An submersed waterfall might sound like anew stock of catastrophe motion picture , but such a visual modality can be found in modern - day Mauritius . The unique formation is made potential by the fact that this East African country sits atop a U-boat tableland known as the Mascarene Plateau .
Unlike continent whose land mass gradually slump into the ocean with continental shelves that sit far offshore , land masses on top of submarine plateaus like Mascarene can shake off off quite suddenly into the deep ocean . The geological quirk mean that were you to go for a swim you might apace find yourself bobbing above waters that stretch along down for thousands of meter .
The extreme and uneven lay of the land in this region is the result ofvolcanic activitywhich hand rise to Mauritius around8 million years ago . Being a volcanic hotspot , the plateau saw enormous submersed eruptions that spew out magma through the continental crust of Mauritia , and it was this magma that solidified to form the Mascarene Islands .
Interestingly , evidence of Mauritius ’s nativity through Mauritia can be found in the soma of minerals in its white flaxen beaches . know aszircons , grains of the topnotch - tough material ( which is associated with continental crust ) were ground to be up to 2 billion yr old .
While some shallower nautical habitats exist around Mauritius , where the underwater “ waterfall ” sit is at one of the points where the ocean floor suddenly plummets . Its waterfall - corresponding appearance is less to do with the movement of water , and more related to to thesinking of sand .
Mauritius is rich in Baroness Dudevant and while in some parts it near enough stays put , at the land site of the underwater falls it is spilling into the shoe drop - off . It ’s an example of erosion that sees the influence of ocean currents sweep the littoral zone of the shallow ledge and into the deep ocean and is whyvolcanic islands do n’t last incessantly .
The island is just a few million old age erstwhile but has already stopped grow and will likely drop off back into the water in a few more million years to come . As the island is tardily chipped away by ocean current , it will get smaller and smaller , though whether humankind will outlive long enough to see the effects of that is very much up for argument .
So , while the submerged waterfall looks like a spectacular water lineament that could well get out you and your inflatable flamingo floaty under , it really would have little wallop on your swim beyond perhaps being a flake nervous to range over .
The same could not be said were you to channelize your floaty into the lip ofThor ’s Well …
