Geologists in Canada have made a discovery that gives us a peek into ancient Earth. They have found what might be the oldest water on the planet. The discovery was made in a mine in Ontario and the sample was analyzed by geochemists at the University of Oxford.
Oldest water on Earth
Geochemist Barbara Sherwood Lollar sent the samples to the University of Oxford, reports Maclean’s. The water sample was discovered by her in the Glencore-owned Kidd Creek mine. She first went on an expedition to the creek in 1992 and 17years later, she and her team found what’s believed to be the world’s oldest water, 2.4 kilometers underground.
The Kidd Creek mine is known for producing copper, zinc, indium, silver-bearing slimes, and liquid SO₂. The mine s said to be way deeper than other base-metal mines across the globe. The research revealed that the water is 1.6 billion years old, which is by far the oldest found on Earth.
How was it discovered?
The researchers calculated the radiogenic noble gases such as helium and xenon. Besides, chemolithotrophic microbes of life were also seen in the sample, which was feasting on sulfate and hydrogen. Lollar explained that the first sign of the water being a billion-year-old is its “musty smell.”
“It literally is following your nose right up to the rock, to find the crack or the fractures where the water is discharging,” said Sherwood Lollar. She added that the new discovery might help researchers understand whether life exists on other planets as well, a question still unanswered to astronomers and scientists.
Recently, it was also discovered that Earth’s rocky crust has been there for billions of years; however, only some of it aging that far is left. Researchers studied the decay of ancient chemicals trapped in rocks. Carbonate materials extracted from oceans are examined. But finding these minerals is a tough task and the crust found is rarely in a condition to be examined.
However, researchers have found a new way to date ancient pieces of the Earth’s crust. As per new research, previous studies misjudged the age of the continents by half a billion years.
