Why this Iranian island looks like Mars after it rains
Mars and this natural beauty in Iran have a key ingredient in common: iron oxide, which is similar to how metals rust on Earth.
Recent rain on Dec. 16, 2025, triggered a unique response on Hormoz Island off the Iranian coast, creating crimson waterfalls and ruby-red tides due to the iron-oxide in the soil.
Videos from Hormoz Island in Iran could be confused with scenes from a NASA mission to Mars, but it isn’t science fiction, just science.
File photo: A woman walks along the beach on Hormoz Island in the Gulf Strait of Hormuz, off the Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas, on April 29, 2019. (Photo: ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images)
After recent rain on Dec. 16, the island’s coast turned crimson as the rain created a unique and wild phenomenon on the mineral-rich island. A video recorded after the rain showed a red waterfall rushing down the cliffside and ruby-colored waves crashing against the shoreline.
So here's what makes Mars and this natural beauty look alike -- sometimes.
On the island off the Iranian coast, the soil is rich with iron oxide. Iron oxide is a key element in determining the reddish color of Mars and the rusting of metals on Earth.
When rain mixes with iron oxide in the soil, the water runoff rushes into the ocean, turning the tide blood red. This otherworldly phenomenon differs from 'blood rain,' when raindrops mix with dust or dirt high in the atmosphere, causing the raindrops to fall to Earth with an eerie color.
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