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这张照片摄于1954年7月28日,拍摄者Charles Parent。照片当时登在The Standard(St. Catharines的一家报纸上)。报纸上的原文是这样写的:'Massive shelf of Rock Starts Downward Plunge. The American falls presented its new face today to thousands of tourists-a face strangely distorted by the collapse into the Niagara river gorge of tons of rock that made up the popular observation area, Prospect point. Before the awed gaze of countless visitors to this famed resort area, an estimated 185,000 tons of rock slipped with a thunderous roar Wednesday from the top of the 170-foot chasm. It was the worst rockfall here since Jan. 17, 1931, when a huge section of the American falls rumbled into the gorge. The sudden and spectacular facelifting ripped away a major portion of Prospect point and carved out a tremendous pie-shaped hunk of the American falls itself. Engineers for the Niagara frontier state parks commission estimated the size of the rockfall as 40 feet long from the lip of the gorge, 50 feet wide, and 150 feet deep. An estimated 20 feet of the falls crestline crashed to a point 70 feet down the face."
Prospect Point是观赏美国瀑布最佳的场所,但是河水的风化令岩石不断坠落。1954年7月份,公园管理处发现一条裂缝,意味着这块岩石可能要分崩离析了。几小时之内,18500吨的岩石就往峡谷里掉。十天后,工作人员就将残留未掉下去的2700吨岩石给铲掉了。后来在这个位置盖了一个丑陋的瞭望。 |
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