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Name : Bald cypress swampland
Location : First Landing State Park , Virginia Beach , Virginia
On sunny winter days, this cypress swamp turns into a giant rainbow.
Coordinates:36.90671813879774 , -76.02093550787815
Why it ’s unbelievable : Under the right light source in wintertime , the swampland becomes a giant rainbow .
Virginia ’s " rainbow swamp " is a deluge forest whose waters take on a magical , multicolored sheen in the winter months . Under sure light term , the swampland turns into a giant , lucent rainbow give way up by the shadows of denuded cypress trees ( Taxodium distichum ) and cypress knee — cone - shaped humps that develop vertically above the trees ' beginning .
Bald cypress tree trunks and cypress knees break up multicolored reflections off Virginia’s rainbow swamp.
The rainbow swamp is one of many along the Bald Cypress Trail at First Landing State Park , which is located where English colonists first landed in 1607 , consort to the park’swebsite . Most days of the year , the swamp looks like any other forested wetland — rather murky and unintelligible . But occasionally , in late fall and winter , the moribund pool puts on a dazzling light show .
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The rainbow upshot results from folio radioactive decay in the swampland during fall and winter , allot to aFacebook postfrom March 2024 . " The Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree drop their sharp leave in the fall that decompose in the swamp and the ensue topic , when hit at just the right angle by sunlight , turn over off this prismatic show , " park representatives write in the spot .
denudate cypress leaves contain natural fossil oil that exude into the swampland as the leafage break down . The oils then separate from the urine and form a celluloid on the surface that reflects ignitor much like a pool of gasoline would . Biological physical process in the soil , result from bacterium breaking down Fe , can also contribute to the rainbow effect , Jeff Ripple , a former Florida swampland walk loss leader , told theBBCin 2018 .
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The longer the swamp goes undisturbed , the stronger the effect grows . " drive by canvas flow , current or wind perturbation would ruin the fragile rainbow picture show , " Ripple allege , adding that the outcome is unremarkably seeable in small pool of urine .
Rainbow swamp occur throughout southern US states , overlapping with the range of bald cypress trees . Tallahassee , Florida , for illustration , is home to a deluge woods that lights up like a disco ball around mid - February . " I have seen this occur about 10 times in the 40 years I have hold up here , " Michael Hussey , a retired engineer who owns the land the swampland sit on , told the BBC . " It ’s beautiful to see . "
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