Technology Behind Discovering 1.5 billion Year Old Water

Manchester University and Two Canadian Universities Have Found Pockets of Water that Have Been Isolated from the Outside World for More Than 1.5 Billion Years

The record-breaking discovery was made under the Timmins mine in Ontario, Canada.

Dr Greg Holland, of Lancaster Environment Centre, along with scientists from Manchester University and two Canadian universities have found pockets of water that have been isolated from the outside world for more than 1.5 billion years.

The water, which is important for helping to understandlife on this planet and on Mars, was discovered from crystalline rock nearly one and a half miles beneath the Earth's surface in a Canadian mine.

The water was analysed using a dating technique which involves studying the different types of xenon, an inert gas, dissolved in the samples.

Xenon isotopes can be used to identify when a fluid was last in contact with the atmosphere at the Earth's surface.

Using this method, the team discovered that the water is at least 1.5 billion years old, hundreds of millions of years older than samples the same team collected from a gold mine in South Africa in 2006.

This younger water contained micro-organisms that had survived on energy from dissolved hydrogen and methane, without needing sunlight.

The Canadian samples are now being analysed to determine whether such life forms are present in the water.

If micro-organisms are present, it would open a window to understanding the history of early life on Earth as well as bolster theories that life could exist underground on other planets, such as Mars.

Dr Holland, lead author of the study, said: "Our Canadian colleagues are trying to find out if the water contains life right now.

Source: Lancaster Guardian

Media

Taxonomy

• Technology
• Research
• Water Supply