How Did This Weird, Super-Salty Pond Form in Antarctica?

By Andrea Thompson, Live Science Contributor | November 22, 2017 06:46am ET

At the bottom of the world, in a frigid Antarctic desert, sits a weird pond only a few inches deep that is so salty, it stays liquid even at temperatures of minus 58 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 50 degrees Celsius).

The source of the pond's unusually heavy and pure load of salt has been a geochemical mystery since it was discovered during a 1961 expedition. Scientists had generally assumed that Don Juan Pond — a play on the names of the expedition's helicopter pilots — was fed by deep groundwater, but a widely publicized 2013 paper suggested the salts came from a shallower source.

In the new study, published Sept. 15 in the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters, researchers used computer models of the pond's chemistry to dispute that finding.

Because the area is one of the closest terrestrial analogues to Mars, understanding how water flows through the pond and the surrounding area could help scientists understand the behavior of similar features on the Red Planet. [The 7 Most Mars-Like Places on Earth]

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