Get ready to explore the wildest, most unpredictable rivers on Earth! 🌊 These rivers don’t follow the usual rules—they change course, flood without warning, and even disappear entirely. 🌍✨ Scientists struggle to predict their movements, making them some of nature’s biggest mysteries. 🧐 From rivers that flow backward to those that vanish underground, their stories will leave you amazed. 🤯 Join us as we uncover the secrets of these rule-breaking waterways! Don’t miss this adventure into the untamed forces of nature! 🚣♂️🔥 Animation is created by Bright Side.
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Music from TheSoul Sound: https://thesoul-sound.com/
Check our Bright Side podcast on Spotify and leave a positive review! https://open.spotify.com/show/0hUkPxD34jRLrMrJux4VxV
Subscribe to Bright Side: https://goo.gl/rQTJZz
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For more videos and articles visit: http://www.brightside.me
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This video is made for entertainment purposes. We do not make any warranties about the completeness, safety and reliability. Any action you take upon the information in this video is strictly at your own risk, and we will not be liable for any damages or losses. It is the viewer's responsibility to use judgement, care and precaution if you plan to replicate.
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FunTranscript
00:00It was the beginning of the 20th century, and two rivals, Robert Scott and Roald Amundsen,
00:07set on their expeditions to become the first people in history to reach the South Pole.
00:12The race wasn't easy, and it ended tragically for Scott.
00:16Amundsen has won and set his tent on the pole before his rivals.
00:21A member of Scott's expedition known as Terra Nova, British geologist Thomas Griffith-Taylor,
00:27not only survived the harsh conditions, but also made an unexpected discovery.
00:32He found a waterfall of what appeared to be blood at the rocky base of the glacier,
00:36which now has his name, in 1911.
00:40It took scientists more than a century to figure out what is behind the eerie color.
00:47A team of American scientists journeyed to Taylor Glacier
00:50with powerful electron microscopes to analyze its contents.
00:54Previous studies had scratched the surface of the crimson enigma,
00:57but no one had previously done a full-scale analysis of its mineralogical makeup.
01:02These researchers unleashed a whole arsenal of analytical equipment
01:06and spotted little iron-rich nanospheres.
01:09These teeny tiny particles, a hundredth the size of human red blood cells,
01:13originate from ancient microbes.
01:16They flourish abundantly in the meltwaters of Taylor Glacier.
01:19These nanospheres are jam-packed with iron, silicon, calcium, aluminum, and sodium,
01:25forming a unique composition that paints the subglacial water a vivid shade of red.
01:30These nanospheres don't have the usual crystalline structure found in minerals,
01:34which is why previous detection methods failed to spot them.
01:38Taylor Glacier's icy depths harbor an ancient microbial community
01:42that has thrived in isolation for thousands or possibly even millions of years.
01:47This discovery could help us in the search for life outside of Earth.
01:54Dr. Ken Levy, a research scientist at Johns Hopkins University,
01:58has some impressive expertise in planetary materials and the analysis of Martian samples.
02:04He decided to find out what would happen if a Mars rover landed in Antarctica.
02:09Could it figure out what makes bloodfalls so mesmerizingly red?
02:13So, researchers treated bloodfalls as a simulated Martian landing site.
02:17They used techniques inspired by the rovers exploring the red planet.
02:21The samples they collected were sent to Johns Hopkins processing facilities.
02:26There, Levy unleashed the power of transmission electron microscopy
02:30and revealed the enigmatic nanospheres.
02:33He made the conclusion that our current methods of analyzing other planets' surfaces with rovers fall short.
02:39They can't unravel the true nature of environmental materials,
02:42especially on chilly planets like Mars.
02:45These materials might be super tiny and non-crystalline,
02:48throwing off our detection methods.
02:51To truly grasp the essence of rocky planets, we'll need transmission electron microscopes.
02:56Strapping one onto a Mars rover isn't feasible yet,
03:00but it could mean a start of a new era in space exploration.
03:05Have you ever seen a waterfall on fire?
03:09Every February, when the stars align just right,
03:12Horsetail Fall in Yosemite National Park gets a sensational makeover.
03:16As the sun sets, its rays hit the waterfall at the perfect angle,
03:20transforming it into a blazing display of vibrant orange and red hues.
03:25We don't know exactly who and when discovered this natural miracle.
03:29The original valley dwellers may have known about it, but they kept it to themselves.
03:33It wasn't until 1973 that photographer Galen Rowell captured the first known photo of the waterfall,
03:39bringing it into the limelight.
03:42Since then, the firefall has become a global sensation,
03:45spreading like wildfire on social media and drawing crowds from far and wide.
03:53This magnificent cascade draws hundreds of spectators every year,
03:56but they can only see the show under certain conditions.
04:00First things first, Horsetail Fall needs a flowing stream.
