Tombolos-Stops-1

= = = = = ​STOP 1 = = Blue Shoals Falls = Air Temperature 41ºF Soil Temperature 48ºF GPS Coordinates 34 49.269’N, 83 43.356’W

This water fall is a good example of a **Cap Rock** Waterfall that is to say this waterfall was formed when a stream began to fall over an area where the top layer that is hard erosion resistant (in this case its limestone) and is under laid with softer stone (in this case shale). As the water flows it erodes the softer stone at a faster pace than the harder top layer. This eventually leads to the top layer collapsing and often forming a Plunge Pool as you will see in Stop 3. (The Canadian Encyclopedia) When approaching this waterfall the first thing noticed is the pool of water sitting above the larger of the two falls. **Tiered** waterfalls are characterized by multiple distinct drops in relatively close succession to one another.(Swan, & Goss, 2004) The hydrological significance can been seen as well. When the water falls off the first drop, erosion of the shale creates a small plunge pool. Falling water then raises the water level above the **Brink,** which is the highest point on the fall.(Swan, & Goss, 2004) With the help of gravity, and the raised water level, water then spills, over the brink and drops into the next plunge pool where it meets the straight channel and eventually becomes a braided stream due to the raised bed loads in some areas.

Brian Swan and Dean Goss.(2004) //World Waterfall Database.// Retrieved from [] P.I. Campbell and I.A. Reid . "Waterfall." //The Canadian Encyclopedia//. Historica Foundation, 2009. 29 Sep 2009. []