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Iguazú / Iguacu falls

Moonraker (1979)

The site consists of the national park and national reserve. The park is located less than 5km from the Paraguay border in Misiones Province, northeastern Argentina, with the reserve contiguous to the west. The Iguazú River forms the northern boundary of both the reserve and park, and also the southern boundary of Iguaçu National Park in Brazil. 25°31'-25°43'S, 54°08'-54°32'W.
Iguazú National Park is part of a large plateau formed by basaltic lavas during the Mesozoic Era, more than 135 million years ago. Lava surfaced through tectonic faults and cracks, without formation of volcanic cones, and covered some one million sq. km in Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina and Uruguay. The lava covered a broad portion of the Botucatu Triassic Desert and interleaved layers of sandstone and basalt have formed. The Iguazú River has its source in the Serra do Mar mountains at an elevation of 1,300m, a short distance from the Atlantic Coast, and flows west for over 500km into the Parana River, immediately to the west of Puerto Iguazú. The Iguazú Falls, located in the west of the park, are made up of 150-270 subsidiary falls depending on the flow rate, which seasonally varies between 300 cu.m/sec. and 6,500 cu.m/sec.. The falls form a semi-circular front of 2,700m, of which 800m is under Brazilian jurisdiction. A proliferation of elongated islands, islets and rocks create numerous waterfalls which together form the large fan of the Iguazú Waterfalls. The falls drop an average of 72m and the river immediately turns into anarrow, 80m deep canyon, which has been enlarged by erosion of the basalt bedrock. The falls were probably initially located at the confluence of the Iguazú and Parana Rivers some 20,000 years ago, but erosion has caused them to recede 28km upstream to their present location.
In 1993, there were approximately 530,300 visitors to the park, the highest concentration being during the Holy Week, when about 10,300 people visited. Facilities include an international airport, hotel, youth camp, camp and picnic grounds, kiosks, restaurants, an extensive network of trails, boat trips and a small museum in the administrative centre located in Puerto Iguazú. Facilities are also available in Puerto Iguazú. An ambitious plan to improve existing facilities was recently prepared and includes building a new information centre, signpost trails and the relocation of bars and restaurants (Administración de Parques Nacionales, pers. comm., 1995)..