BLOOD FALLS

At the Western edge of Lake Bonney is a feature called Blood Falls;
Here is what it looks like now.....


Here is what it will look like at high flow......

According to recent research, rust-stained Blood Falls contains evidence that microbes have survived in prehistoric seawater deep under ice for perhaps millions of years. The colony of microscopic life-forms may have been trapped when Antarctica's then advancing Taylor Glacier reached into the ocean 1.5 to 4 million years ago. Mikucki and colleagues captured and analyzed a bit of the extremely salty, iron-rich liquid—which seems to be concentrated seawater—fresh from Taylor Glacier. In the samples were tell-tale proteins apparently from microbes.

Since their capture millennia ago, the microbes seem to have been completely isolated. Under 1,300 feet (400 meters) of ice, they catch no sunlight, required for photosynthesis, and have no source of outside food. The only thing keeping the microbes alive, the study says, is their ability to generate energy from chemical reactions with sulfur and iron (remember these elements from our Periodic Table?)

Iron is one thing in abundance beneath Taylor Glacier. Ground out of rocks by the creeping glacier and further broken down by the microbes, the mineral gives Blood Falls its surprising red color. The water also carries the specific fingerprint of sulfate—a carryover from when the water was part of the ocean.

You can read more of the story: "Rust-Breathing Bacteria: Miracle Microbes?"