Blood Falls
In the white of Antarctica, a glacier seeps a stream of deep red, like blood running over the ice.
What was reported
In 1911, the geologist Griffith Taylor, on a British expedition, found a glacier in Antarctica's Dry Valleys stained a deep red where it met a frozen lake. Early explorers thought the colour might come from red algae.
The red flow still seeps from the end of the glacier today, and the glacier was later named after Taylor.
Explanations offered
Scientists found that the red comes from salty water trapped under the glacier for perhaps a million years, rich in iron. When it seeps out and meets the air, the iron rusts and turns red. Microbes live in that dark, salty water without sunlight, which has made it important to scientists who study life on other worlds.
- When
- Discovered in 1911
- Where
- Taylor Glacier, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica
- Witnesses
- Explorers and scientists
- Status
- Explained
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.