The Bloody Falls is an amazing natural wonder that makes people hypothesize that life on Mars may still exist. A blood red stream flows from glaciers in Antarctica, which seems odd in such harsh conditions. For a long time, only the guesses of such a phenomenon were discussed, but today scientists have found an explanation for the amazing phenomenon.
History of the study of Blood Falls
For the first time, Griffith Taylor encountered a strange phenomenon in the south of the world in 1911. On the very first day of his expedition, he reached the snow-white glaciers, sometimes covered with reddish stains. Due to the fact that in nature there have already been known cases of water staining in a reddish tint, the scientist suggested that algae were to blame. The place from where the strange stream comes out has since become known as the Taylor Glacier in honor of the scientist who discovered it.
Later in 2004, Jill Mikutski was fortunate enough to see with his own eyes how the Blood Falls flowed from the glaciers. She had been waiting for this phenomenon for more than six months, since the natural phenomenon is not constant. This unique chance allowed her to take samples of the flowing water and find out the reason for the reddish tint.
We advise you to look at the Iguazu Falls.
As it turned out, the blame is the bacteria, which have adapted to survive without oxygen in the depths hidden by the ice. Millions of years ago, the lake was covered with layers of ice, which deprived the organisms living in it of their livelihood. Only a few of them have learned to feed on iron, converting trivalent compounds to bivalent ones. Hence, there is a great abundance of rust that stains the water of the underground reservoir.
Since oxygen is not supplied there, the salt concentration is several times higher than in the adjacent waters. This content does not allow the liquid to freeze even at low temperatures, and when a large amount of water accumulates and under pressure, they flow out of the Taylor Glacier and paint the entire surrounding area in a rich bloody shade. Photos of this spectacle are mesmerizing, since it seems that the Earth itself is bleeding.
Is there life on Mars?
This discovery allowed scientists to wonder if there are such bacteria in the depths of Mars that can do without oxygen. Studies prove that similar phenomena were observed in different places on a nearby planet, but no one could even imagine that it was necessary to study the depths, and not the surface. The Bloody Falls became a sensation, prompting new reflections on the presence of aliens, albeit in the form of the simplest organisms.