04:04If there's not enough snowpack in February, the waterfall won't have enough water to create the magic.
04:09The temperatures must be warm enough to melt the snowpack during the day.
04:13If it's too chilly, the snow will stay frozen, and the fiery spectacle won't ignite.
04:18Second, we need a clear western sky at sunset.
04:22Those sunbeams need a straight path to hit Horsetail Fall and make it come alive.
04:26And since the weather in Yosemite is ever-changing, clouds can magically clear up just in time for the show.
04:32If all the conditions are just right, you'll witness the Yosemite Firefall in all its glory for about 10 minutes.
04:41The mystery of the sailing stones in California's Death Valley National Park has puzzled scientists for years.
04:47Heavy stones seem to have a mind of their own and move across Racetrack Playa, a dried-up lakebed.
04:53They leave behind a trail on the cracked mud.
04:56There were all kinds of theories to explain this phenomenon,
04:59from magnetic fields or dust devils, which are strong whirlwinds, to mischievous pranksters.
05:05No one has actually witnessed these rocks in action, which only added to the mystery.
05:12In 2006, a NASA scientist named Ralph Lorenz entered the scene.
05:17He was studying weather conditions on other planets,
05:20but he couldn't resist the allure of Death Valley and those elusive sailing stones.
05:25He had an eureka moment while tinkering at his kitchen table with a Tupperware container.
05:31Lorenz filled the container with water, leaving a small rock poking out, and chucked it in the freezer.
05:37Then he placed this icy construction in a big tray of water with sand at the bottom and gently blew on it.
05:44The rock began to glide across the water, leaving a trail in the sand.
05:48Lorenz had been studying how ice can make big rocks float and move along tidal beaches in the Arctic Sea.
05:55Applying this knowledge, he and his research team figured out that,
05:59under certain winter conditions in Death Valley,
06:02enough water and ice could form to make the rocks float across Racetrack Playa in a light breeze.
06:07And as they glided, they left their mark in the muddy terrain.
06:12The River of Five Colors, Cano Cristales in Colombia,
06:17has the unofficial title of the most beautiful river in the world.
06:21For most of the year, it looks like any other regular river.
06:25The real magic happens between the wet and dry seasons, when the water level is just perfect.
06:31This unique river floor is lined with a special plant,
06:34and when the conditions are right, it bursts into a dazzling display of colors.
06:38Think vibrant reds, stunning yellows, and lush greens, all mingling with the blue water.
06:44It's like stepping into a living rainbow with a thousand shades in between.
06:48This phenomenal display only lasts for a few weeks, from September through November.
06:52During Colombia's wet season, the river flows too fast and deep,
06:56covering up the river floor and denying the plant the sunlight it needs to turn red.
07:00And in the dry season, there's simply not enough water to support the vibrant life in the river.
07:05So you have to catch it at just the right time.
07:11The reason behind Maldivian beaches glowing in the dark at night isn't a mystery,
07:15but it doesn't make them any less impressive.
07:18It happens thanks to the bioluminescent plankton.
07:21These tiny creatures are like little underwater disco balls,
07:25emitting a cool blue glow when they are agitated or on the move.
07:29Imagine walking along the shoreline and leaving behind glowing footprints.
07:33You can even take a night swim amongst these magical plankton.
07:36Researchers have discovered that their bioluminescence is actually a clever defense mechanism against predators.
07:43When these microorganisms flash their little blue lights, it disorients and surprises their attackers.
07:49The plankton produces this light using a chemical called luciferin.
07:53These enchanting plankton can appear at any time of the year.
07:57The best chances of seeing them in all their glowing glory are from June to December.
08:02During this period, there's a higher volume of plankton in the seas of the Maldives,
08:07creating the perfect conditions for a luminous show after the sun sets and the night sky takes over.
08:12You'll only witness the magic of bioluminescent plankton
08:15when tidal currents bring them close to the shore in large numbers.
08:19It's hard to predict exactly when this spectacular show will happen,
08:23so make sure to do your research and prepare to take photos with a high ISO to capture it,
08:28exactly like it looks in travel catalogs.
08:33Okavango
08:38Most rivers in the world flow into the sea,
08:41but the Okavango in Africa takes its massive waters right into the Kalahari Desert.
08:47And it looks like this river manages to do the impossible and defies gravity.
08:54The Okavango starts in the highlands of Angola,
08:57runs for a thousand miles like any other normal river,
09:01and then drops into the largest inland delta on Earth, known as the Okavango Swamp.
09:07The delta has land slopes dropping at nearly 150 feet,
09:11which is about half as tall as the Statue of Liberty.
09:14The area where the Okavango Delta is now used to be part of a lake that dried up around 2,000 years ago.
09:21It takes the Okavango water several months to complete its journey,
09:24and the landscape there is never the same.
09:28The first European to have found the delta was the Scottish explorer David Livingston.
