10 Places With Geological Features That Shouldn’t Exist (2 of 6)

Blood Falls

Antarctica is mostly known for being very white, and Blood Falls absolutely ruins that theme. Pouring out of Taylor Glacier is a deep red stream that makes the ice look like it’s bleeding. It’s one of the creepiest natural sights on Earth. For years, scientists weren’t sure what caused it, but the answer turned out to be the good old iron-rich brine trapped beneath the glacier for millions of years. Water goes up, oxidation happens, and it instantly turns red, as if it’s washing out ancient rust. Even cooler than that, the brine supports microbial life, can withstand freezing cold, and is quite salty. So Blood Falls is just ancient iron-rich water from a buried ecosystem.

Richat Structure

Deep in the Sahara Desert in Mauritania, the Richat Structure looks like somebody drew a giant target mark across the sand. It’s around 25 miles wide and so unnatural-looking that astronauts use it as a landmark. Early scientists thought it might be an impact crater, which would at least explain the circular shape. But no evidence of a meteor strike turned up. Instead, it seems to be the remains of a huge geological dome. Molten rock pushed upward under the surface long ago, and erosion slowly wore the layers down at different speeds. The result is a set of giant rings that looks bizarrely deliberate, especially from up above.