Blood Falls

Why is it famous?

It's a bright red waterfall that seeps slowly out of the end of the Taylor Glacier, staining the white ice below it.

For a long time, nobody knew why it was red — scientists finally solved the mystery: it's iron in the water turning rusty red when it touches air, just like rust on old metal.

How did it form?

Millions of years ago, seawater got trapped in a super-salty pond underneath the glacier and sealed off from the outside world.

That salty water never fully freezes — because salt water freezes at a lower temperature than plain water — so it slowly leaks out through cracks in the ice today.

Amazing facts

The hidden pool of water has been trapped and sealed under the ice for over a million years — like a time capsule nobody could open.

Scientists found tiny living microbes still swimming in that ancient water, even though it's had no sunlight or fresh air the entire time.

Quick facts

• The hidden pool of water has been trapped and sealed under the ice for over a million years — like a time capsule nobody could open.
• Scientists found tiny living microbes still swimming in that ancient water, even though it's had no sunlight or fresh air the entire time.
• It was first discovered in 1911 by an explorer named Griffith Taylor, who at first guessed (wrongly) that red algae caused the color.
• NASA scientists study Blood Falls to learn what kind of life might survive on icy moons and planets like Mars.