09:33Yeah, the Dr. Livingston, I presume, guy. That's him.
09:37When he first saw it, he was shocked as he noticed that the water seemed to be flowing backward and even uphill.
09:44He saw two strong watercourses connecting the Okavango to the wetland systems to the east.
09:50Decades later, other explorers saw them completely dry.
09:54Several years later, the watercourses were full again,
09:57and they kept emptying and filling up, sometimes changing direction.
10:04Scientists managed to explain this mystery when they found a hidden network of faults,
10:09part of the Great Rift Valley, under the sand.
10:12When major earthquakes happen, like the one in Indonesia in 2004,
10:16the Earth sets off a chain reaction.
10:19Tiny cracks underground shift just enough to send a trickle of water down the river,
10:24and a flood begins, raising the water levels.
10:27Plus, in May and June, when winter begins in the Southern Hemisphere,
10:31floods bring more fresh water and life to the swamp.
10:35Islands get submerged completely during the peak floods,
10:38and then resurface again at the end of the wet season.
10:49Wildlife just loves all the water in the delta,
10:52and you can often see migratory elephants bathing among pink lily pads,
10:57and silverfish, bream, barbels, and other fish.
11:00There are lions, cheetahs, buffalo, wildebeests, hippopotamuses,
11:05zebras, wild dogs, crocodiles, and other species of animals.
11:10Storks, ibis, herons, cranes, and geese like to fly by, along with 450 species of birds.
11:17Although the Akavango has plenty of water that is priceless in the desert,
11:21people hardly settle along its banks.
11:24One big problem here is the tsetse fly,
11:27but if you're feeling adventurous, you can come here for a water safari.
11:33Scientists from Imperial College in London
11:36stumbled upon a totally unexpected river under the Antarctic ice sheet.
11:40It slurps up water from an area as big as Germany and France combined.
11:45Scientists used to think the lakes under the Antarctic ice were just chilling by themselves,
11:50but now it turns out they're part of an interconnected river network.
11:54Water under the ice can form in two ways,
11:57either from melted snow seeping down,
12:00or from the Earth's natural heat and the ice grinding over the ground.
12:04The Antarctic gets a lot of surface melting during the summer,
12:07but Antarctica is usually too chilly for that.
12:10This newly found river is proof that there's plenty of water down there
12:14just from the ice melting from below.
12:17This river could make Antarctica lose its icy cover way faster.
12:21If things heat up enough to melt the surface,
12:24that water could rush down and mess with the base of the ice sheet,
12:28turning Antarctica into a melting mess like Greenland.
12:32If the ice starts moving faster than the water can handle,
12:35it's going to create more friction,
12:37making even more water and speeding up the melting process.
12:41The researchers are on a mission to dig deeper into how this river system works
12:45and see if it's causing trouble in other parts of the icy continent.
12:49Understanding what's going on down there could give us a heads-up
12:53on how a changing Antarctica might shake up the whole planet.
12:59The Roe River in Montana flows for just a bit over 200 feet
13:03between Giant Springs and the Missouri River.
13:06It was mentioned in the Guinness Book of World Records
13:09as the shortest river in the world,
13:11but they had to remove this category altogether
13:14because there was some heated debate over this title.
13:17Residents of Oregon claim that their Dee River was the absolute champion,
13:21as it all depends on when you measure them.
13:24There could even be shorter rivers in Norway or Indonesia,
13:27depending on what you see as a river.
13:30The official definition says it's something that has constant flowing water
13:34in the form of a current and is fed by upland sources
13:37or another river, lake, or watershed.
13:40Creeks and brooks flow together to form streams.
13:43Streams become rivers, and rivers take the water from higher to lower lands,
13:47ending in the ocean.
13:49There are 12 stream orders,
13:51and the first two levels don't have other streams feeding them.
13:54So, Roe and its other short buddies technically deserve the title of rivers.
13:59I'm glad we cleared that up.
14:02Rio Negro in South America is the largest blackwater river in the world
14:07and the largest left tributary of the Amazon jungle.
14:10Its waters look more like strong tea
14:13and seem pitch black only from the distance.
14:16They get that dark color from humic acid.
14:19When plants containing phenol break down only halfway,
14:22they leave behind this tea-like hue.
14:25Some people believe that blackwater rivers can't be productive,
14:28but Rio Negro helps big fishing industries
14:31and has spots where turtles come to lay their eggs.
14:34Back in the 17th century,
14:36explorers didn't find tons of indigenous folks along the river.
14:40But it probably didn't have to do with its productivity,
14:43more with diseases and conflicts.
14:46There are around 700 different fish species
14:49documented in Rio Negro's basin,
14:52including at least 100 you won't find anywhere else.
14:55A bunch of those fish end up in aquariums,
14:58like the super popular Cardinal Tetra.
15:01There is a canal connecting Rio Negro and the Orinoco,
15:04which is another major river in South America.
