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。位于南极洲东麦克默多旱峡谷的血红瀑布看上去就像鲜红的血液在慢慢流淌，染红了雪白的泰勒冰川和下游的邦尼湖。这场景相当出人意料，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，这流淌着的绯红液体不是血液。之前南极考察开拓者推测是红藻玷染了湖水，这也并非正解。事实上，这鲜亮的赭石色来自一个盐度非常高的冰川下湖泊，Quora的用户阿迪蒂亚•巴德瓦杰这样解释。
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.
大约两百万年前，一股含盐度极高的湖水被困在泰勒冰川下，与阳光、氧气和热量隔绝。当这股盐水流经一条冰川裂缝时，盐水与空气中的氧气反应形成这片壮观的红锈瀑布。
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.
这既是视觉饕餮也是科学奇观，而地球上只有在泰勒冰川——也就是从麦克默多站或者斯科特站乘直升机或在罗斯海乘游艇——才能看到这一景观。