At the end of a glacier deep in East Antarctica’s Taylor Valley, there is a haunting waterfall that oozes red brine like a bleeding wound in the ice. Scientists explained the brine’s gory hue several years ago, finding that it is exceptionally rich in iron. And now, they may have identified the salty water’s origin.
Microbes in the crimson waterfall, called Blood Falls, suggest the brine is composed of ancient seawater that was trapped in a pool beneath the glacier when ocean levels fell and the glacier advanced. However, it’s unclear exactly when that happened, researchers noted. Previous studies had already proposed a seawater origin for the brine, based on various chemical signatures and bacteria detected in the liquid, but the new results add molecular and genetic evidence to the mix of clues.
Eukaryotes‘ cells contain a membrane-bound nucleus and other closed internal compartments. Prokaryotes, by contrast, are single-celled organisms whose DNA floats around freely in the cell, unbounded by a membrane.
To characterize the types of microorganisms present within Blood Falls, the researchers used a suite of genetic techniques to analyze 167 samples of water, sediment and air from around the falls and the broader McMurdo Dry Valleys.
Some researchers argue that Blood Falls’ water does not originate from seawater, and suggest the marine bacteria and chemical signatures that point to seawater may have instead reached the falls from the ocean via intense winds, which are common in the McMurdo Dry Valleys. By analyzing samples from various sites in the Dry Valleys, the team behind the new study compared microorganisms from the wider region with those at Blood Falls to determine if Blood Falls has a distinct microbial assemblage potentially left over from ancient conditions.
The researchers found that the crimson brine and associated red-tinted sediments at Blood Falls shared a higher proportion of eukaryotes with nearby oceanic samples than other sites in the Dry Valleys did. Whereas Blood Falls had a little over 9% of its eukaryotes in common with the ocean, the Dry Valleys showed only about 1% similarity, according to the study. The remaining eukaryotes and most of the prokaryotes identified in the paper had freshwater and terrestrial origins.
Get the world’s most fascinating discoveries delivered straight to your inbox.
Researchers tried to determine if microbes at Blood Falls are distinct community from the surrounding region’s assemblages.
(Image credit: Bryan Minnea)
The results also showed that the air near Blood Falls contained only a tiny proportion of marine microorganisms, suggesting that present-day winds can’t fully explain the microbial composition of Blood Falls, the researchers wrote.
The most likely origin for the brine that feeds Blood Falls is ancient seawater that was trapped when sea levels dropped and the Taylor Glacier advanced, the study found.
(Image credit: MARK RALSTON/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Therefore, an ancient seawater origin is the most likely explanation for the microorganisms found at Blood Falls today, the team concluded. Winds may have played a role in shaping the community in the past, but now, their influence is probably insignificant, the team added.
The brine that feeds Blood Falls may have become entrapped more than 1 million years ago, during a warm period with higher sea levels and less ice cover than there is now, previous estimates suggested. However, further work, including more comprehensive genetic profiling and mapping of microorganisms, is needed to pinpoint when Taylor Valley’s glacier grew to cover the brine, the researchers wrote.
Zoumplis, A., Füssy, Z., Kaul, D., Schulte, N., Zheng, H., Lampe, R. H., Brylka, K., Venepally, P., Mikucki, J. A., McKnight, D. M. and Allen, A. E. (2026). Molecular evidence for a relict marine community in an Antarctic Dry Valleys subglacial brine-fed system. Nature Geoscience.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-026-02054-6
Antarctica quiz: Test your knowledge on Earth’s frozen continent
