On the east side of Antarctica, there’s a glacier called Taylor Glacier, and it’s been doing some weird things for more than a century. Every now and then, a stream of what looked like blood would escape from its base and coat the ice around it. This phenomenon was first discovered in 1911. Soon the glacier became known as Blood Falls.
Scientists now understand the basics of why this phenomenon occurs in glaciers. Beneath the glacier lies ancient salt water (called a brine) that is rich in iron. You can guess what happens next. When salt water reaches the surface and comes into contact with open air, the iron reacts with oxygen, turning a rust-red color within minutes. This part has been understood for some time.
It’s unclear exactly what triggers these outbreaks. Why did the brine suddenly decide to escape? What happens beneath the ice when it escapes? A new study published in the journal Antarctic Science now explains this. For the first time, it captures the actual circumstances of the entire event and explains it correctly. The answer seems to have to do with the physical sinking of the glacier itself. Let’s take a closer look.
Read more: The 10 most advanced nuclear submarines in the world
What new research finds
Taylor Glacier as seen on Google Maps – Google Maps
The results of this study actually come from a lucky arrangement. Back in September 2018, a GPS tracker on the surface of Taylor Glacier happened to be recording along with a camera pointed at Blood Falls and a temperature sensor at nearby Bonny Lake. Luck is always welcome in this field, as research sometimes relies on things like a lost robot being rescued from the Antarctic ice carrying vital data.
Regardless, three instruments simultaneously recorded something unusual. The glacier’s surface sank and slowed, cameras captured fresh red discharge at the Blood Falls, and lake sensors detected cold dips at exactly the depth where salt water precipitates. Peter T. Doran, a geoscientist at Louisiana State University, saw the opportunity and worked with a team of researchers to connect the dots in all three data sets. It might be hard to see how these events are connected, but Dolan’s team is here to explain.
They explain in the paper that the weight of the glacier traps salty water beneath it, and this pressure increases over time. However, glaciers cannot withstand this squeeze forever. The slow movement of the ice eventually pushes the saltwater toward the cracks, where it escapes in pulses—some of it flows to the surface of Blood Falls, and some of it quietly seeps into the lake. Once the water is lost, the pressure supporting the ice from below decreases, so the glacier sinks downward and loses speed. Think of it as letting the air escape from the cushions – the thing you sit on will sag. Only here, the mat is ancient brine, and the stuff on top is glaciers.
This is not the first attempt to explain
3D rendering of Antarctica as seen from space – Frankramspott/Getty Images
This isn’t the first time researchers have tried to explain the phenomenon of blood falls. For example, a 2017 study led by Colorado College’s Jessica Badgeley used radar to actually map the paths that salt water inside glaciers takes before reaching the surface. This is a pretty big deal, because it shows that liquid water can persist in extremely cold ice—the core temperature of Taylor Glacier is about 0°F—which scientists thought was impossible. The salt content of the water lowers its freezing point just enough to keep it moving, while the heat released by freezing at the edges apparently warms the surrounding ice enough to keep these channels open.
Then, in 2023, researchers at Johns Hopkins University discovered that the red color came specifically from tiny iron-rich nanospheres, rather than traditional minerals. Because they were not crystals, they were not detected, so early detection methods simply missed them. Now, new research builds on all of this.
Want to stay up to date on the latest tech and automotive trends? Sign up for our free newsletter to get the latest headlines, expert guidance and how-to tips, one email at a time. You can also add us as your preferred search source on Google.
Read the original article on SlashGear.