Blood Falls

A cool spot to check out if you have money and aren't afraid of freezing to death is Blood Falls within the Taylor Glacier in Antarctica. If it wasn't obvious by the name, Blood Falls is named for well, looking like a waterfall of blood. It was first documented in 1911 by an Australian geologist whose last name, Taylor, was taken for the glacier's name.

So, the crux of this article and the mystery: what makes Blood Falls red? In nature, a lot of things can make something appear red. Naturally occurring pigments created through proteins, high levels of iron, and red algae to name a few. Are any of the previously mentioned reasons the reason Blood Falls is red? Yes! For a long time, scientists speculated that the red color was due to algae that had been trapped in the melting glacier. This may seem crazy, but algae is actually a logical answer. Algae are responsible for a phenomenon known as red tide. Algae that bloom in a large patch in freshwater lakes, rivers, or estuaries and are often caused by cyanobacteria (also referred to as blue-green bacteria). The cyanobacteria produce toxins that negatively impact the liver and kidneys or mammals (yes that includes us) that are not necessarily easy to remove from water supplies even if the water is processed through a purification plant. Given the right conditions, if a variety of toxins are produced and the red tide isn't able to be controlled, advisories against drinking local water can occur.

How common are these blooms? Relatively, unfortunately. In August of 2021, 47 blooms were confirmed in New York state alone. So, it's not too far of a stretch that the same thing could be happening in Antarctica, right? Wrong. As it turns out, the red color of Blood Falls is due to iron-oxide tainted water. The source of Blood Falls is a subglacial pool of unknown size, so who knows when or even if Blood Falls will change colors.

Have there been any studies done on Blood Falls? Of course. In 2009, it was discovered that there is an underwater lake containing bacteria that instead of surviving on oxygen, survive on iron and sulfates. Then, in 2015, it was observed that a network of rivers exists within and flow through Taylor Glacier, which is odd considering how cold a glacier in the arctic is. Then, in 2017 it was discovered how the network of rivers work- when water freezes it releases energy in the form of heat. The heat and lower freezing temperature of saltwater is what allowed the rivers to move within the glacier. In studying the Taylor Glacier, we may be able to better understand how life in the arctic or low-to no oxygen environment exists. The cool thing about this is that it could help us better understand life on other planets that are seemingly uninhabitable, such as Mars.