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Mardalsfossen

geography Maturity 11-13 Next article →

Mardalsfossen is a huge waterfall in Norway. It sits in the Molde Municipality. This place is in Møre og Romsdal county. The falls are part of the Mardøla river. This river flows from a hanging valley. It goes into a lake called Eikesdalsvatnet. The falls are northwest of Eikesdalen village. Some people call it one of the tallest waterfalls in Europe.

The waterfall has a special shape. It is a tiered waterfall. This means it falls in steps. There are two very large drops. You can also see several smaller drops lower down. The falls are wide on average. The highest vertical drop is one of the tallest in Norway. Different groups have different numbers for the height. The SSB says the upper drop is 412 meters. The World Waterfall Database says it is 438 meters.

People use the water to make power. This is called hydroelectric use. The water flows over the falls during the summer. You can see it from June 20 to August 20. At other times, the water goes through a hydroelectric scheme. This means the water is channeled away. The summer flow is now less than 110 cubic meters per second. The highest flow ever recorded was 1,100 cubic meters per second.

This place has a big history. In 1970, many people wanted to protect the falls. Arne Næss helped lead a protest. He was the founder of the Deep Ecology movement. He and 300 others tied themselves together. They did this to protest a new dam. Later, the falls became a place for art. An artist named Antony Gormley showed his work there. His piece was called Another Time. It sat in the mist from the falls.

The name of the falls tells a story. It comes from the Mardalen valley. The name has two parts. The word foss means waterfall. The valley name comes from the river name Mara. Mara is the old name for the Mardøla river. That old name might come from a word meaning to dig or die. The word dal means valley. The falls were once on the coat of arms for Nesset Municipality.

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