![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090507231618im_/http://www.nsf.gov/images/x.gif) News From the Field Unlikely Life Thriving at Antarctica's Blood Falls
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090507231618im_/http://www.nsf.gov/images/greenlineshort.jpg)
April 17, 2009
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Hidden under an inland Antarctic glacier in a cold, dark, oxygen-poor environment, microbial life thrives. Given the extreme conditions and lack of light, researchers predicted that a process other than photosynthesis supported the tiny organisms. The blood-red stain at the snout of the glacier served as a clue that has led researchers to believe that the microbes have adapted over the past 1.5 million years to manipulate sulfur and iron compounds to survive.
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Source Arizona State University
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