Horizontal Falls

File:Horizontal Falls, Western Australia.png

NASA satellite image showing the two gorges. Note the white plumes at the gaps, caused by surface turbulence as the water flows through them. This image would have been taken on a rising tide.

The Horizontal Falls or Horizontal Waterfalls (nicknamed the "Horries") is the name given to a natural phenomenon on the coast of the Kimberley region in Western Australia.

Despite their name, the Horizontal Falls are a fast-moving tidal flow through two narrow, closely aligned gorges of the McLarty Range, located in Talbot Bay. The direction of the flow reverses with each change of tide. As tides in the Kimberley can reach 10 m (33 ft), a peak tide gives rise to a significant difference in the sea level on either side of each gorge.

The northern, most seaward gorge () is 20 m (66 ft)-wide and the southern, more inland gorge () is 12 m (39 ft). Above each of the gorges are natural reservoirs between 6–8 km (3.7–5.0 mi)-long which fill and empty with seawater through the gorge openings. The inner gorge is also partly fed by fresh water from Poulton Creek.

External links

• http://www.kimberley-australia.com/Kimberley_HorizontalFalls.php