The characteristic blood-red color of Rio Tinto waters

Evocative glimpse of a blood-red water stream flowing among the rocks of the Rio Tinto mining basin in Andalusia. The intense crimson color is due to the very high concentration of iron oxides dissolved in extremely acidic waters, with a pH that can drop to 2. This natural coloration, amplified by millennia of mining activity started in Phoenician times, has made this place unique in the world. The surrounding rocks show the typical yellow and orange mineral deposits that characterize this alien landscape studied by NASA.

Rio Tinto red water, iron oxide, acidic waters, crimson stream, mining landscape