15:07Many aquatic species try to move between the rivers,
15:10but only the toughest can handle the mix of blackwater
15:13and clearwater sections in that canal.
15:18There's a unique creek in Wyoming
15:20that drains both into the Pacific and the Atlantic Oceans.
15:24It begins high up in the Teton Range
15:26and later splits into two branches.
15:29The Pacific Creek joins the larger Snake River,
15:32which merges with the Columbia River
15:34and finally reaches the Pacific Ocean.
15:36The Atlantic Creek heads east
15:38and flows into the Yellowstone, Missouri, and Mississippi rivers
15:41and eventually empties into the Gulf of Mexico.
15:44If you connect the two creeks' watersheds on a map,
15:47you'll get a single blue line between Oregon and Louisiana.
15:51Explorers who were looking for the Northwest Passage
15:54between the two oceans never knew they could've used the creek.
15:58They would just need really tiny boats.
16:00Some scientists believe that cutthroat trout
16:03knew about this route long before people.
16:05They managed to migrate from the Snake River to the Yellowstone River,
16:09most likely using the two-ocean creek.
16:14Now, every summer, the Caño Castales in Columbia
16:18turns into a liquid rainbow, or the River of Five Colors.
16:22At this time and until the end of fall,
16:25the conditions are just perfect for the riverbed
16:27to turn bright red, yellow, green, blue, and black.
16:31You gotta thank certain aquatic plants growing in the river,
16:34a special type of seaweed for all this beauty.
16:37During the wet season, the river moves fast,
16:40and the sun cannot get to these plants.
16:42When the dry season hits, there isn't enough water to feed them.
16:45So, the time in between the seasons
16:47has the perfect conditions for this colorful show.
16:50No other place in the world has anything similar.
16:53So, at some point, the number of tourists who wanted to see it
16:56became so huge that scientists got concerned
16:59it could be bad for this hot spot of biodiversity.
17:02The area is home to rare species of animals, birds, and plants.
17:06Now, there are ecotourism trails and strict opening hours for visitors.
17:16Now, of course you know that the Amazon River
17:19is famous for its piranhas, bull sharks,
17:22and other creatures you don't want to meet.
17:25But there are even more dangerous rivers in the world.
17:28The deepest of them, the Congo,
17:30goes so far down in some sections that even light can't reach there.
17:34It's the only major river that crosses the equator twice
17:38and carries enough water to fill more than 13 Olympic-sized swimming pools
17:42into the Atlantic Ocean every second.
17:45Wow!
17:46Even the most experienced boaters have trouble
17:48passing through all of the river's strong currents,
17:50rapids in its upper part,
17:52and waterfalls and gorges in the lower section.
17:55The Congo currents are so fast and powerful
17:58that they even divide animals like mountains and oceans do.
18:02There are new species of fish evolving separately on the two banks
18:06as they can't reach the other side and breed with each other.
18:09One of the most dangerous types of fish living here is the Goliath tigerfish.
18:14These monsters that grow up to 5 feet
18:16and travel at the speed of 25 mph are relatives of piranhas.
18:21Their mouths are full of vicious, razor-sharp teeth.
18:25Their females lay hundreds of thousands of eggs,
18:27and the offspring are predators from birth.
18:30You have a good reason to fear the Goliath tigerfish
18:33as they're the only freshwater fish in Africa
18:36that have attacked crocodiles and even humans.
18:39Okay, not swimming there.
18:42There are dense jungles and more hungry wildlife,
18:45including snakes and some aggressive hippos,
18:48all along the river.
18:50Still, it's used as a water highway in Central Africa,
18:53so barges traveling on it for weeks
18:55are often crowded with up to 2,000 people
18:58and capsize every now and then.
19:01And if you believe the local folklore,
19:03there's one more thing to be afraid of.
19:05The one who stops the flow of the rivers.
19:08A dinosaur-like beast that is said to live in the Congo River basin.
19:12There have been over a hundred sightings over the last century,
19:16but no one can provide solid evidence the beast is real.
19:22At the turn of the 21st century,
19:24there was a series of terrible, mysterious stories
19:27on the Kali River in Asia.
19:29Something described as a mud-colored water pig
19:33would drag swimmers underwater in front of terrified eyewitnesses.
19:37British biologist Jeremy Wade stepped up to crack the case.
19:41He noticed that all the scary incidents were happening
19:44in one specific spot, stretching about 4 miles.
19:48Villagers told him this creature was growing big and bad
19:51from all the food it got.
19:53Wade examined the water with a depth sounder
19:56and thought it could've been a whirlpool.
19:58Then the monster dragged a domestic water buffalo into the water.
20:02The buffaloes are big and heavy,
20:04so the creature that attacked it would have to be super strong.
20:08Saltwater crocodiles don't go so far inland,
20:11and the most common local species of crocodiles don't live in cold waters.
