Blood Falls

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Introduction


The Taylor Valley of East Antarctica holds a strange and interesting phenomenon. Imagine walking across the snow covered Arctic tundra, and you come across a water fall that looks like its spilling out gallons of blood. This week we are going to explore the phenomenon known as Blood Falls.




                                                                                                    National Science Foundation/Peter Rejcek                                                             
                                                          
Blood Falls and Taylor Glacier  

Blood Falls flows from the tongue of the Taylor Glacier. Taylor Glacier is 62 miles long and located in the Taylor Valley of East Antarctica. Blood Falls was discovered by an Australian geologist named Griffith Taylor in 1911. The Taylor Valley is named after Griffith Taylor. “When Taylor spotted the mysterious Blood Falls, he thought the glacier itself was bleeding. He was so terrified he ran back to his boat and never returned to the area. Ok, I made that part up!” In reality Taylor attributed the cause of the red water to be red algae; however, it was later proven that the red color is not due to algae.





                                                                    Public Domain                                                  

                     
What Makes The Water From Blood Falls Red?

The red water of Blood Falls is caused by iron-rich brine. Brine is water that is highly saturated with salt. Like rust the brine will oxidize when it comes into contact with air. This causes the water of Blood Falls to have its red color.  

  Where Does the Water From Blood Falls Come From?


To discover where the water flowing from Blood Fall is coming from, scientists used a radar method known as radio-echo sounding (RES). The (RES) works much like a bats echolocation. A sound wave is sent from the machine into the ground. When the sound wave hits an object it creates an echo and returns to the machine creating an image. The collected dated revealed a network of subglacial rivers and a subglacial lake underneath Taylor Glacier. The (RES) readings also showed that Taylor Glacier has a system of crevasses within it, stretching 985 feet. It is these crevasses that allow the brine water in the lakes to reach the Blood Falls. Under enormous pressure the brine water is added to the crevasses. The water then travels through the crevasses until it reaches the Blood Falls at the surface.

  Where Did the Sub-glacial Lake Come From?


Scientists have theorized that while the Taylor Glacier was forming across Antarctica, numerous layers of ice and snow trapped a small saltwater lake beneath them. The salt in this lake became increasingly salty until the water was too salty to freeze. The subglacial lake also removes iron from the bedrock underneath it. This gives the water the blood color once it reaches the falls.

  How Does the Water from Blood Falls Remain Liquid?


Currently, Taylor Glacier is the coldest known glacier to have continually flowing water. For a time the question of how the water in Blood Falls remained in a liquid state was a mystery. The average temperature for the area was (1.4°F), and there were no signs of glacial melting on the surface around the falls. Today, we know that answer. Before I explain how, I want to briefly go over the different between freezing salt and pure water.

       Pure water freezes at (32°F). Due to the salt, ocean water has a lower freezing point then pure water. The average freezing temperature for ocean water is (28.4°F), and water that is very high in salt freezes at temperatures as low as (-6 °F)! So, the more salt the water contains the harder it is to freeze. Samples of the salt water beneath Taylor Glacier was proven to contain two to three times more salt then the average ocean waters surrounding it.

        In addition to the fact that the lake under Taylor Glacier has a high salt concentration, the freezing water of Blood Falls actually prevents itself from freezing! Here’s how.
As the brine water freezes it also warms itself up. I know that sounds crazy, but it’s true! Here is how the process works. When water changes from a liquid state to a frozen state, it creates heat. The brine water that is freezing in Taylor Glacier gives off enough heat to prevent the rest of the brine from freezing. This keeps the fall flowing. 

  Bacteria Beneath Taylor Glacier. 


The brine water under Taylor Glacier is actually home to bacteria. Water samples collected from Blood Falls held 17 different types of bacteria. These bacteria are living under Taylor Glacier with no oxygen or light, yet these hardy bacteria still live. The bacteria live by feeding on sulfates. Sulfates are a salt of sulfuric acid that has the anion SO42-. The bacteria recycle the sulfates by reducing it to sulfites. Sulfites are a salt of sulfuric acid that has the anion SO32-. The newly formed sulfites react with the iron in the water. This reaction creates more sulfates for the bacteria to feed on.



    
        US National Science foundation
                                                                                                             
                                                                                                       
                                                                  
                                                   Conclusion

Blood Falls is one of the Earth's weird and wonderful places.Who would guess a waterfall of red water freely flows in the Antarctica tundra. I truly hope to see it in person one day. Join me next time as we explore wildlife in my backyard and other nature topics.                                 

  References and Additional Resources


Feltman, R. (2017). Antarctica's Blood Falls: not so mysterious, but still freaky as heck. Retrieved from
 https://www.popsci.com/antarctica-blood-falls#page-4

National Geographic. (2017). What’s Really In Antarctica’s Mysterious Blood Falls. Retrieved from
https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/04/blood-falls-antarctica-explained/

Science Alert. (2017). the Mystery Path of Antarctica's Blood Falls Has Finally Been Revealed. Retrieved from
 https://www.sciencealert.com/the-100-year-old-mystery-path-of-antarctica-s-blood-falls-has-finally-been-foundBy

  Photo References

 National Science Foundation/Peter Rejcek
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=38735981

Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1705235

 Zina Deretsky / US National Science foundation (NSF) https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6588093



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