Zealand
Kawarua Gorge, Central Otago
Kawarua Gorge, Central Otago
New Zealand