Starting off at number 10 we have
Blood Falls[a].
In 1911, Scientists noticed something pretty horrifying around cliffs of ice in Antarctica
- it looked like they were oozing blood.
It shocked the world - what could possibly be producing these rivers of blood?
Was there something hidden within the ice that we didnt know about?
Something that could only exist in the hostile conditions of Antarctica?
At the time, Scientists believed it was caused by algae discoloring the water - their hypothesis
was never verified though.
In 2017 - the mystery was finally solved thanks to research by the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
The deep red coloring is due to oxidized iron in brine saltwater - its essentially the same
process that makes iron go dark red when it rusts.
When the iron rich saltwater comes into contact with the oxygen on the surfaces, the iron
oxidizes and this colours the water and ice red.
I think we can all breathe a sigh of relief that there isnt some hellish blood monster
living under the Antarctic ice.
Next up at number 9 we have The Abandoned Huts.[b] On November 1st 1911, British explorer
Robert Falcon Scott departed from Cape Evans on his Terra Nova expedition, trying to become
the first human to reach the south pole.
They made it to the South Pole but sadly, they found they had been beaten to it by a
group of Norwegians led by Amundsen.
The team faced unusually bad weather on their return journey and tragically died before
they could reach their hut with all their supplies.
The hut was used by another team in 1917 but after that - it was abandoned.
For years, it was slowly covered in ice and snow until 1956 - when a US expeditioners
party dug it out.
It was found to be in a remarkable well preserved state.
The beds are as they left them, so are their scientific instruments.
Canned foot sits on the shelves, a London newspaper is on one of the desks.
The frozen and try environment had preserved a lot of things - but decay still occurs.
Visitors to the Discovery Hut described the now century old seal meat as smelling -quite
rancid- and some people thought that the huts themselves are now affected by fungal decay.
Moving on to number 8 we have Bacteria[c].
In 2008, scientists managed to revive bacterium extracted from Antarctic ice that was 8 million
years old - you heard me 8 million years old.
Right away, many people became concerned - was this a danger?
It sounds a bit like the start of a hollywood movie where the bacteria goes on to wipe out
the whole of humanity.
The scientists assured the public though that there was nothing to worry about and that
the bacterium was unlikely to cause human disease - youll note that they said unlikely
though - its not definite … this bacteria is so old that when it came into existence
8 million years ago - the common ancestor of humans and chimpanzees was alive on the
planet.
So - how are they still alive?
Well, Paul Falkowski of Rutgers University described the bacteria as having been in a
-suspended state of animation for 8 million years- and that global warming melting glaciers
could result in the release of more ancient organisms into the sea …
Next up at number 7 we have the Pyramid[d].
In November 2016, the internet was abuzz with talk of a Pyramid that had been found buried
in the Antarctic ice.
Before you dismiss that as nonsense - take a look.
Yeah, that looks a LOT like a pyramid.
It was first discovered by the British Antarctic Expedition of 1910 - 1913.
They were stunned by its appearance and decided to name it The Pyramid - a name still used
on geological surveys of the area.
Its located in the Ellsworth Mountains which is a range more than 400km long - the Pyramid
is one of the peaks in this mountain range.
Naturally - you know what Im going to say next - many conspiracy theorists stated that
this is proof of an ancient civilization that lived on Antarctica before being consumed
by the ice and their existence covered up by todays government.
Of course, experts have dismissed this, saying that pyramids are not a complicated shape
and are not an uncommon appearance in nature.
What do you guys think?
Next up at number 6 we have The Lake[e].
Lake Vostok is one of the biggest lakes on the planet - if youve never heard of it - don't
worry - thats probably because Lake Vostok is buried under more than 2 miles of ice in
Antarctica.
Its been covered in nice for at least 15 million years but it is still liquid - the crushing
layer of ice and geothermal activity have ensured that.
Its presence was first suggested in the 1960s by a Russian pilot who noticed a large, smooth
patch of ice above the lake from the air.
Radar experiments by British and Russian researchers in 1996 confirmed the lakes existence.
The lake - is massive - 143 miles long, 31 miles wide and up to 2,625 feet deep.
In 2012, Russian scientists managed to successfully drill a hole down to the lakes water.
They believe that down there in the lake is microbial life that is unique from everything
else on Earth, having been isolated for 15 millions years.
