The waterfalls are not only formed on the mainland, but also in the water of the oceans: it is one of these submarine waterfalls to hold the primacy as largest waterfall in the world. It is the Cateratta della Strait of Denmarkwhich separates Iceland and Greenland in the Atlantic Ocean, and is invisible to our eyes. About 160 kmperforms a jump of about 2000 m along an underwater slope and has a flow of water that exceeds i 3.2 million cubic meters per second A huge amount compared to 1800 cubic meters at the second of the Niagara waterfalls. But how is it possible that a waterfall forms in the ocean? This happens thanks to the difference in density that is among the cold, dense and heavy waters from Nordic seas and the warmer, less dense and lighter than the IrMinger sealocated just beyond the Strait of Denmark.
How the Cascata della Strait of Denmark was formed
In the seas of Greenland, Norway and Iceland surface waters have one Very low temperature and one high salinitydue to the formation of sea ice, during which the salts are not included in the ice but remain dissolved in the water below. These characteristics make the waters of the Nordic seas particularly dense and therefore heavy. Therefore, while the ocean currents transport them to the south, where the Strait of Denmark is located, tend to sink under the hottest waters they meet here and which are directed north.
In the Strait of Denmark there is one submerged dorsal which rises from the seabed for about 3500 m. The layer of cold and heavy water from the Nordic seas, which flows deeply, when she meets this protrusion exceeds it. Cold water is partly poured along the rocky slope, forming a 2000 m high waterfall And going to feed a huge and deep “puddle” at the base of the slope. From here the water flows on the seabed reaching the sea of Irminger in the Atlantic Ocean. Another part of the water that exceeds the ridge mixes with the hot water above. The amount of water that goes beyond the dorsal is enormous: it is a flow that exceeds i 3.2 million cubic meters per second (By comparison, the scope of the Niagara waterfalls is about 1800 cubic meters per second).
The role of submarine waterfalls
Already towards the end of the nineteenth century the oceanographers knew the existence of submarine waterfalls, but only in the seventies of the twentieth century More advanced technologies have made it possible to study them better. In the world exist Numerous submarine waterfallswho play an important role in Terrestrial climate adjustment. The Cascata della Strait of Denmark, in particular, channeling cold water in the Atlantic Ocean feeds the so -called Amoc (Atlantic Southern Overturning Circulation), a Oceanic currents system which distributes heat and nutrients in the waters of the Atlantic Ocean and which mitigates the climate in Europe. The current global warming However, it could compromise the flow of cold water in the Strait of Denmark. In fact, the polar waters, due to their increasingly high temperatures and the progressive decrease in their salinity due to the contribution of fresh water from the merger of glacial caps, go deep with difficulty gradually.
