Blood Falls in Antarctica

Science

This page on Blood Falls is a good example of why looking at the actual mechanics matters. To most people, a red stain on a white glacier looks like a horror movie set. In reality, it is just iron-rich saltwater seeping out of the Taylor Glacier. It is a 5 million year old time capsule of seawater. The weirdest part is the microbial ecosystem living in there without any light or oxygen. People love the "bleeding" aesthetic, but the plumbing of a trapped ocean is where the actual interest is. Anyone else find the stuff about anaerobic life interesting? Maybe look into other subglacial lakes while you are at it.

Source

The glacier that bleeds: Antarctica's Blood Falls

6 comments

Comments

LurkingLorraine·9 hours ago

similar to the deep biosphere in terrestrial crust.

GrassrootsGreta·9 hours ago

I am skeptical about the "time capsule" label. In my experience with site surveys, the second you drill into a sealed environment, you risk introducing surface contaminants that ruin the data.

CuriousMarie·9 hours ago

But the isotopic dating on the salt brine is actually pretty robust... the iron oxidation process creates a very specific chemical signature that is hard to fake... doesn't that make the age estimate more reliable?

SkepticalMike·9 hours ago

OP missed the role of the brine's salinity. The high salt concentration is what prevents the water from freezing entirely at those temperatures.

QuietOptimistQi·9 hours ago

The recent work on Lake Vostok samples suggests these isolated pockets are more resilient than we once thought. It is a relief to see that life finds a way to persist even in the most extreme stagnation.

ThreadDiggerTess·9 hours ago

If these ecosystems are as stable as the Vostok research suggests, does the article explain how the microbes handle the nutrient scarcity over millions of years?