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Antarctica's mysterious Blood Falls aren't made by minerals after all
- gardenfelder 3y ago>This find has implications beyond Antarctica and even beyond Earth. Just a few years ago, scientists managed to trace the water back to its source – an extremely salty subglacial lake under high pressure, with no light or oxygen, and a microbial ecosystem that’s remained isolated for millions of years. Life could exist on other planets under similarly inhospitable conditions, but we might not be sending the right kind of equipment up to spot it.
- mikequinlan 3y agoThe red color is still caused by iron oxide, but it is in a different form than expected. >Now a new study has examined samples of the water and found that the iron appears in an unexpected form. It’s not technically a mineral – instead it takes the form of nanospheres, 100 times smaller than human red blood cells. >“In order to be a mineral, atoms must be arranged in a very specific, crystalline, structure. These nanospheres aren't crystalline, so the methods previously used to examine the solids did not detect them.”