Angel Falls, or Kerepakupai Merú in the local indigenous language, stands as the world’s tallest uninterrupted waterfall, a geographic marvel located deep within Venezuela’s Canaima National Park. Its total height measures 979 meters (3,212 feet), with a single, free-falling plunge of 807 meters (2,648 feet). The waterfall’s immense scale and remote location in the Guiana Highlands have made its geological origin a subject of intense fascination. This feature is the result of a complex interplay between ancient rock formations, massive tectonic forces, and millennia of relentless erosion.
The Geographic Setting: Defining Auyán-tepui
The falls plunge from the edge of Auyán-tepui, a colossal table-top mountain, or tepui, which means “House of the Gods” to the native Pemón people. Auyán-tepui is one of the largest tepuis in the region, encompassing a heart-shaped summit plateau of approximately 667 square kilometers (258 square miles). The mountain reaches a maximum elevation of 2,450 meters (8,040 feet) above sea level, towering over the surrounding jungle.
These isolated, sheer-sided plateaus represent remnants of a once-continuous rock layer that covered the entire Guiana Shield. The extreme isolation of these high summits has fostered the development of unique ecosystems. This remarkable vertical relief and the nearly vertical cliffs are the physical stage that allows for the waterfall’s record-breaking descent.
Ancient Geological History: The Roraima Supergroup
The fundamental building block of Angel Falls is the Roraima Supergroup, a sequence of sedimentary rock layers that date back to the Paleoproterozoic Era. This rock is among the oldest on the planet, with formation ages ranging between 1.95 and 1.78 billion years ago. The Supergroup is predominantly composed of extremely hard Precambrian quartzites and sandstones, which were originally deposited as sediments in a vast basin.
Massive tectonic activity, which occurred long after the rock layers were cemented, caused the entire block of the Guiana Shield to be uplifted. This uplift created a vast, elevated plateau, which then became subject to hundreds of millions of years of subsequent weathering. The hard, resistant nature of the quartzite and sandstone layers allowed the tepuis to survive the erosion that stripped away the surrounding land.
The Erosional Process: Carving the Falls
The final formation of the waterfall was a protracted process of differential erosion acting on the ancient rock layers of the plateau. The Kerepacupai Merú, the river that feeds the falls, exploited a deep weakness in the Auyán-tepui structure, likely a massive fault line or a highly jointed area. Water began carving a path along this vertical fracture, separating the rock face.
The erosional mechanism involves both physical and chemical weathering specific to the tepui environment. The constant flow of water, especially where it meets less resistant layers within the sandstone, continually wears away material. This process of undercutting and collapse along vertical joints slowly pushed the waterfall’s edge backward, creating the dramatic, sheer cliff.
Hydrology and Climate: Sustaining the Flow
The water that feeds Angel Falls originates from the vast collection area of the Auyán-tepui summit plateau. This region experiences a tropical climate with extremely high annual rainfall, sometimes exceeding 4,000 millimeters (160 inches) per year. Precipitation ensures that the Churún River, the falls’ watercourse, is sustained year-round.
The tepui’s drainage system involves a network of unique quartzite karst features, including deep shafts and extensive cave systems. Rainfall collects, drains into these sinkholes and underground tunnels, and then emerges dramatically at the cliff face. While the flow is consistent, the water volume is reduced during the dry season, which typically runs from December to March.