20:15There were no bull sharks in the area either.
20:18Finally, Wade spotted several goonch catfish underwater.
20:22Some of them were human-sized.
20:24They couldn't capture these monsters with a regular fishing rod,
20:27but a special ceremonial construction did the job.
20:31The largest fish was 6 feet 7 inches long
20:34and 3 times the weight of an average goonch.
20:37It was large enough to take down a human or a large animal,
20:40but Wade mentioned there could be even bigger ones living in the Kali River.
20:46The Orinoco River in South America is dangerous to navigate
20:50because of some crazy curves and strong underwater currents.
20:54It's easy to get lost here,
20:56even if you have your GPS on.
20:58There are sudden waterfalls all along,
21:01and you must be prepared to handle those to survive.
21:04The river is the only home to a rare Orinoco crocodile
21:08and has some pretty scary-looking vampire fish swimming around.
21:12This payara fish has sharp, spiky daggers that line their gums
21:17and two elongated fangs that rise from their lower jaws.
21:20Hmm, could probably use an orthodontist and some braces, you think?
21:24It's a ferocious hunter constantly looking for the next victim,
21:27which is going to be a medium or large-sized fish.
21:30If a human catches a payara, it will defend itself,
21:34leaving cuts, nips, and bites,
21:36but there are no known cases of this cutie taking a human life.
21:40Well, that's good.
21:43The Yellow River in China received this name after its color,
21:47but it wasn't always this yellow.
21:49It was first formed at least 30 million years ago
21:52and shifted its course over 30 times over the centuries.
21:56Yellow sediments moving downstream from a plateau in the distance
22:00transformed it from clear to muddy.
22:03This fine-grained substance piled up at the bottom of the river
22:07and formed natural dams.
22:09The huge amounts of water that the river carries
22:12need to find their way to the sea.
22:14And that's when major floods happened,
22:16taking several million lives and various epics.
22:19The locals tried to solve the problem by building higher and higher levees,
22:23but it only made things worse.
22:25Water coming out of the river would now have nowhere to back up
22:30as the riverbed was higher than the surrounding land.
22:33This even shifted the river's mouth.
22:35Now there are massive dams and dikes all along the river to try to contain it.
22:42The Parana River is the second longest in Latin America
22:45and has many tributaries.
22:47They flow in from the highlands near the Andes
22:50and there's a huge drainage in the wet season.
22:53This makes the river a perfect home for, guess what?
22:56Piranhas.
22:57There are 30 to 60 species of these scary fish in the Piranha waters.
23:02In late 2013, they attacked bathers cooling off by the water on a hot day.
23:07People started running out of the river
23:09as they felt something was biting them in the water.
23:12Luckily, no one lost their lives in the accident,
23:15but it's still considered one of the most audacious piranha attacks ever recorded.
23:20Biologists later determined that the type of piranhas,
23:23called Palomades, was to blame for this,
23:26and humans had probably disturbed their breeding grounds.
23:29Wow.
23:30The piranha also has a strong current that is tricky for boats and swimmers to overcome.
23:35Plus, it often floods,
23:37which can be dangerous for people living in the surrounding areas.
23:42The longest river in the world, the Nile,
23:45flows through 11 countries all the way into the Mediterranean Sea.
23:49Expeditions have spent centuries looking for its source,
23:53and no one still knows for sure where this mighty river begins.
23:57Adding to the mystery,
23:58the Nile takes an unexpected turn right in the middle of the Sahara.
24:03Scientists have figured out the reason
24:05is a massive underground rock formation from millions of years ago.
24:09The Nile has served as the most important water highway for civilizations through centuries,
24:14but it has some pretty dangerous inhabitants,
24:17like crocodiles that grow to be 20 feet long,
24:20which is slightly more than the height of an average giraffe.
24:23These bad guys can reach a speed of 30 miles per hour on land
24:27and take the lives of a couple hundred people every year.
24:31Hippopotamuses that also live here sometimes go after boats,
24:35and venomous snakes like the black mamba and the Egyptian cobra add to the mix.
24:41One of the most dangerous creatures on the Nile is the mosquito,
24:45as they carry around all sorts of diseases that affect hundreds of thousands of people.
24:52The Brahmaputra River in Asia carries waters from the mighty Himalayas.
24:57When the snows in the mountains melt,
24:59the river floods massively, causing landslides,
25:02displacing millions of people,
25:04and taking the lives of hundreds of animals in the nearby national parks.
25:08Such floods are also common during the monsoon season in India,
25:12from June to October, with heavy rains.
25:15The course of the Brahmaputra River has changed incredibly over the past two and a half centuries.
25:21Erosion is another danger it's hiding.
25:24The banks of the river are mostly made of weak, cohesive sand and silt.
25:28And even though the erosion rate has gone down,
25:31it is still the reason a lot of people lose their land and get displaced.
