Antarctica's 'bleeding waterfalls' mystery solved by scientists.
Scientists have finally solved the mystery behind Antarctica's Blood Falls, a flow of water the colour of blood that can be seen seeping out from a glacier into the ocean. The water has an extremely high salt content, which is double the levels they saw in seawater in the area. The high salt content pushes up the water’s freezing point, which explains why it’s still liquid at such cold temperatures. It’s also high in iron content and the iron oxidises on contact with air, turning the water red, orange and brown. The water's origin dates back 1.5 million years ago when it was contained in a lake, and a glacier then moved over the lake and contained it there for thousands of years, before it spurted from underneath the ice at Blood Falls.