Ilaria Rosella Pagliaro The largest waterfall in the world is not Niagara or Angel Falls, but is located in the Denmark Strait: a unique underwater phenomenon, unfortunately threatened by climate change
Not many people know that the biggest waterfall in the world lies deeply hidden beneath the ocean. The natural wonder, located in the Denmark Strait between Greenland and Iceland, dwarfs any terrestrial waterfall in height. Here, water tumbles over 10,000 feet from the Greenland Sea into the Irminger Sea—a drop that far surpasses Venezuela’s famed Angel Falls, which stands at around 3,900 feet (1.2 kilometers).
The science behind the Denmark Strait cataract
The unique underwater topography of the Denmark Strait—where the seafloor abruptly drops from 1,600 feet (500 meters) to more than 10,000 feet (3,000 meters) over a relatively short distance—accelerates deep ocean currents. This phenomenon gives rise to the massive underwater waterfall, which cascades into the vast trenches of the North Atlantic Ocean.
The Denmark Strait cataract stretches for an impressive 100 miles (160 kilometers) and carries an astonishing volume of 175 million cubic feet of water per second (5 million cubic meters), about 2,000 times the peak flow of Niagara Falls. When it was discovered in 1989, it stunned the scientific community. The waterfall forms due to differences in water density. Cold water from the northern seas, being denser, sinks beneath the warmer water of the Irminger Sea as the two currents meet. This sinking motion creates an enormous underwater cascade.
Invisible yet powerful
This Denmark Strait waterfall is not visible for the human eye because it happens in the ocean deep; instead, it can only be measured with the use of advanced instruments that show small changes in temperature and salinity. These gradients illustrate the powerful force behind shaping our ocean dynamics.
Climate change and its impact on underwater waterfalls
@123rf
The underwater waterfall of the Denmark Strait is one of the rarest and amazing phenomena, impressive in both size and peculiar mechanism. Though invisible from above the sea, it plays a not-less-important role in keeping the balance of marine ecosystems and Earth’s climate conditions.
Unfortunately, this nature wonder is threatened by global warming. Global warming temperatures and shifts in ocean currents are reducing the volume of cold, dense water driving the waterfall. This change has severe ramifications for the marine ecosystems and the global climate.
