Blood red waterfall Antarctica. "Bloody Falls" of Antarctica. Video – Bloody Falls in Antarctica

A strange and frightening natural phenomenon can be seen in the Taylor Valley located in East Antarctica. Here lies one of the most amazing natural attractions of these rugged, covered eternal ice places - Bloody Falls.

Those who come to the Taylor glacier for the first time are in for a terrible surprise - “bloody” streams flow down the snow-white ice and spill over nearby rocks. This is the famous Bloody.

Despite its terrifying appearance, the unusual a natural phenomenon is explained quite simply. Its blood-red color is given by an increased concentration of iron oxide. The source of the waterfall is located in a lake hidden under a 400-meter layer of ice, which is located several kilometers away.

The subglacial lake with red water was discovered by Australian geologist Taylor in 1911. At first, scientists attributed its unusual color to the presence of red algae. Subsequent studies of the composition of the water showed that this is the result of the activity of microorganisms inhabiting the lake, which, in order to maintain their vital activity in the absence of sunlight, process sulfates into sulfites. Further oxidation by iron ions found in the bottom soil gives the water a bloody color.

The Red Lake in Antarctica was formed millions of years ago. Then the dry ice was flooded by the sea, and when the water receded, the lake remained completely covered with a glacial shell. Since the salt concentration in the lake is 4 times higher than the oceanic one, even at a temperature of -10 it does not freeze.

Now the Bloody Falls has become one of the amazing attractions of Antarctica and almost all travelers visiting these places strive to see it. For scientists, the presence of living beings in such harsh conditions has its own special significance, because this fact gives a considerable probability of the presence of life under the ice of Mars.

Calle Ljung offers us something fascinating to do, who did something beautiful during his twenty-day expedition to this amazing world eternal ice.

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Did you know that a stream of blood-red liquid flows out of the Taylor Glacier, which is located in Antarctica, called the “Bloody Falls”? Ask the question, why this particular color and what is it connected with? The answer is simple – the water contains a large amount of iron oxide. So, more about this amazing miracle...

Scientists have discovered that from a small crack, salty water containing iron occasionally enters the Taylor Glacier. As for the source of water for “Blood Falls,” it is considered to be a lake covered with a glacier, the thickness of which reaches up to 400 m. This lake is located a short distance from the waterfall itself.

This source was formed after the retreat of sea water surrounding the Dry Valleys, as well as the melting of ice. It is worth noting that the level of the world's oceans about 5 million years ago was much higher compared to now.

The most unusual fact It is believed that the water in the waterfall does not freeze even at sub-zero temperatures. This is explained by the fact that the lake’s water salinity is four times higher than the salty waters of the world’s oceans.

Bloody Falls in Antarctica was founded in 1911. For a long time, the opinion of the first explorers of this continent was correct that the bloody liquid has such a color due to red algae growing in the water. But later it was proven that due to the content of a large amount of iron oxide as a result of the metabolism of rare microorganisms, the aqueous solution has a reddish color.

Having thoroughly studied chemical composition water from the waterfall, scientists have discovered that the lake is simply rich in these microorganisms. Their uniqueness lay in the fact that in the absence of sunlight, as well as the nutritional components necessary for the process of photosynthesis, they are able to grow and develop due to the reduction of dissolved sulfates in water, converting them into sulfites. Moreover, the subsequent oxidation of sulfites occurs with the help of ferric ions, which enter the aqueous solution from the soil.

We can say that the final product of the metabolism of these microorganisms is ferrous ions. They come out of the crack with the flow of water and already in the Taylor Glacier combine with oxygen, giving the waterfall an original and unusual color.

The video entitled “Bloody Falls in Antarctica” is not so easy to find on the World Wide Web. The fact is that not many tourists have the desire and opportunity to visit this continent, especially since the eruption of a unique red stream of water does not occur often, which can only be seen near the glacier or on it itself.

Antarctica, of course, is not very popular among tourists for obvious reasons. But it also has its own attractions, which certainly deserve attention. One such object is . Its color itself is amazing phenomenon, and if you take into account that the source of the waterfall is hidden under almost half a kilometer of ice, then you get a rather interesting and unique natural object.

Blood Falls flows from a glacier called Taylor, which is located in dry valleys East Antarctica.

It seems as if real blood is pouring out right from under the thickness of the ice. This is a truly extraordinary and at the same time creepy sight.

This blood-colored waterfall was discovered in 1911 by Australian geologist Griffith Taylor. At first, the first researchers of the ice continent then explained the red color by the presence of red algae, but after some time it was proven that the water has such an unusual color due to iron oxide, which is a consequence of the activity of unique microorganisms.

The exact dimensions of the hidden body of water that covers the glacier are unknown. But there are suggestions that it is hidden under a 400-meter thick layer of ice and extends over a distance of about 4 km.

When icing set in, the lake and all its inhabitants were walled up under a kind of ice cover. The microorganisms, whose existence was discovered thanks to the bloody waterfall, lived in a confined space, without light and essential nutrients. But they were still somehow able to adapt to such a difficult fate and survive. They took everything they needed for life right on the spot. Microorganisms processed the remains of organic substances that were locked with them, and used iron from the surrounding rocks as oxygen, sulfate served as a catalyst.

It is a very interesting fact that there is a waterfall on the territory of Antarctica, because the temperature there is very low all year round. It turns out that the lake has a very high concentration of salt, so the reservoir does not freeze even at -10 degrees Celsius.

It is also surprising that water removes living microorganisms from the ice that have been in a hidden reservoir for almost 2 million years.

