Iguassu Falls on the border of Brazil and Argentina is one of the
widest waterfalls in the world - one and a half miles across. In flood 13 million litres of water spill over every second. All the world's great broad waterfalls: Victoria, Niagara and here, Iguassu, are only found in the lower courses of their rivers. In their final stages rivers broaden and flow wearily across their flat flood plains. Each wet season here, in Brazil, the Parana river overflows its banks and floods an area the size of England. The Pantanal - the world's largest wetland. In these slow-flowing waters aquatic plants flourish like the Victoria giant water lily with leaves two metres across.


位于巴西和阿根廷之间的伊瓜苏瀑布，是世界上最宽的瀑布之一，宽达2400多米。洪水季节它的每秒流量达到1.3万立方米。世界上所有的大瀑布，维多利亚瀑布，尼亚加拉瀑布和这座伊瓜苏瀑布，都位于河流的下游。在河流的最终阶段，河面变得宽阔，它们会缓缓流过平坦的洪泛区。巴西每年的雨季，洪水都会漫过巴拉那河的堤，淹没面积相当于英国大小的地区。潘塔纳尔沼泽地是世界上面积最大的湿地。在这些水流舒缓的水域，水生植物异常茂盛，比如这种维多利亚王莲，它叶子的直径可达2米。