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Photo courtesy of Benoit Beauchamp
Microbes living in this Greenland
island produce hydrogen sulfide,
giving the snow its sunny hue.

E.T.'s Arctic Cousins?
An unusual discovery in remote Canada may help us humans find the nearest extraterrestrial life.
By Michael Price
July 13, 2006 | Environment

While conventional wisdom frowns upon getting too close to yellow snow, to a geologist such a feature can look like a pot of gold. On June 21, a team of researchers set out by helicopter and propeller plane to investigate a mysterious yellow snowbank on a remote Arctic glacier. The group, led by Benoit Beauchamp, director of the University of Calgary's Arctic Institute of North America, are examining strange, alien-like life forms living in the discolored snow and investigating the unique environment that sustains them. It's a far cry from E.T. and his flying bicycle, but the bacteria found in the snow might be the best model on earth for learning about extraterrestrial life.

The peculiar snowbank is located on Ellesmere Island, a huge landmass northwest of Greenland that is dominated by arching mountains and sprawling glaciers, and where the temperature averages around -5 degrees Fahrenheit for the year. Despite being the world's tenth largest island, it boasts fewer than 200 permanent residents—about one for every 450 square miles. The vast expanse of uninhabited land preserves natural wonders like the fossil from a transitional fish-on-land animal found earlier this year—and also Beauchamp's yellow snow.

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Originally posted by beskeptigal

"Sunny hue", chuckle chuckle. I don't suppose an abominable 'outlet' might offer an alternative explanation? chuckle chuckle.

If that were you, would you pick that spot to climb? chuckle chuckle

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