Between Iceland and Greenland lies the world's largest waterfall, at least technically. This underwater formation is located in the Denmark Strait, where water descends 3,500 meters from the top to the bottom.
Its height is double that of Angel Falls in Venezuela, but it is not visible from the surface, making its magnitude less apparent. According to Livescience, the waterfall spans the same width as the Denmark Strait, approximately 480 kilometers, with a seafloor that descends over 500 to 600 kilometers at a gentle slope.
These characteristics lead to a much slower water flow compared to other waterfalls. The speed here reaches only 0.5 meters per second, in contrast to the 30.5 meters per second recorded at Niagara Falls.
The waterfall formed between 17,500 and 11,500 years ago during the last Ice Age when glaciers carved the strait. Today, it channels polar waters from the seas of Greenland, Norway, and Iceland into the Irminger Sea, a crucial region in the North Atlantic for global ocean circulation.
North of the waterfall, the water has a depth of approximately 400 meters. However, only the lower 200 meters descend the slope, as the upper half mixes with water flowing north near the surface.
Upon exiting the strait, the lower water level continues southward along the seafloor towards Antarctica, where it integrates into the global flow known as thermohaline circulation.
Despite its grandeur, this phenomenon is completely invisible from the surface. According to Anna Sánchez Vidal, a marine science professor at the University of Barcelona who participated in research documenting the waterfall, 'typical sunny Arctic conditions' prevail in the Denmark Strait. The waterfall is also undetectable from space, except through indicators like sea temperature or salinity.
While other documented underwater waterfalls exist, none compare in size to this one. Many of these, known as 'drop points,' are found on continental margins and share characteristics with terrestrial waterfalls, although they are considerably smaller.