Laffey: Niagara Falls embraces the senses

Perfectly carved during an Ice Age more than 10,000 years ago, Niagara Falls is the pièce de resistance of the Niagara escarpment. The limestone underpinnings that muscle to the surface forming bluffs along the Mississippi River, return underground only to rise again further east. The glaciation carved not only the Great Lakes but a 36-mile strait that connects the lakes Erie with Ontario.

When the strait, or Niagara River, reaches Niagara, N.Y., and Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada, it creates three waterfalls — Bridal Veil Falls and the American Falls on the U.S. side of the border and Horseshoe Falls in Canada. The height of the falls is impressive; the drop is more than 165 feet. The flow rate impresses too. During high flow, every minute more than 6 million cubic feet of water roar over the crest.

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