The largest waterfall on Earth is nearly impossible to visit and cannot be seen: do you know its location?

Where is the largest waterfall in the world located? No, it’s not Victoria Falls in Africa or Angel Falls in Venezuela. In fact, it is the Denmark Strait waterfall, and it is indeed larger than the aforementioned waterfalls combined, as reported by IFLScience.

The Denmark Strait waterfall is significantly larger than any waterfall on our planet. However, it is quite challenging to see and even harder to visit. The reason is that this waterfall is not located on land but underwater.

The Denmark Strait waterfall is situated between Iceland and Greenland. It is the largest waterfall in the world, as water cascades down from a height of 3,500 meters from the top to its base. The waterfall is located on a sloped part of the sea floor, directing cold water from the Greenland Sea into the Irminger Sea, thus feeding the currents of the Atlantic Ocean. In reality, the height of the Denmark Strait waterfall is 2,000 meters, as the flow of water lands in a deep basin that encompasses the rest of the slope.

The width of the waterfall is 480 kilometers, and the volume of water it sends into the Atlantic Ocean every second is approximately 1.5 times greater than the volume of the largest pyramid in the world—the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt.

Rivers flowing through the Earth's valleys create waterfalls that are natural wonders, but no waterfall on land is larger or more powerful than those underwater, with the largest being located in the Denmark Strait.

But how can a waterfall exist underwater? The answer lies in simple physics: cold water is denser than warm water, and in the Denmark Strait, the cold water flowing south from the Greenland Sea meets the warmer water from the Irminger Sea. The cold, dense water quickly sinks beneath the warmer water and flows down a massive drop on the ocean floor, creating a downward current that transports 3.5 million cubic meters of water every second.

However, the water rushing down the waterfall moves at a much lower speed than waterfalls on land: approximately 0.5 m/s or 1.8 km/h. For comparison, the water at Niagara Falls falls at a speed of 30.5 m/s.

The Denmark Strait waterfall was formed by glaciers during the period between 17,500 and 11,500 years ago, during the last Ice Age. This waterfall is crucial for water circulation in the Atlantic Ocean and is vital for the local marine ecosystem.

The Denmark Strait waterfall is part of a system of ocean currents known as the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation. This system moves water from north to south and back again over a long cycle in the Atlantic Ocean.

The circulation process begins when warm surface water moves toward the poles, where it cools and forms sea ice. As this ice forms, salt remains in the ocean water. Due to the high salt content, the water becomes denser, sinks, and is carried southward at depth. Eventually, the water rises back to the surface and warms up, thus completing the circulation cycle.

This system of ocean currents brings oxygen, nutrients, and organic matter essential for sustaining marine life.

However, the largest waterfall on Earth cannot be seen beneath the waves in the Denmark Strait, nor can it be detected from space, except through mapping indicators such as temperature and salinity.