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!