25:35The Brahmaputra is one of the few rivers in the world that has a tidal bore.
25:40That's a strong tidal wave that pushes up the river against the current
25:44where a river empties into an ocean or sea.
25:47And there you have it.
25:52If you've ever driven over the Rocky Mountains,
25:55you've probably seen road signs for the Continental Divide,
25:58the backbone of North America.
26:01All watersheds to the west of it run into the Pacific Ocean,
26:04and everything on its eastern slope goes straight into the Atlantic.
26:09There's just one creek in Wyoming that couldn't choose one side
26:13and drains into both oceans at the same time.
26:17Two Ocean Creek begins its journey high up in the Teton Range.
26:21The snow-capped peaks provide the perfect backdrop as the creek starts its descent,
26:26winding its way through alpine meadows and dense forests.
26:30As the creek continues its course, it gets to the Two Ocean Pass.
26:34This is the geographical crossroads where the creek splits into two branches,
26:39the Atlantic Creek and Pacific Creek.
26:42The Pacific Creek goes westward and becomes part of the larger Snake River watershed,
26:48bringing its waters to the Snake River,
26:50which eventually merges with the Columbia River
26:53and, finally, reaches the Pacific Ocean.
26:56The Atlantic Creek heads eastward and flows into the Yellowstone,
27:00Missouri, and Mississippi rivers, and eventually empties into the Gulf of Mexico.
27:06If you connect the two creeks' watersheds on a map,
27:09you'll get a single blue line between Oregon and Louisiana.
27:13Explorers struggling to find the northwest passage between the two oceans
27:17never knew they could have used the creek.
27:20They would just have to use really tiny boats.
27:23Some scientists believe that cutthroat trout had better luck in that way.
27:27They managed to migrate from the Snake River to Yellowstone River,
27:31most likely using the Two Ocean Creek.
27:34Technically, fish can travel over 6,000 miles to cover the whole distance
27:39from sea to shining sea in fresh water.
27:42The creek could be just perfect for that journey.
27:46There are hiking trails in Grand Teton National Park that lead to Two Ocean Pass.
27:51If you feel adventurous enough, you can stand at the literal crossroads of the continent
27:56and see the beginning of two aquatic journeys.
28:00Lonar Lake in India popped up literally out of nowhere around 52,000 years ago.
28:06Newer data says it could be much older, probably over 500,000 years.
28:12At first, scientists were sure that the lake was in an ancient crater of a long-extinct volcano.
28:18But then, geologists made a detailed analysis of the soil and water
28:23and found out that Lonar Lake has a space origin.
28:27The minerals found in its soil are similar to those found in moon rocks
28:31brought to Earth during the Apollo program.
28:34The lake is an impact crater left by a huge meteorite,
28:38which was almost six times heavier than the Empire State Building.
28:42The impact was so strong that the volcanic rock melted and turned into glass.
28:48In 2020, the lake, which was already unusual enough, suddenly turned pink.
28:54It wasn't a part of an early Barbie movie marketing campaign.
28:58The detailed analysis showed that the water contained an increased level of unique microbes.
29:03They accumulate on the surface and emit some pink pigment.
29:07After a while, the microbes settled to the bottom, and the lake became transparent again.
29:12Flamingos that got their food from the lake also got to taste some of the microbes
29:16and became an even brighter shade of pink than usual.
29:20One of the most famous sights of Yellowstone National Park is the Grand Prismatic Spring.
29:26It's one of the largest springs in the world,
29:28and it's inspired people who have seen it since at least the 19th century.
29:33Back then, a group of trappers mentioned an indigo-blue lake boiling like a huge cauldron.
29:39Decades later, expeditions came to the spring to study it better and explain its unusual appearance.
29:46But because the spring at its widest point is longer than an American football field,
29:51they had to build a special vessel and travel far from the shore.
29:55The scientists traveling in the boat never wore life vests.
29:59They knew those would be useless if the boat tipped over.
30:02The water in the middle of the spring is of near-boiling temperature,
30:06and those vibrant colors are the result of extreme organisms living in the hot water.
30:12The temperature changes as you travel away from the center.
30:15Different species that don't mind the heat have settled in different parts of the pool,
30:20giving it its famous diverse pigments.
30:23Back in the early 20th century,
30:25someone got the interesting idea to try to irrigate a part of Nevada's Black Rock Desert.
30:31They drilled a well and found lots of water, but it was near-boiling temperature.
30:36The water was clearly not good for agriculture, so the human-made geyser was left abandoned.
30:42Over the decades, it slowly turned into an impressive cone of calcium carbonate deposits.
30:49Then, in 1964, a geothermic energy company drilled another well close to the first one.
30:56The water they had found was of the same temperature.
30:59This time, it wasn't hot enough for their needs to produce energy,
31:03so they decided to cap the well and leave.
