世界匪夷所思的自然現象:南極洲血紅瀑布
The name says it all. Blood Falls, in East Antarctica’s McMurdo Dry Valleys, looks like slowly pouring scarlet-red blood, staining snowy white Taylor Glacier and Lake Bonney below. It’s a surprising – and creepy – sight to behold.
景如其名。位於南極洲東麥克默多旱峽谷的血紅瀑布看上去就像鮮紅的血液在慢慢流淌，染紅了雪白的泰勒冰川和下游的邦尼湖。這場景相當出人意料，令人毛骨悚然。
The trickling crimson liquid isn’t blood, however. Nor is it water dyed by red algae, as early Antarctica pioneers first speculated. In fact, the brilliant ochre tint comes from an extremely salty sub-glacial lake, explains Quora user Aditya Bhardwaj.
然而，這流淌着的緋紅液體不是血液。之前南極考察開拓者推測是紅藻玷染了湖水，這也並非正解。事實上，這鮮亮的赭石色來自一個鹽度非常高的冰川下湖泊，Quora的用戶阿迪蒂亞•巴德瓦傑這樣解釋。
About two million years ago, a hyper-saline body of water became trapped beneath Taylor Glacier, isolated from light, oxygen and heat. As the saltwater trickles through a fissure in the glacier, it reacts with the oxygen in the air to create this spectacular, rust-hued cascade.
大約兩百萬年前，一股含鹽度極高的湖水被困在泰勒冰川下，與陽光、氧氣和熱量隔絕。當這股鹽水流經一條冰川裂縫時，鹽水與空氣中的氧氣反應形成這片壯觀的紅鏽瀑布。
It’s a visual and scientific wonder, and Taylor Glacier – accessible only by helicopter from McMurdo Station or Scott Base, or cruise ship in the Ross Sea – is the only spot on Earth to see it.
這既是視覺饕餮也是科學奇觀，而地球上只有在泰勒冰川——也就是從麥克默多站或者斯科特站乘直升機或在羅斯海乘遊艇——才能看到這一景觀。
