Virginia’s “Rainbow Swamp” is a flooded forest whose water takes on a spectacular multi-colored sheen during the winter months.
Under certain lighting, the swamp turns into a giant glowing rainbow, which is pierced by bald cypresses (lat. Taxodium distichum), officially called two-rowed taxods in Lithuanian, the shadows and the cone-shaped ridges of these trees growing vertically above the tree roots, indicate livescience.com.
Rainbow Swamp is one of many located along the double-lane taxiway at First Landing State Park, located where in 1607 the first English colonists landed, according to the park’s website. Most days of the year, the swamp looks like any other wooded swamp – rather murky and opaque. But sometimes, in late fall and winter, this place puts on a dazzling natural light show.
The rainbow effect is caused by leaves rotting in the marsh during autumn and winter. In autumn, taxods drop their spiny leaves, which decompose in the swamp, and the resulting material, exposed to sunlight at the right angle, gives the surface a multi-colored sheen, writes livescience.com.
The leaves of this type of taxod contain natural oils, which, when they are separated from the trees, enter the swamp. Oils do not mix with water and form a film on the surface that reflects light similar to spilled gasoline. However, this is a natural phenomenon.
Biological processes occurring in the soil, which occur when bacteria break down iron, can also contribute to the rainbow effect, 2018. Jeff Ripple, a former Florida marsh hiking guide, told the BBC.
The longer the wetland is undisturbed, the stronger the effect. “Movement caused by current or wind would destroy the fragile film of the rainbow,” Ripple said, adding that this effect is usually seen in smaller bodies of water.
Rainbow swamps are found throughout the southern states of the United States, coinciding with the range of two-tailed taxods.
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2024-09-30 09:40:15