31:06But water managed to get up and out, and it completely dried up the first geyser.
31:11The second one, which got the name Fly Geyser,
31:14is still flowing burning hot water rich in minerals.
31:18The cone is multicolored and looks like it's not from this planet
31:22thanks to the algae living in it, which love the heat.
31:26Every summer, Caño Cristales in Colombia turns into a liquid rainbow,
31:31or the River of Five Colors.
31:34At this time, and until the end of fall,
31:36the conditions are just right for the riverbed to turn bright red,
31:40yellow, green, blue, and black.
31:44We owe this beauty to certain aquatic plants growing in the river,
31:47a special type of river weed.
31:50During the wet season, the river moves fast and the sun cannot get to these plants.
31:55During the dry season, there isn't enough water to feed them,
31:59so the time in between the seasons has the perfect conditions for this colorful show.
32:04It doesn't happen anywhere else in the world.
32:07At some point, the number of tourists who wanted to see it became so huge
32:12that scientists got concerned it could be bad for this hotspot of biodiversity.
32:17The area is home to rare species of animals, birds, and plants.
32:22Now there are ecotourism trails and strict opening hours.
32:27In August 2014, a man in Tunisia was going back home from the north after doing his business.
32:34It was a hot summer evening and he was dreaming about water
32:37when suddenly it popped up right in front of him.
32:41There was a whole lake in the middle of the desert
32:44and the man was pretty sure it hadn't been there several days before.
32:47The new body of water got the nickname Mysterious Lake
32:51which actually became a great mystery.
32:54Hundreds of people came here to swim in the clear, cool water.
32:58The lake became a popular place, but a few days later, the water turned dark green.
33:04The locals didn't care about this and continued to bathe in the lake.
33:07But when scientists and geologists arrived at the place,
33:10they announced that the water was dangerous to swim in.
33:14The lake was stagnated, it didn't refresh itself from underground streams,
33:18and the rains didn't feed it either.
33:20That's why the water became moldy and dirty.
33:23The lake contained algae and a lot of harmful bacteria dangerous to the human body.
33:29Scientists also found out that the land in this region had phosphate deposits.
33:34This substance can decay.
33:36But even that didn't stop people from bathing in the lake in the middle of the desert.
33:40How it got there remains a mystery.
33:43Some experts think that heavy rains have filled a hole in the ground with water.
33:47Another, more popular theory says that an earthquake had formed the lake.
33:52The seismic activity must have torn the earth's crust above the water table,
33:57and then underground springs had filled the crevice.
34:00So, in theory, the lake could drain back out one day, just as suddenly as it had appeared.
34:08Imagine you're driving across a bridge to visit a friend.
34:12The next day, you get in your car to go back,
34:15but there is no longer a river under the bridge you drove across yesterday.
34:19Believe it or not, this is exactly what happened to people in the south of Honduras
34:24when Category 5 Hurricane Mitch hit in October 1998.
34:29Choleteca Bridge, which the local authorities reconstructed earlier that year,
34:34was left in the dry, as the river now flowed around it, not under it.
34:38The structure soon became famous online as the Bridge to Nowhere.
34:43This waterway shifted its course overnight, but it normally happens over longer spans of time.
34:49A river will stop flowing straight when there is even the tiniest change in the landscape around it.
34:55Even something as tiny as a mouse can weaken a riverbank.
34:59Imagine a family of mice decides to start a home somewhere by the river and digs a cozy hole.
35:05Over time, water gets inside this hole and starts washing away any loose soil.
35:11Give it a couple of centuries, and the river will now have a bend in this place.
35:16And if you're worried about the mice family, don't be,
35:19because they moved out a long time before the water flooded their home.
35:23Things happen even faster for small streams because, well, their beds are also smaller.
35:29The current breaks down stones, the ground takes them in, and voila, a riverbed or bottom is formed.
35:37The current is the strongest in the middle of the waterway, and its power directly shapes the riverbed.
35:43The water flowing through rivers is full of soil and other particles.
35:47All this stuff goes from the spring into the mouth of a river and into Earth's oceans.
35:53In some cases, these particles build up at some point.
35:56And that's how new beaches, probably including your favorite, are born from fine-grained sand.
36:03On the other side of the river, the flow of water is much faster,
36:06so this fast-moving current literally slams against the next bank.
36:10Then the process of erosion starts all over again.
36:15River erosion is what happens when the flowing water takes away soil.
36:20And I have to tell you, things go super fast there.
36:23That water is so energetic, it can even carve into rocks, creating a canyon.
36:28If the riverbanks consist of loose material, such as hummus, that's the soil you plant a flower in,
36:34then it is easier for the flowing water to erode it.
36:38Rivers in the plains are often wide and slow, because there's little resistance from the ground around them.
36:44So you don't have to worry about waves tipping over your boat on a flatland river.
