Water flowing over Malham Cove. December 6th 2015, following a period of heavy rain, Malham Cove temporarily becomes the UK's highest free falling waterfall. The 80m high vertical limestone cliff in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales National Park was formed in the last ice age but water has not been seen to cascade from its rim in living memory (See 'additional info') © Ian Wray /Alamy
'Malham Cove' is an impressive 80m high limestone cliff, situated north of the village of Malham in the heart of the UK's 'Yorkshire Dales National Park'. The feature was formed about 12,000 years ago at the end of the last ice age, as the result of meltwaters from the huge glaciers to the north, cascading down the scarp slope of the 'Middle Craven Fault'. Over thousands of years, the head-ward erosion of this melt-water wore away the rock beneath, cutting back and steepening the slope to form the impressive vertical rock face we see today. At the height of the pre-historic river's flow, it would have been a truly magnificent sight, with a 50m wide river cascading over the 80m vertical drop. The limestone bedrock is however quite soluble and over time, as the flow from the glaciers reduced, the river eroded an alternative course through underground cave systems diverting the flow away from the Cove. * As a result of this, water ceased to flow over the Cove and the cliff took on the 'dry' appearance it has today, a situation which has persisted throughout living memory and probably for several thousands of years. On Sunday 6th December 2015 however, following a period of exceptionally wet weather and the subsequent inundation of the cave systems, a river formed in the 'dry valley' above the cove and once more began to flow over the precipice. For that single day in 2015, Malham Cove temporarily became the UK's highest free falling waterfall. The event featured in national and international news, and prompted visitors to attend from far and wide to view the spectacle. * To this day the remaining stream from Malham Tarn can be seen disappearing underground at the 'Water Sinks' north of Malham Cove. It is also notable that 'Malham Beck' does flow from the base of the Cove and for many years, it was believed that this was the re-emergence of the water from the 'Water sinks'. Testing with fluorescent dye has since proved that this is not the case.
Size: 3161px × 4742px
Location: Malham Cove, Malham, North Yorkshire, UK
Photo credit: © Ian Wray / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: 2015, archival, cascade, cliff, cove, dales, december, england, falling, flood, flooding, flowing, free, geology, limestone, malham, national, news, park, precipice, reportage, tourism, travel, vertical, water, waterfall, weather, yorkshire
