List of cliffs by continent

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The following is an incomplete list of cliffs of the world.

Asia[edit]

Above sea[edit]

Above land[edit]

Europe[edit]

Above sea[edit]

Above land[edit]

North America[edit]

Mount Thor, Baffin Island, Nunavut, Canada, commonly regarded as the highest vertical drop on Earth
Southwest face of El Capitan from Yosemite Valley
The face of Notch Peak at sunset
Ketil's west face in Tasermiut, Greenland

Several big granite faces in the Arctic region vie for the title of 'highest vertical drop on Earth', but reliable measurements are not always available. The possible contenders include (measurements are approximate):

Other notable cliffs include:

South America[edit]

Salto Angel from Isla Ratón, Venezuela.

Africa[edit]

Above sea[edit]

Above land[edit]

  • Drakensberg Amphitheatre, South Africa 1,200 m (3,900 ft) above base, 5 km (3.1 mi) long. The Tugela Falls, the world's second tallest waterfall, falls 948 m (3,110 ft) over the edge of the cliff face.
  • Mount Meru, Tanzania Caldera Cliffs, 1,500 m (4,900 ft)
  • Tsaranoro, Madagascar, 700 m (2,300 ft) above base
  • Karambony, Madagascar, 380 m (1,250 ft) above base.
  • Innumerable peaks in the Drakensberg mountains of South Africa are considered cliff formations. The Drakensberg Range is regarded, together with Ethiopia's Simien Mountains, as one of the two finest erosional mountain ranges on Earth. Because of their near-unique geological formation, the range has an extraordinarily high percentage of cliff faces making up its length, particularly along the highest portion of the range.[citation needed] This portion of the range is virtually uninterrupted cliff faces, ranging from 600 m (2,000 ft) to 1,200 m (3,900 ft) in height for almost 250 km (160 mi). Of all, the "Drakensberg Amphitheatre" (mentioned above) is most well known.[citation needed] Other notable cliffs include the Trojan Wall, Cleft Peak, Injisuthi Triplets, Cathedral Peak, Monk's Cowl, Mnweni Buttress, etc. The cliff faces of the Blyde River Canyon, still part of the Drakensberg, may be over 800 m (2,600 ft), with the main face of the Swadini Buttress approximately 1,000 m (3,300 ft) tall.

Oceania[edit]

Above sea[edit]

John Gully oil painting of Milford Sound
Milford Sound's cliffs
  • The Lion, New Zealand, 1,302 m above Milford Sound (drops from approx 1,280 m to sea level in a very short distance)
  • The Elephant, New Zealand, has cliffs falling approx 1,180m into Milford Sound, and a 900 m drop in less than 300 m horizontally
  • Kalaupapa, Hawaii, 1,010 m above Pacific Ocean
  • Great Australian Bight
  • Zuytdorp Cliffs in Western Australia
  • Ball's Pyramid, a sea stack 562 m high and only 200 m across at its base
  • The Twelve Apostles (Victoria). A series of sea stacks in Australia, ranging from approximately 50 to 70 m above the Bass Strait
  • Tasman National Park, Tasmania, has 300 m dolerite sea cliffs dropping directly to the ocean in columnar form
  • Lovers Leap, Highcliff, and The Chasm, on Otago Peninsula, New Zealand, all 200 to 300 m above the Pacific Ocean

Above land[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ https://hoyorkney.com/attractions/hoy-geography/st-johns-head/
  2. ^ "Home - South West Coast Path". southwestcoastpath.com. Archived from the original on 2011-06-11.
  3. ^ "Federation Of The Bulgarian Alpine Clubs" (PDF). pza.org.pl.
  4. ^ Jennings, Ken (10 June 2013). "Meet Canada's Mount Thor: The World's Steepest, Tallest Cliff". Condé Nast Traveler. Retrieved 2021-04-02.
  5. ^ "Polar Sun Spire". SummitPost.Org. Archived from the original on 2008-12-02. Retrieved 2008-07-31.
  6. ^ "Climbing in Tasermiut". bigwall.dk. Archived from the original on 2008-12-05. Retrieved 2008-09-02.
  7. ^ "The American Alpine Journal" (PDF). 1986. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 28, 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-02.
  8. ^ The Summer 1998 Slovak Expedition to Greenland (Jamesák International) Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ Jon Roberts: Agdlerussakasit (1750 m), east face, new route on east face; The Butler (900 m) and Mark (900 m), first ascents. American Alpine Journal (AAJ) 2004, pp. 266–267
  10. ^ "Geology Fieldnotes". National Park Service. Archived from the original on 2013-05-22. Retrieved 2010-11-28.
  11. ^ "Backpacking - Kootenay National Park". National Park Service. Archived from the original on 2019-09-29. Retrieved 2020-09-23.
  12. ^ "Catalogue of place names in northern East Greenland". Geological Survey of Denmark. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
  13. ^ Mount Wilson 1:25000 Map. NSW Govt. May 2014.