Blood Falls is a red stream flowing from the Taylor Glacier in the Dry Valleys in East Antarctica.

Bloody waterfall. Unique a natural phenomenon was discovered in 1911 by Australian geologist Griffith Taylor. Initially, researchers assumed that algae gave the water this color, but later it turned out that the blood-red hue is a consequence of the high content of iron oxide.

Another interesting property of the “Bloody Falls” is its salinity, which is 4 times higher than that in the ocean. This allows the water not to freeze even at -10 °C, but at lower temperatures the frost still takes over.

Bloody Falls in Antarctica: reasons for coloring

Geomicrobiologist Jill Mikutski from Dartmouth College (New Hampshire, USA), having lived six field seasons in Antarctica, was able to prove that the cause of the Bloody Falls are microorganisms that populate the lake.

In 2004, Jill's luck smiled. She saw an unknown liquid flowing along the glacier in a stream. It was transparent and had a temperature of 7 ºС. But most of all, the researcher was struck by the smell that came from the stream:

“It was the smell of the ocean, although the coast was more than thirty miles away.

I immediately realized that the liquid had some unusual properties.”

The stream originates in a lake hidden under ice. Both color and salinity are the work of underground microorganisms that, in the absence of sunlight, maintain their existence through complex chemical processes.

For millions of years, not a drop of water has remained on this earth. Under protection majestic mountains the valleys are free of snow. There is almost no life in this cold, lifeless region. Strong winds reach 320 km/h, evaporating random moisture. The glacier, which occupies the rest of the cold and harsh continent, rises 400 m and does not extend further, only spewing out a bloody stream that does not freeze even at ten degrees below zero. This is not a description of the fantastic landscape of another planet, although this is where NASA vehicles were tested. This description is about the McMurdo Dry Valleys, where rust-colored water sometimes breaks through the ice - a bloody waterfall in Antarctica. What are the reasons for such a situation that has turned a section of the frozen continent itself into a lifeless desert?

The nature of the formation of an unusual waterfall in the driest place on Earth

Antarctic oases are located west of McMurdo Sound in Victoria Land. Unlike those found in hot deserts, they greet tourists and scientists with ice-free, lifeless spaces. The strongest winds on our planet, called katabatic, that is, falling, accelerate to 320 km/h, leaving no chance for liquid in the valleys.

In rare areas where moisture lingers, researchers have discovered primitive plant organisms adapted to live in such harsh conditions. However, if there really is no riot of life here, where did the “blood” waterfall, discovered in 1911 by Australian geologist Thomas Taylor near the glacier named after him, come from?

Anaerobic life in the absence of light and other food sources found a way out, and the result of the processes of interaction between sulfur and iron that had not yet been fully studied was the phenomenon observed in the McMurdo Dry Valleys.

Significance of Blood Falls for Exoplanet Research

Mention was made of tests conducted by NASA in this area of ​​​​Antarctica, so similar to Martian landscape. The discovery of life forms even in such a harsh region indicates the possibility of its existence in similar conditions on other planets. By studying the metabolism of microorganisms in a subglacial lake, humanity is one step closer to studying exoplanets. What awaits researchers under the polar caps of Mars and on the mysterious satellites of Jupiter?

The existence of primitive life on other planets is no longer a flashy headline for the tabloids, but an almost settled question, thanks to tiny organisms that have survived under a glacier near the McMurdo Dry Valleys for millions upon millions of years.

Bloody Falls - an object of expensive tourism

Getting to this unusual natural phenomenon is not so easy. Not many people are able to please themselves with a beautiful sight: they fly here by helicopter or sail by cruise ship from Argentina, and the cost of the trip amounts to hundreds of thousands of rubles. But this is a truly rare sight.

Far corner globe warmly welcomes guests in a special tent camp, which is never empty, because in addition to a waterfall with scarlet water, it offers stunning views of highest peak Antarctica - Elbrus.

The sixth continent has not yet revealed all its mysteries to man. While science fiction writers look into the future, melt glaciers and populate empty lands with people, the bloody waterfall in Antarctica remains part of protected public areas where scientific research is carried out and the flow of tourists does not stop. What other secrets this phenomenon hides will be revealed later. Now all that remains is to do our best to preserve the unique ecosystem of the red subglacial lake. Future space explorers have yet to discover bloody ones filled with life, but on other planets.

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 the nearby rocks. This is the famous Bloody.

Despite its terrifying appearance, the unusual 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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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 temperature environment does not exceed ten degrees with a minus sign. 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. Salt Lake remained in the lowland, part 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 such underground lakes, inhabited by bacteria, can 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.










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 from time to time ends up in the Taylor Glacier. Regarding the source of water for “ Blood Falls”, then it is considered 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 sea ​​water, surrounding the Dry Valleys, as well as melting 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 is 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 the chemical composition of the water from the waterfall, scientists 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.