36:48In the mountains, streams quickly wash away all the surface soil and gravel, revealing the bedrock beneath them.
36:55It's tightly bound, so mountain streams are literally set in stone, as they cannot wash away this bedrock.
37:02So we have erosion to blame for waterways changing their course, and also mountains and hills.
37:08When a stream reaches a mountain or simply a rock, it has two choices – to flow around it or carve its way through it.
37:15In flatlands, rivers don't have any natural competition, so they choose a more winding path.
37:22All this twisting and turning increases the river's total length from the source to the mouth.
37:28One such example is the mighty Mississippi River in the U.S.
37:32It has a lot of curves and bends, which are called meanders.
37:36In the last century and a half alone, the Mississippi changed its course several times.
37:42The last major case was in 1876, when it left the historic city of Vicksburg in the dry.
37:48Two years later, a team of American engineers came to the area to construct the Yazoo Diversion Canal, which took 25 years to complete.
37:57Thanks to it, ships could once again sail to Vicksburg, reviving the town's economy.
38:03What happened in this southern U.S. town in the 19th century is an ordinary natural consequence of river erosion.
38:10The bends in a waterway grow sharper over time, making the water flow faster.
38:15This speeds up erosion, and individual bends slowly start approaching each other to the point they merge.
38:21When this happens, the river straightens up overnight, leaving a lake in the form of a horseshoe in the place where the bend was.
38:29This newly formed body of water is called an oxbow lake.
38:33These still-water lakes either dry up, since they're no longer fed by a spring, or they turn into swamps.
38:40In some cases, humans use them as water meadows used for agriculture.
38:45Lake Chicotte in Arkansas is the largest oxbow lake in North America, formed by the Mississippi several centuries ago.
38:53The source of the Mississippi is a lake in Minnesota.
38:56But a river can also start when two other watercourses become one, or when the water simply bubbles up from under the ground.
39:04Even melting snow can feed a river, like the Amazon gets its water from the Andes.
39:09Determining the source of a waterway can be tricky, so the debate about whether Amazon or the Nile is longer is still ongoing.
39:18What scientists know for certain is that the Amazon carries more water than any other river.
39:24One-fifth of all the freshwater that enters Earth's oceans comes from the South American River.
39:30When you look at the Amazon River on a map, you'll notice how it flows from Peru to Brazil, that is, from the west to the east.
39:38This direction might seem odd when you compare it to the Mississippi, which flows to the south on the map.
39:44It's so confusing because you probably know rivers flow down, affected by gravity.
39:50But down doesn't automatically mean south.
39:53Running water will try to find the easiest route down, so there are no rules in terms of cardinal directions.
40:00The Nile River is the best example of this, as it actually flows north, into the Mediterranean Sea.
40:07Northern Egypt, where all those pyramids are located, is on lower ground than Sudan, where the Nile is formed when the Blue Nile and the White Nile merge.
40:18Ab in northern Asia and the Mackenzie River in Canada both flow northwest,
40:24while the Yellow River in East Asia flows in the same direction as Amazon, to the east, into the Pacific Ocean.
40:31These major rivers are some of the best examples that a stream doesn't have to flow from the north to the south.
40:37Gravity is the only important factor that determines which way a stream will flow, as running water is all the time pulled downwards.
40:46The flow of water is faster on steeper slopes.
40:49When there's a sudden drop in the flow, waterfalls form.
40:54Angel Falls in Venezuela is the highest waterfall on the planet, with water dropping from a height of 2,600 feet.
41:02Watch your step.
41:03In a waterfall, the falling water can easily reach the speed of a Thompson's Gazelle.
41:08But as a river approaches the end of its journey, it slows down significantly.
41:13The stream doesn't have enough energy to cut into the nearby land.
41:17All the sediment it has picked up along the way, such as sandstone, slows it down.
41:22At the place where a river meets the ocean or a lake, it gets rid of the sediment along its banks, creating a delta, an area rich in fertile soil.
41:32The Ganges in India has the biggest delta in the world, several hundred miles wide and visible from space.
41:39The Amazon, on the other side, doesn't have a true delta, because the strong currents of the Atlantic Ocean wash away everything the torrent brings.
41:48The deepest section of the riverbed that runs along its middle is called a channel.
41:53This is where the current is the strongest, so ships travel on top of these channels.
41:58When engineers want to expand a waterway, they simply dig a deeper channel, and voila, larger ships can now pass.
42:06This is just one way humans alter watercourses.
42:09We often strengthen the banks of a river to prevent erosion or build dams that stop or divert the flow of water.
42:16The oldest operational dam on the planet dates back to the time of Egyptian pharaohs.
42:22It was, of course, the first dam thing.
42:25That's it for today! So, hey, if you pacified your curiosity, then give the video a like and share it with your friends.
42:32Or if you want more, just click on these videos and stay on the Bright Side!