In general, scientists have been discussing the theory of the existence of life in lakes hidden under layers of ice for a long time, but the need to drill through the ice and the fear of infecting unique closed ecosystems with our bacteria have prevented us from establishing this accurately. Now this theory has been confirmed.

The bacteria and microorganisms of the waterfall provide a living example of how similar organisms could develop in the harsh conditions of, for example, Mars. The adaptability of these bacteria is truly amazing.

Overall, unusual and interesting place. The example of bacteria from this Bloody Falls shows how life on earth can be preserved in any climate shock.

One such eye-catching object was the Bloody Falls flowing from the Taylor Glacier. For almost a century, he was one of the inexplicable mysteries of nature, surrendered only to scientists of the twenty-first century.

Taylor Glacier Blood

From a distance, the wide stream really looks like a bleeding wound. The red-orange mass flowing out of the huge white glacier makes an indelible impression. It is difficult to imagine what emotions Griffith Taylor, the discoverer of this natural wonder, experienced. The Bloody Glacier first appeared in 1911 to an Australian who was conducting research in the area of ​​McMurdo Sound, part of the Dry Valleys.

A geologist who saw the miracle of nature decided that the red color of the water was caused by algae that had somehow been preserved in the depths of the glacier. The researcher called the red stream falling from the height of a five-story building Bloody, and the massive ice cliff was named Taylor Glacier.

If you look at modern photographs of the waterfall, you can assume that it is blood or even lava flowing from a white frozen cliff. When viewed from the air, the flow flowing into the water under the glacier looks like a capillary network penetrating an orange spot.

Water oozes from a huge underground reservoir located 400 meters below the glacier. The source is believed to be an ancient lake and extends four kilometers in length.

Surprisingly, the waterfall flows in the harsh climate of Antarctica, the ambient temperature does not exceed ten degrees minus. But here everything is simple, the waterfall is not an ordinary one, but with water characterized by a high concentration of salt. By the way, thanks to its salinity, the lake, which was once part of the ocean, was able to remain inside the glacier without freezing along with the rest of the water. It is located a couple of kilometers from the water’s exit to the surface.

And the lake appeared, according to scientists, from four to one and a half million years ago, when the level of the world's oceans dropped and the lands of the Dry Valley were freed from under the water. The salt lake remained in the depression, some of the water evaporated, thus increasing the concentration of salt, and the Taylor Glacier gradually grew above the lake.

Lifting the veil of secrecy

American geomicrobiologist Jill Mikutsky undertook to unravel the mystery of Bloody Falls. Having traveled to Antarctica, she took samples of the “bloody” water. Having studied the samples, of course, I didn’t find any algae, but I found out that the water is an order of magnitude saltier than in the world’s oceans, there is no oxygen in it, but there is a lot of iron dissolved. There are also microorganisms in the water.

It turns out that the lake, during a sharp drop in water and subsequent sharp cold snap, found itself locked in an airless space. And along with it in the capsule were microorganisms that lived on our planet a couple of million years ago. They survived, processed all the organic matter at their disposal and adapted to existence without sunlight and oxygen. The sulfites present in the lake became their food source.

The result is a unique niche with ancient microorganisms; it is called a “time capsule.” At some point, a fault occurred, and the waters of the lake found a way out of the glacier. This is how the Bloody Waterfall appeared, and its amazing color is obtained due to a chemical reaction. In fact, the blood-like water is actually a beautiful variety of rust.

Water supersaturated with iron, coming to the surface from under the glacier cap, combines with oxygen, oxidizes and acquires an unusual bloody hue, which gives the waterfall such an unusual appearance. Where does the huge iron content in water come from? And this is all thanks to microorganisms that process iron and release reduced iron into the lake (from sulfate to sulfite).

Scientists suspected the existence of subglacial lakes back in the sixties of the last century, but they were unable to accurately take water samples. This had to be done so as not to disturb the fragile ecosystem of ancient lakes.

And the waterfall, which supplies lake water to the surface, has freed modern scientists from the need to roughly interfere with the life of the subglacial world.

Scientists were able to discover seventeen species of ancient microorganisms in the water, somewhat different from their modern “relatives.” Unraveling the mystery of the Bloody Falls, flowing from under the glacier, allowed scientists to form a hypothesis according to which similar underground lakes populated by bacteria may exist on other planets and even on their large satellites.

Maybe in the future a researcher-traveler will set foot on their surface and inform humanity about what was discovered in the solar system.

Unfortunately, Bloody Falls is too far from civilization, and getting to it on an excursion is quite problematic. Perhaps in the future, this waterfall will be included in the ecotourism program to places related to the history of our planet.

This is a red waterfall flowing slowly from the Taylor Glacier in the McMurdo Dry Valleys in Antarctica. When geologists first discovered the falls in 1911, they thought it was algae that gave it its red color, but its true nature turned out to be much more fascinating.

About two million years ago, the Taylor Glacier sealed a small salt Lake, which contained an ancient community of microbes. Trapped under a thick layer of ice, they have remained there ever since, isolated inside a natural time capsule. Developing independently from the rest of the living world, these microbes exist in a place without light and free oxygen, and without heat, essentially remaining in their original form.

The captured lake has a very high salinity and is rich in iron, which gives the waterfall its blood-red color. A crack in the glacier allows the lake to slowly flow out to form a waterfall without polluting the ecosystem inside.

The existence of such an ecosystem shows that life can exist even in the most extreme conditions on Earth. This allows astrobiologists to assume that life may exist on other planets with similar conditions, in particular on Mars or Jupiter’s moon Europa.

Even if it doesn't confirm the existence of extraterrestrial life, Antarctica's Blood Falls is a marvel to behold, both visually and scientifically.