A viral video shows how the rain turns the landscape of Hormuz island and the sea red like blood
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A viral video circulating on the internet shows that recent heavy rains have turned the island’s appearance blood red.
The island of Hormuz near Iran in the Persian Gulf turned blood red, shocking photo shows, after rain hit the Middle Eastern island aptly named Red Beach.
Rainwater is said to be mixed with mineral-rich soil and seawater, making the situation red, red as blood.
Hormuz Island turned red due to heavy rain on December 16, a result of its iron oxide-rich soil, according to reports.
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Heavy rain on Hormuz Island is causing blood-red runoff as iron oxide sediments wash into coastal waters, captured in stunning viral images. (Instagram user @mohsen_fitsaz)
In a clip shared on Instagram, heavy rain can be seen mixing with the deep colored earth, bringing a deep red sediment to the land and sea.
“The island of Hormuz is made up mostly of red soil and salt rock,” according to a Science Direct study, where researchers looked at the heavy metal content of the region’s soil.
“Red soil gets its color from a mixture of hematite and iron hydroxides, but the amount of hematite dominates over iron hydroxides,” the magazine wrote.
The island of Hormuz is a small key in the Strait of Hormuz off the southern coast of Iran, and is home to a few thousand inhabitants.
It is also known locally as “Rainbow Island” because of its colorful soil and rock formations.
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Scientists explain the natural phenomenon behind the red rain videos from Iran’s ‘Rainbow Island’ where hematite-rich soil creates crimson water. (Atta Kenare/AFP via Getty Images)
Reports of red rain have drawn comparisons to the “rain of blood” described in ancient texts, but scientists say it’s all completely natural.
“This island is a salt mine, a mound of teardrop-shaped salt rock, gypsum, anhydrite and other evaporites that rose up through layers of rock,” NASA’s Earth Observatory researchers explained.
“Rock salt or halite is weak and mobile, so it loses its strength and flows like a liquid when under high pressure,” they added.
The bright color is said to come from iron-oxide-rich soil, in an area called “golak”, which covers most of Hormuz.
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Scientists explain the natural phenomenon on Hormuz Island, known as “Rainbow Island,” because of its colorful rock formations. (Photos by HIROON/Middle East/AFP via Getty Images)
When heavy rain hits the hills and cliffs of the island, the water meets this mineral-rich soil, carrying red particles that carry them into streams, rivers and finally reach the Persian Gulf.
As iron oxide hangs in the water, it absorbs short wavelengths of light and reflects long red wavelengths, giving the stream and shoreline a crimson color.
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Researchers also say that “blood rain” events occur when rain or runoff contains dust, mineral-rich soil or algae.