Now the search for it begins.
Next up at number 5 we have Allan Hills 84001.[f] In 1984, a team of US meteorite hunters discovered
a Martian meteorite in the Antarctic ice.
It was only about 4.3 pounds but by 1996 it was causing quite a stir when a group of scientists
claimed they had found evidence of microscopic folls of Martian bacteria in the meteorite.
Was this proof of life on Mars?
Or at least, that life USED to be on Mars?
The media went into a frenzy - even US president Bill Clinton gave a speech about it.
The hysteria was because of the strain chain structures on that meteorite that looked like
they could have been fossilized bacteria.
There was also the fact that the meteorite broke off from Mars some 17 million years
ago during a time when Mars had liquid water on its surface and carbon dioxide in its atmosphere
- a perfect time for life to form.
Eventually, these claims were rejected though and the features of the meteorite were explained
without requiring life to be present.
The meteorite now remains on display at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural history.
Moving on to number 4 we have have The Dinosaur[g].
In February 2019, the fossil of a new species of reptile was announced - it had been found
by researchers in the Antarctic ice during a 2010-2011 expedition.
Its believed to be an early relative of dinosaurs who lived in antarcica millions of years before
the continent drift to its position over the south pole and became uninhabitable for complex
life forms.
Around 250 million years ago, Antarctica was covered in lush forests and rivers with many
species of wildlife living there - including reptiles.
The temperature is thought to have almost never dropped below freezing point!
The scientists named the iguana sized reptile -Antarctanax Shackletoni- … Antarctic translates
to Antarctic King and Shakletoni is in honour of the Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton.
Moving on to number 3 we have the Matchy Mass[h].
In June 2018, YouTuber user Wowforreel made a video showing his discovery of a 14 mile
structure buried in Antarctica.
He made the discovery using google maps and described it as a -patchy mass- that you could
easily see from outer space.
He said that he had used google maps to search the entire continent and had never found anything
like it.
He even pointed out that there were strange brush strokes over the mass which he thinks
was someone trying to cover something up.
It didnt take long before people started speculating about what was going on here - the YouTuber
himself put forward the idea that if the brush effect was removed - perhaps wed see some
sort of giant UFO mothership buried in ice.
In all probability - its probably a research facility - but we still don't know for sure
as the strange block remains on Google Maps to this day - you can even go and see for
yourself!
Coming in at number 2 we have The Wreckage[i].
In January 2013, 3 Canadian men took off in a plane from the Amundsen Scott South Pole
research station en route to an Italian research base in Terra Nova Bay.
During the journey, the emergency transmitter went off and a search party set out to find
them.
Bad weather hampered rescue efforts but after 6 days, they found the plane - it had crashed
into one of Antarcticas highest mountains.
The rescue team were unable to get into the cockpit though and were only able to retrieve
some luggage.
After 4 hours there, they determined it was too risky to stay any longer as the weather
was taking a serious turn for the worse and they were afraid of an avalanche occurring.
It took 9 months before another team set out during Antarcicas summer period to retrieve
the frozen remains of the 3 Canadian men.
And finally at number 1 we have Endurance[j].
We talked about the explorer Shackleton earlier - well - Endurance was the name of the ship
he used to get to Antarctica in the first place.
The ship was abandoned by Shackleton and his team when she was crushed by ice in the Weddel
Seaa off Antarctica, causing her to sink.
In the years since then, there have been 3 expeditions that have tried and failed to
locate Endurance.
In 2018 - that changed though - a team at the Scott Polar Research Institute launched
a new search using more sophisticated technology such as GPS and drones to help them see possible
routes in the ice.
They also used an autonomous underwater vehicle.
This video youre watching was released in February 2019 and according to what Ive read
- the search for the Endurance is happening right now - looking for a ship thousands of
ft beneath the frigid waves.
I thought Id end on this one because its not been discovered yet - and thats kind of exciting
- theres a lot more to uncover in the incredible world of Antarctica …
And theres a lot more to uncover around the world in general!
Where would you like us to go next?
We always do country videos but how about continent ones?
I could take all the scariest things in Europe and put them in one video - or scary theories
about Asia - you get the idea - let me know - thanks for watching as always guys and Ill
see you all in the next video!