"Blood falls" in Antarctica. This water contains ferrous iron, which, combining with atmospheric air, oxidizes and forms rust. It gives the waterfall that blood-red colour

3 years ago by linearchaos to c/interestingasfuck

Source:

/r/interestingasfuck /u/XyRow666

I honestly found this one googling around, but XyRow666 presented a far nicer collage than anywhere else I could find.

more info: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/blood-falls

Roughly two million years ago, the Taylor Glacier sealed beneath it a small body of water which contained an ancient community of microbes. Trapped below a thick layer of ice, they have remained there ever since, isolated inside a natural time capsule. Evolving independently of the rest of the living world, these microbes exist in a place with no light or free oxygen and little heat, and are essentially the definition of “primordial ooze.” The trapped lake has very high salinity and is rich in iron, which gives the waterfall its red color. A fissure in the glacier allows the subglacial lake to flow out, forming the falls without contaminating the ecosystem within.

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Aphonefriend 13 points 3 years ago

Imagine coming across this back in the day before science was really a thing?

New God unlocked.

path: 0 1238193, hotness: undefined, score: 13, children: 2
linearchaos 4 points 3 years ago

I know right, you walk up there, Antarctica, it's pouring out of the ground, blood red, all iron-y and salty.

That's some mountains of madness s*** going on right there.

path: 0 1238193 1242171, hotness: undefined, score: 4, children: 0
sic_1 3 points 3 years ago

BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD!!

path: 0 1238193 1242968, hotness: undefined, score: 3, children: 0
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