Question

The water in blood falls cascades over a glacier before reaching Lake bonney. Why does the water not freeze as it passes across the glacier?

Answer 1

Because it’s a super‑saline, warmish subglacial brine rather than ordinary fresh meltwater. The dissolved salts and other solutes strongly depress the freezing point (much more than seawater), so the outflow remains liquid at the ambient glacier temperatures. In addition the water emerges from a pressurized, geothermally warmed subglacial reservoir and is flowing — both of which also help prevent ice from forming. (The red color comes from iron oxides carried in the brine.)