Aug
The Shining: Antarctica style
Located in Antarctica’s McMurdo Dry Valley, this is the Taylor Glacier known for its blood-red waterfall. Unlike The Shining however, it isn’t blood that produces this natural wonder but the work of extremophilic microorganisms. As explained by Atlas Obscura,
Roughly two million years ago, the Taylor Glacier sealed beneath it a small body of water which contained an ancient community of microbes. Trapped below a thick layer of ice, they have remained there ever since, isolated inside a natural time capsule. Evolving independently of the rest of the living world, these microbes exist in a place with no light or free oxygen and little heat, and are essentially the definition of “primordial ooze.” The trapped lake has very high salinity and is rich in iron, which gives the waterfall its red color. A fissure in the glacier allows the subglacial lake to flow out, forming the falls without contaminating the ecosystem within.
(via Cool Like Pie)
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About Me
Hi there, I'm Jim: PhD student in the biological sciences, enthusiast, friendly neighbour, Australian.
