colored snow

Did you know that there can be colored snow? Well there can be the most common type of colored snow is green snow. What cause the snow to be green is the algae that grows on it. It can also be different colors based upon the type of algae that grows on the snow.
Green Snow. It can also be called watermelon snow because it can have the sweet smell of watermelon. and it can also come in the color red. The chlorophyll that makes the algae green also has a second red carotenoid, which protects the algae from ultra violent light and has the ability to obtain energy to melt snow and give the algae water to survive. Also the snow can react with pollutants in the air to make it form colors like orange. This pertains to chemistry because it talks about light and how it affects the algae and how it protects the algae form UV lights. I never knew that algae could grow on snow. This was a very interesting topic.




http://chemistry.about.com/od/environmentalchemistry/a/colored-snow-chemistry.htm