TAYLOR GLACIER, ANTARCTICA — A group of U.S. scientists have unravelled the mystery of Blood Falls in Antarctica and how the water gets its blood-red color. <br /> <br />Blood Falls pours from the Taylor Glacier, in Antarctica’s McMurdo Dry Valleys. It was discovered by geoscientist Griffith Taylor in 1911. <br /> <br />According to a recent study, the lake trapped under the glacier has an unusually high concentration of salt. As saltwater has a lower freezing point that water, and releases heat as it freezes, this melts the glacier ice and enables water to flow. <br /> <br />This new finding makes the Taylor Glacier the coldest known glacier to have persistently flowing water. <br /> <br />The iron-rich brine in the lake also oxidizes as soon as it makes contact with the oxygen in the air, thus producing the red color of the waterfall. <br /> <br />Scientists have previously theorized that the water’s red color was caused by red algae. <br /> <br />The study was published in the Journal of Glaciology.
