Livingstone Falls

Livingstone Falls

waterfall

Part of	Congo River
Drainage basin	Congo Basin
Country	Republic of the Congo
Edey de administrative territorial entity insyd	Pool Department
Coordinate location	4°19′19″S 15°12′28″E, 4°50′0″S 14°30′0″E
Start point	Kinshasa
Destination point	Matadi

A cataract of Inga Falls

Livingstone Falls as seen by Stanley

Livingstone Falls map

Livingstone Falls (French: Chutes Livingstone; Dutch: Livingstonewatervallen), dem name give British explorer David Livingstone, be a succession of enormous rapids on de lower course of de Congo River insyd west equatorial Africa, downstream from Malebo Pool insyd de Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Description

Livingstone Falls dey consist of a series of rapids wey dey drop 270 metres (900 ft) insyd 350 kilometres (220 mi). Dem dey start downstream of Malebo Pool den end insyd Matadi insyd Bas-Congo. De Congo River get de second largest flow rate insyd de world after de Amazon, wich get no falls anaa rapids (except near ein sources). De lowest rapids of Livingstone Falls, therefore, be de world ein largest waterfall insyd terms of flow rate — provided one accept dese rapids as dem be a waterfall. An interesting aspect of de 350-kilometre-long (220 mi) Livingstone Falls be de width of de channel. De channel be very narrow: insyd several stretches de channel width be less dan 300 metres (1,000 ft) den for de majority of de length de channel be less dan 800 metres (3,000 ft) wide. Dis be an extraordinarily narrow channel since de river flow rate typically dey exceed 42,000 cubic metres per second (1,500,000 cu ft/s). Investigations insyd 2008 den 2009 show dat sections between de rapids fi be as deep as 200 m (700 ft). De powerful rapids separate fish populations from one anoda, wey dey cause new species to evolve insyd close proximity to one anoda.

History

Although na he explore de upper Congo, Livingstone never travel go dis part of de river den de falls wey dem name insyd ein honour by Henry Morton Stanley. Stanley describe de falls as

"...de wildest stretch of river dat I have ever seen. Take a strip of sea blown over by a hurricane, four miles insyd length den half a mile insyd breadth, den a pretty accurate conception of ein leaping waves fi be obtained. Sam of de troughs be 100 yards insyd length, den from one to de oda de mad river plunged. Na der be first a rush down into de bottom of an immense trough, den then, by ein sheer force, de enormous volume go lift einself upward steeply until, wey dey gather einself into a ridge, e suddenly hurl einself 20 anaa 30 feet straight upward, before rolling down into anoda trough. If I look up anaa down along dis angry scene, every interval of 50 anaa 100 yards of am be mark by wave-towers - dema collapse into foam den spray, de mad clash of watery hills, bounding mounds den heaving billows, while de base of either bank, wey dey consist of a long line of piled boulders of massive size, dem bury insyd de tempestuous surf. De roar be tremendous den deafening. I fi only compare am to de thunder of an express train thru a rock tunnel."

Since de falls, wich start plus de Yellala Falls just above Matadi, dey a barrier to navigation on de lower part of de river, de Matadi-Kinshasa Railway dey construct to by-pass dem.

"Grand Inga" proposed hydroelectric project

Inga Falls on Congo River be a group of rapids insyd de latter portion of de Livingstone Falls, 285 kilometres (177 mi) after de Malebo Pool. De Congo falls about 96 metres within dis set of cataracts. De mean annual flow rate at Inga Falls be about 42,000 cubic metres per second (1,500,000 cu ft/s). Given dis flow rate den de 96-metre (315 ft) fall, e be possible to calculate dat de Inga Falls alone has a power potential of approximately 40 GW.

Insyd 2014, Inga Falls be de site of two large hydro-electric power plants wey na e be considered for a much larger hydro-electric power generating station wey dem know as Grand Inga. De Grand Inga project, if dem plete am, go be de largest hydro-electric power generating facility on Earth. De current project scope dey call for de use of a flow rate 26,400 cubic metres per second (930,000 cu ft/s) at a net head of 150 metres (490 ft); dis be equivalent to a generating capacity of about 38.9GW. Dis hydro-electric generator go be almost double de current world record holder, wich be de Three Gorges facility at 22. GW on de Yangtze River insyd China.