Mondo Knows Facts
Blood Falls in Antarctica flows with crimson iron-rich water
Emerging from the Taylor Glacier, the waterfall gets its deep red colour from oxidised iron.
Subterranean saltwater trapped beneath the glacier for over two million years flows out through ice fissures into Lake Bonney. When the iron-rich brine contacts atmospheric oxygen at the surface, the iron oxidises immediately, turning the liquid blood red. Microbes survive in this dark subglacial environment without sunlight.
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Tags: blood falls, antarctica, glaciers, iron
Blood Falls in Antarctica flows with crimson iron-rich water: the short answers
- Where does this come from, and can I check it?
- Emerging from the Taylor Glacier, the waterfall gets its deep red colour from oxidised iron. The figure is taken from Smithsonian Magazine, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
- Is this really a world geography fact?
- Yes. It sits on the World Geography shelf, one of 1,090 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
- What else can I read about it?
- The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.
