2023-07-11 13:01:00
Discovered 112 years ago during a British expedition, the “blood falls” or “cascades of blood” have fueled the fantasies of many scientists, without finding any explanation for this strange red color. One of them, in a press release dated July 7, 2023, put forward a new hypothesis.
Mystery since 1911, the “blood falls” or “blood waterfalls” located in the dry valleys of McMurdo, on the Taylor Glacier in Antarctica have never ceased to intrigue scientists. For a century, everyone tried to explain the red color of the water flowing from the glacier. But a new study relayed on July 7, 2023 by Geo may have found the answer.
Oxidized iron causing the red color
Why does the water in these glaciers look like human blood? Researcher Ken Livi and microbiologist Jill A. Mikucki of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore have looked into the matter and published their work on Astronomy and space science.
In a statement released on the university’s website, Ken Livi, a member of the science department, studied water samples from the “blood falls” and used powerful transmission electron microscopes. The researcher thus detected tiny particles of iron, which, when oxidized, would turn the water blood red.
A study to better understand life on other planets
He explains: “As soon as I looked at the images under the microscope, I noticed that there were these small nanospheres and they were rich in iron. They also contained many different elements in addition to iron (silicon, calcium, aluminum, sodium) and they all varied.”
And if no scientist could establish an answer to this strange color, Ken Livi, advanced him a hypothesis. His predecessors would have focused on identifying a mineral. However, nanospheres are not. The Baltimore researcher explains: “These nanospheres are not crystalline, so methods used previously to examine solids have not detected them.”
Solved: Using the powerful transmission electron microscopes of our Materials Characterization and Processing facility, Hopkins Engineer Ken Livi found the iron-rich nanospheres responsible for Antarctica’s “Blood Falls.” https://t.co/pDmJeZb76w
— Johns Hopkins Engineering (@HopkinsEngineer) June 26, 2023
He further clarified that studying water in Antarctica could help to better understand life on other planets. Indeed, the waters rich in iron and salt located under the glacier would harbor strains of ancient bacteria, according to West France.
Rovers like on the planet Mars
In order to prove his theory, Ken Livi used samples taken by the team of microbiologist Jill A. Mikucki. To do this, it had sent a rover on the Taylor Glacier, similar to those present on the planet Mars.
The robot had been able to discover the presence of living organisms in the lake, under the glacier and made it possible to map the caves, the underground passages. But he couldn’t find the nanoparticles, according to Geo.
The researcher said: “Our work revealed that the analysis conducted by mobile vehicles is incomplete. This is particularly true for colder planets like Mars, where the materials formed may be nanoscale and not crystalline. […] To truly understand the nature of the surfaces of rocky planets, a transmission electron microscope would be needed, but it is currently not possible to place one on Mars.”
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