Glossary of Terms

Cataractology ‡

Waterfall Forms

Generally speaking, natural waterfalls come in two types - plunge and cascade. Everything else that appears in the "form" is there to narrow down the shape of the waterfall for better identification. This is, of course, a human conceit based on our need to put a label on everything. No waterfall gives a hoot about the labels that we apply to them.

Dams fall into a category of their own: Some are a simple concrete wall, others still have at least some remnant of the waterfall that existed before the construction of the dam.

Plunge

A plunge waterfall pours over a lip and drops straight down without making contact with the rock behind it. Of course, there are exceptions to this rule (there always are) such as terraced falls.

Cascade

Unlike a plunge waterfall, a cascade maintains contact with the ground over which it is flowing for all or most of its descent. Many cascades begin or end with a plunge.

Classic

A classic waterfall is one where the maximum width of the flow is approximately equal to the height of the waterfall.

Curtain

A curtain waterfall is one where the maximum width is noticeably greater than the height of the waterfall.

Ribbon

A ribbon waterfall is one where the height of the waterfall is noticeably greater than its maximum width.

Terraced

A terraced waterfall is one where several segments of the waterfall are separated by "Terraces" or level steps. For example, Albion Falls is a Terraced Classic Cascade.

Complex

Usually applied to cascades, a complex cascade usually refers to one which alters the direction of its flow during its descent, or has some other noticeable deformation.

Talus

Usually applied to cascades, talus is detritus that has been washed down by the force of the flow. A talus cascade is one where the substrate over which the cascade flows is composed mainly of rocks that have been washed down by the flow of the cascade.

Flow

Seasonal

There is flow during and after the winter melt and during and after heavy rain, otherwise flow will be minimal at best.

Very Seasonal

There is flow for two or three days a year when the thaw is at its peak, otherwise nothing. Waterfalls that fall into this category have generally been left out, unless I was lucky enough to be there on the right day and managed to capture the occasion.

Year Round

There is generally flow all year, however this may diminish in summer and autumn. Flow at waterfalls is dependent on flow in the source. Very few falls have good flow after six weeks of drought.

What's In a Name?

The names that are used on this site are the 'commonly used' names, that is to say the name by which most local residents refer to a waterfall. Where this differs from the 'official' name (or there are other names in use) these are given as 'Other Names', along with who refers to the waterfall by that name. Search takes these other names into account.

Trails

Where available, trails are shown on Waterfall pages and Parking pages.

Types

Several different types of trail are shown:

• Return - the trail goes somewhere and stops and the only way back is to retrace your steps;
• Through - the trail goes from a defined start to a defined end. A through trail is also a return trail if, instead of using alternative transport at the destination, you choose to retrace your steps;
• Star - the trail goes to a central location and multiple return trails branch from that central location;
• Loop - the trail ends at the same location where it starts but there is no retracing of footsteps.

Length

Lengths of trails are approximate. They are recorded by the same app that records the actual route, running on a GPS recorder on a phone, and are the sum of the lengths of the segments that make up the trail. Additionally, because trail segments get re-used, it is not easy to determine whether a user will walk over the same segment once or twice.

For Return and Star trails, the trail length is double the sum of the lengths of the segments as most segments will be walked twice - out and back. For Through and Loop trails, the length is not doubled. So, for excursions from a route trail, the length of those excursions is only counted once.

For these reasons, trail lengths should be taken as a rough guide only, but in 99% of cases are close enough. If you are fine walking 2km but will die horribly if you walk an extra 100m, don't take any excursions from a loop trail that has a length of 1.95km.

Search

Tolerance/Limit

"Tolerance" is the amount of space around a feature that classes as a "hit" on that feature. This is used to make hitting a feature easier on mobile devices. The downside of this is that by zooming out, a hit could return a very large number of features, therefore the number of features that are returned on a successful hit is "Limit"ed, so as not to "break the intronets". In the event that this limit is exceeded, the limit will show 'feature limit'/'features actually hit'.

If you feel that a tap on the screen should have returned a particular feature but it did not, try zooming in and trying again.

Other Stuff

Just Because...

We chase waterfalls because we enjoy it and it's fun, so, here are some definitions of dubious provenance (Jona)...

Cataract

(n) Waterfall, from the greek Καταρράκτης (waterfall).

Cataractology

(n) The study of waterfalls, from the greek Καταρράκτης (waterfall) and λογίᾱ (study of).

Cataractologist

(n) A person who studies waterfalls, see cataractology for etymology.

Cataractophilia

(n) The love of waterfalls, from the greek Καταρράκτης (waterfall) and φιλία (love of).

Cataractophile

(n) Lover of waterfalls, see Cataractophilia for etymology.

Cataractophobia

(n) Extreme or irrational fear or dislike of waterfalls, from the greek Καταρράκτης (waterfall) and φόβος (fear or morbid fear).

Cataractophobe

(n) Person with an extreme or irrational fear or dislike of waterfalls, see Cataractophobia for etymology.

Cataractophobia is a terrible condition and it is unfortunate that it is all too frequently used as an excuse by persons who believe that they have better things to do (eg playing video games or doomscrolling) than getting out into nature, chasing waterfalls.