Nature is such a powerful inspiration to every human being on earth. When we saw something special, suddenly we say wow without any intention. A similar natural inspiration is the Blue River in Cost Rica, winding through the verdant rainforest of Tenorio Volcano National Park. The turquoise tones of Rio Celeste are one of Costa Rica’s most prominent natural jewels actually an optical phenomenon, not a chemical effect in the water.
The special beauty of the Blue River is the vivid blue water formed by the confluence of two smaller rivers called the Sour Creek and the Good View River. The bright blue river is also called Rio Celeste actually carries a significant amount of whitish mineral famous as aluminosilicate, composed of aluminum, silicon, and oxygen.
Moreover, at a certain point, the water of two completely transparent rivers meets, where the blue colors originate. Due to this reason, the point is called El Teñidor, which means “The Dyer” in English.
Scientists have come up with numerous theories about where the Río Celeste gets its color. So, until recent times; researchers were trying to find the exact reason why Rio Celeste has distinctive turquoise coloration.
Although several, hypotheses were put forward such as the water contained copper or calcium carbonate and sulfur, or that the river’s proximity to the Tenorio Volcano caused it to have the blue color.
Therefore, this is recognized that the blue color comes due to a physical phenomenon well-known as Mie scattering triggered by the presence of definite minerals in the river’s water that causes sunlight to reflect in such a manner that it gives the water an unbelievable hue.
As we’ve explained above, Rio Celeste is fed by Sour Creek and Good View River, which minerals are actively responsible for reflecting the vivid blue color in sunlight. However, if the mineral is also contained in the Good View River, then why doesn’t it appear blue like Río Celeste?
The answer lies in the size of the particles. Further, researchers were trying to find Good View River particles have a size of 184 nanometers, although in the Río Celeste the particles are much larger at 566 nm. Thus, the increase in size causes the scattering of sunlight and occurs principally in the blue region of the visible spectrum.
So that’s why we have that spectacular light blue color of the Rio Celeste said Dr. Max Chavarría Vargas, the lead investigator. Therefore, during the investigation, The UNA and UCR scientists took a number of samples of water from the two rivers and concluded there is no copper or any other metal dangerous to humans.
Another question comes to mind that where the aluminosilicate particles in Río Celeste are bigger than those in Good View River. When do the particles themselves come from the Good View River? On the other hand, it so happens that Sour Creek, the 2nd river to link Good View River, is extremely acidic due to volcanic activity which is why it’s called Sour Creek.
Therefore, when these two streams join to form Río Celeste, the drop in pH causes the aluminosilicate particles to combine and enlarge creating Mie scattering which gives the river a robust turquoise color.
As a result, it is one of those quirks of nature where one of the rivers is responsible for mineral material. It is with one size and the other river keeps the acidic environment so that those particles grow.
- Ovniport ! The UFO Landing Pad in the Desert of Argentina
- Black Drongo! Wholly Black Bird With a Distinctive Forked Tail
- Raccoon (raccoons, coatis, ringtails)
