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NEMO I mentioned in the video: www.nemo-ocean.eu
NEMO, which stands for "Core for European Modeling of the Ocean", is a cutting-edge modeling framework sustainably developed by a European consortium for research activities and forecasting services in ocean and climate sciences.
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About 2,000 miles off the East coast of Africa, this island is one of the most beautiful natural places on earth and also has a striking feature. it looks like an underwater waterfall. So, can there be a waterfall underwater? The images we see on social media, Are they real? Or is someone fooling us again? Let's get to the point. This is Le Morne Brabant. A peninsula located at the southwestern tip of the island of Mauritius. If you look here from sea level, the first thing you notice is this 556-meter-high hill. This is a basalt monolith hill with many caves and steep slopes. However, when we look at the region from a little higher, we encounter a view that is more interesting than the hill.
The waters seem to flow downward in the lagoon surrounding the island. When we look at the same place from satellite images with the help of a tool like Google Earth, we see a similar shape. Could this be an underwater waterfall? Let's ask the question that way: Could there be a waterfall underwater? Yes, there could be. Actually the world's largest waterfall is underwater. And interestingly, again close to an island. This area between Iceland and Greenland is called the Denmark Strait. Yes, although there are only two countries there, 3 countries are mentioned in this sentence. Because technically, Greenland is an autonomous region under the Kingdom of Denmark. There is an interesting natural phenomenon in the depths of this strait that connects the Arctic Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean. The bodies of water close to the Island of Iceland are very cold, around 2 °C. As the water reaches its maximum density at these near-freezing temperatures, the cold body of water descends to the seafloor when it encounters warmer water coming from the Greenland side. There is an astonishing topography under the seas as well as above it. The surface on the sea floor is not completely flat. Just like over the sea, it has its ups and downs. And one of them is a 3500-meter slope under the sea in the Denmark Strait. The cold waters on Iceland Island side are pouring down this slope under the sea at a great speed. It is estimated that there is a flow of 3.5 million cubic meters per second, which is about 350 times the amount of water carried by the Amazon river. The highest waterfall we know on land is Angel Falls in Venezuela. When we compare this uninterrupted water flow of 979 meters with that in the Denmark Strait, we understand the enormous difference much better. But we just get to understand it. We can't see. This flow can only be detected with scientific measurement tools, not with the human eye.
It seems very simple when you look at the subject with only two-dimensional graphics. There is a similar movement to that of the atmosphere, right? The cold things go down, descending. Yes, but when you make a long-term observation in that area of the Denmark Strait and transform it into a 3D graphic, things start to change drastically. There is an open-source and free modeling tool called NEMO. Those who are interested can check it out from the link I left in the text of the video. Here is a 3D representation prepared with this tool, created with a month's data of the movement of the water there collected during January. The blue color indicates areas where the water is denser. And the eddy force occurring on some shelves under the sea is described in red. Looking at it this way, we can see that there is a waterfall that looks just like the ones above the ground. In fact, just like in normal waterfalls, there is a lake-like formation in the area where the water falls. A waterfall under the sea and a lake 3.5 km/ 11.4 thousand feet below it. Of course, these definitions must be made very carefully. Because we are talking about a waterfall and a lake, which is denser in water, but still made of water. When people hear such things, they want to go there and see it for themselves. But because it is one of the most dangerous waters in the world, I do not recommend swimming there. If you want to swim, you will have to go to Mauritius. But the natural phenomenon there is not the same as what I just described. Because there is no difference in water temperature there. Nor is there a continuous flow of water from higher depths to lower depths. There is no situation where more than one water source meets. What is there then? It's something else entirely that creates that spectacular underwater waterfall view of Mauritius. Sand!