Heavy Rain Turns Hormuz Waters Red with Iron Oxide

Heavy rainfall on Iran's Hormuz Island in the Persian Gulf turned the island's coastal waters a striking crimson red on December 16, as runoff from iron oxide-rich soil cascaded down cliffs and mixed with the sea. The event, captured in viral videos shared widely on social media, highlighted the island's unique geological features and drew global attention to its vivid landscapes.

The phenomenon occurred after a downpour on the arid island, located in the Strait of Hormuz about 1,080 kilometers south of Tehran. Streams of red soil, locally known as gelak or golak, flowed toward the shoreline, coloring the famed Red Beach and surrounding waters in deep shades of red that contrasted sharply with the Gulf's typical blue hues. Officials and researchers attribute the color to high concentrations of hematite, an iron oxide mineral prevalent in the island's crimson soil. When suspended in water, hematite absorbs shorter wavelengths of light and reflects longer red ones, creating the eerie effect. The island, a salt dome formation of rock salt, gypsum, and other evaporites that has pushed upward through layers of shale, clay, and volcanic rocks over millions of years, contains more...