Falls and Cataracts: Eight Waterfalls by How They Drop

Sutherland Falls drops in three leaps from a hanging valley above Lake Quill in New Zealand's Fiordland National Park, and is among the tallest waterfalls in the country. It was named for the explorer Donald Sutherland, credited with its European discovery in 1880.

Tugela Falls plunges in a series of free leaps down an escarpment of South Africa's Drakensberg mountains on the Tugela River. It is counted among the tallest waterfalls in the world, though its flow is highly seasonal.

Gullfoss on Iceland's Hvita River falls in two stages into a narrow gorge along the Golden Circle tourist route. Early twentieth century campaigns to stop it being dammed for hydroelectric power are remembered as a landmark moment in Icelandic conservation.

Multnomah Falls in Oregon's Columbia River Gorge drops in two tiers joined by the Benson Bridge, and is among the most visited natural landmarks in the Pacific Northwest. Underground springs on Larch Mountain feed its flow.

Dettifoss on Iceland's Jokulsa a Fjollum river is often cited as the most powerful waterfall in Europe by volume of water discharged. Heavy glacial sediment gives the falls their grey-brown color.

At Murchison Falls the Victoria Nile in Uganda forces its way through a gorge only a few meters wide before a powerful drop. The falls lie at the heart of Murchison Falls National Park, one of Uganda's largest protected wildlife areas.

Khone Phapheng Falls is a wide series of rapids and cascades on the Mekong in southern Laos, the largest waterfall in Southeast Asia by volume of flow. Its width and layout have long obstructed continuous river navigation between Laos and Cambodia.

Boyoma Falls is a series of seven cataracts on the Congo River near Kisangani in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, together carrying an exceptional volume of flow. They mark the point where the Congo becomes navigable downstream toward the Atlantic.