Kjosfossen Waterfall EarthCache

Kjosfossen Waterfall  

Kjosfossen er en foss i Flåmselva i Aurland kommune i Sogn og Fjordane. Fossen, som er en av Norges mest besøkte turistattraksjoner, ligger like nedenfor Reinungavatnet, øverst i Flåmsdalen. Den har en total fallhøyde på 225 meter, fordelt på flere fall med en horisontal lengde på rundt 669 meter.

Flåmsbana passerer direkte foran og over den nedre delen av fossen, som er en av hovedattraksjonene for turistene som tar Flåmsbana. Her ligger Kjosfossen holdeplass, som ble åpnet i 1951 for at de reisende med banen kunne forlate toget for å besiktige vannfallet. Fossen og holdeplassen ligger rundt fire kilometer fra Myrdal stasjon. Under hovedturistsesongen om sommeren viser huldra seg når toget kommer inn på holdeplassen, og oppfører en dans og sang ved fossen. Skuespillerne er studenter ved den norske ballettskole.

Det er bygget et mindre kraftverk i fossen, Kjosfoss kraftverk, for å gi strøm til baneanlegget.

General information: 

A waterfall is a place where flowing water rapidly drops in elevation as it flows over a steep region or a cliff. Waterfalls are considered to be one of the most beautiful phenomena in nature.

Kjosfossen waterfall lies in 669 meters above see level and is located between Flam and Myrdal just next to the railroad. This waterfall supplies the hydroelectric power for the railroad. You can do several trekking activities in this very nice area

Formation

Waterfalls are most commonly formed when a river is young.^[1] At these times the channel is often narrow and deep. When the river courses over resistant bedrock, erosion happens slowly, while downstream the erosion occurs more rapidly.^[1][2] As the watercourse increases its velocity at the edge of the waterfall, it plucks material from the riverbed. Whirlpools created in the turbulence as well as sand and stones carried by the watercourse increase the erosion capacity.^[1] This causes the waterfall to carve deeper into the bed and to recede upstream. Often over time, the waterfall will recede back to form a canyon or gorge downstream as it recedes upstream, and it will carve deeper into the ridge above it.^[3] The rate of retreat for a waterfall can be as high as one and half metres per year.^[1]

Often, the rock stratum just below the more resistant shelf will be of a softer type, meaning that undercutting due to splashback will occur here to form a shallow cave-like formation known as a rock shelter or plunge pool under and behind the waterfall. Eventually, the outcropping, more resistant cap rock will collapse under pressure to add blocks of rock to the base of the waterfall. These blocks of rock are then broken down into smaller boulders by attrition as they collide with each other, and they also erode the base of the waterfall by abrasion, creating a deep plunge pool or gorge.

Streams become wider and shallower just above waterfalls due to flowing over the rock shelf, and there is usually a deep pool just below the waterfall because of the kinetic energy of the water hitting the bottom. Waterfalls normally form in a rocky area due to erosion. After a long period of being fully formed, the water falling off the ledge will retreat, causing a horizontal pit parallel to the waterfall wall. Eventually, as the pit grows deeper, the waterfall collapses to be replaced by a steeply sloping stretch of river bed.^[1]

A river sometimes flows over a large step in the rocks that may have been formed by a fault line. Waterfalls can occur along the edge of a glacial trough, whereby a stream or river flowing into a glacier continues to flow into a valley after the glacier has receded or melted. The large waterfalls in Yosemite Valley are examples of this phenomenon, which is referred to as a hanging valley. Another reason hanging valleys may form is where two rivers join and one is flowing faster than the other.^[1]

Classification

Waterfalls are grouped into ten broad classes based on the average volume of water present on the fall (which depends on both the waterfall's average flow and its height) using a logarithmic scale. Class 10 waterfalls include Niagara Falls, Paulo Afonso Falls and Khone Falls.

Classes of other well-known waterfalls include Victoria Falls and Kaieteur Falls (Class 9); Rhine Falls and Gullfoss (Class 8); Angel Falls and Dettifoss (Class 7); Yosemite Falls, Lower Yellowstone Falls and Umphang Thee Lor Sue Waterfall (Class 6); Sutherland Falls (Class 5).^[4]

Types

• Block: Water descends from a relatively wide stream or river.^[5][2]
• Cascade: Water descends a series of rock steps.^[5][2]
• Cataract: A large, powerful waterfall.^[5]
• Chute: A large quantity of water forced through a narrow, vertical passage.^[5]
• Fan: Water spreads horizontally as it descends while remaining in contact with bedrock.^[5]
• Frozen: Any waterfall which has some element of ice.^[5]
• Horsetail: Descending water maintains some contact with bedrock.^[5]
• Plunge: Water descends vertically, losing contact with the bedrock surface.^[5]
• Punchbowl: Water descends in a constricted form and then spreads out in a wider pool.^[5]
• Segmented: Distinctly separate flows of water form as it descends.^[5]
• Tiered: Water drops in a series of distinct steps or falls.^[5]
• Multi-step: A series of waterfalls one after another of roughly the same size each with its own sunken plunge pool.^[5]

Source: free encyclopedia and other educational materials

Given coordinates will lead you on the platform near Kjosfossen Waterfall. The best way how to reach this spot is by the train. The train goes from Flam to Myrdal approximately every hour.

To log this Earthcache, please:     

1. take a picture of youself and your's GPS on the Flamsbana platform showing the waterfall in the background. IT IS OPTIONAL

2. send me via email (Aucoin.J@seznam.cz) how are waterfalls formed. 

3. on the left side of the train platform when you are looking at the waterfall is info table (on the rock). What is written on this info table ?