Explain the cause of the Southern ice blue

One of the most astonishing scenes in Antarctica are blue ice patches, ripples like a frozen ocean.

The cause of Antarctic ice is blue

Blue patches of ice appear where the wind and palm evaporation wash off the glaciers of the glaciers . The surface is translucent, polished by the breeze of reflective tape, an impressive turquoise blue when the sun shines above the horizon. Antarctica is now the only place on Earth that has these special blue ice patches.

Blue patches of ice are unique characteristics in Antarctica.(Photo: Live Science)

Blue tape is extremely slippery, making walking on the surface a challenge. However, people still risk doing it because of the opportunity to go back in time, because green ice is among the few oldest ice sheets in Antarctica. On this continent, scientists have dug green ice with a lifespan of up to 1 million years and are still looking for more old ice sheets.

When the ice of the glacier froze for the first time, it was filled with air bubbles. Because the ice was buried and the younger ice was pressed upwards, the older ice patches began to tint in blue. As the ice grows more dense, air bubbles become smaller and smaller.

Without the scattering effect of air bubbles, light can penetrate deeper ice. For the human eye, ancient glacial ice patches act as a filter, absorbing red and yellow light , while reflecting blue light , creating beautiful blue nuances of a river. ice.

In contrast, snow is white because it is filled with air bubbles. The snow reflected back into the entire spectrum of white light, like a freshly poured soda with sparkling, shiny foam at the top.

Blue ice occasionally appears on the Antarctic edge, where glaciers flock to the sea. Summer ice melting can also create smooth green ice sheets. However, the blue ice zones are most likely to appear near the mountains of Antarctica.

The giant glaciers of Antarctica look like rivers frozen, moving slowly. When these streams hit a barrier, such as a mountain range, the deeper ice was pushed upward, like water flowing through a sinking rock at the bottom of the river. Blue ice also tended to emerge on the winds of the mountains, where gusts of wind blew away snow and ice. Over time, older ice layers leak out due to evaporation.

Green ice only covers about 1% of Antarctica, according to a study published in 2010 in Antarctic Science. Green ice areas often span a few kilometers in any direction.

The blue ice of the South Pole is filled with a rare asset: meteorite . More than 25,000 meteorites have been collected from Antarctic blue ice areas. The ice of the glacier is evaporating to reveal the rocks that once fell into this frozen continent over a period of thousands of years, accumulating them into a small area. Meteorite hunters often have annual pilgrimage to the green ice area to scan the ice for the desired stones.

Green ice areas are also used as runways to land wheeled aircraft, instead of snowboards. The governments of Italy, Australia, Norway, Russia and the US are operating such green runways in Antarctica.