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Water trapped underground for over 1.5 billion years has been discovered.
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Steven L.
May 17, 2013, 7:44:12 AM5/17/13
to
Scientists have discovered water that has been trapped in rock for more
than a billion years. The water might contain microbes that evolved
independently from the surface world, and it's a finding that gives new
hope to the search for life on other planets.
The water samples came from holes drilled by gold miners near the small
town of Timmins, Ontario, about 350 miles north of Toronto. Deep in the
Canadian bedrock, miners drill holes and collect samples. Sometimes they
hit pay dirt; sometimes they hit water, which seeps out from tiny
crevices in the rock.
Recently, a team of scientists (who had been investigating water samples
from other mines) approached the miners and asked them for fluid from
newly drilled boreholes.
, a geochemist at Lancaster University in England, and his colleagues
wanted to know just how long that fluid had been trapped in the rock. So
they looked at the decay of radioactive atoms found in the water and
calculated that it had been bottled up for a long time � at least 1.5
billion years.
"That is the lower limit for the age," Holland says. It could be a
billion years older. That means the water was sealed in the rock before
humans evolved, before pterosaurs flew and before multicellular life.
As Holland in the journal Nature, this is the oldest cache of water ever
found.
But how did it end up underneath that gold mine in northeastern Canada?
Where did it come from?
"The fluids that we see now are actually preservations of ancient
oceans," Holland says.
About 2.7 billion years ago, the landscape of small-town Timmins looked
a bit different. Beneath prehistoric seas, tectonic plates were
spreading, and magma was welling up to form new rock. As the rock
matured under heat and pressure, water was trapped inside tiny cracks.
The rock drifted around the globe for eons, helping form continents and
mountain ranges, and all the while it kept its cargo of water sealed up
tight inside.
"It's managed to stay isolated for almost half the lifetime of the
Earth," Holland says. It's a time capsule. And it doesn't just hold
water. "There's a lot of hydrogen in these samples."
That's significant because hydrogen is food for some microorganisms.
Hydrogen-eating microbes have been found deep in the ocean and in South
African mines where chemical reactions in the rock produce a steady
supply of hydrogen.
And that hydrogen, says Holland, "could provide the energy for life to
survive in isolation for 2 billion years."
Holland's colleagues are now testing the water samples for evidence of
microbes. They hope to have results within a year. If life is found, it
would have evolved distinctly from the surface world and might give a
unique insight into the earliest forms of life on Earth. Its discovery
would also give hope to people searching for life in places that are
even more remote.
http://www.npr.org/2013/05/16/183950854/water-trapped-for-1-5-billion-years-could-hold-ancient-life
--
Steven L.
than a billion years. The water might contain microbes that evolved
independently from the surface world, and it's a finding that gives new
hope to the search for life on other planets.
The water samples came from holes drilled by gold miners near the small
town of Timmins, Ontario, about 350 miles north of Toronto. Deep in the
Canadian bedrock, miners drill holes and collect samples. Sometimes they
hit pay dirt; sometimes they hit water, which seeps out from tiny
crevices in the rock.
Recently, a team of scientists (who had been investigating water samples
from other mines) approached the miners and asked them for fluid from
newly drilled boreholes.
, a geochemist at Lancaster University in England, and his colleagues
wanted to know just how long that fluid had been trapped in the rock. So
they looked at the decay of radioactive atoms found in the water and
calculated that it had been bottled up for a long time � at least 1.5
billion years.
"That is the lower limit for the age," Holland says. It could be a
billion years older. That means the water was sealed in the rock before
humans evolved, before pterosaurs flew and before multicellular life.
As Holland in the journal Nature, this is the oldest cache of water ever
found.
But how did it end up underneath that gold mine in northeastern Canada?
Where did it come from?
"The fluids that we see now are actually preservations of ancient
oceans," Holland says.
About 2.7 billion years ago, the landscape of small-town Timmins looked
a bit different. Beneath prehistoric seas, tectonic plates were
spreading, and magma was welling up to form new rock. As the rock
matured under heat and pressure, water was trapped inside tiny cracks.
The rock drifted around the globe for eons, helping form continents and
mountain ranges, and all the while it kept its cargo of water sealed up
tight inside.
"It's managed to stay isolated for almost half the lifetime of the
Earth," Holland says. It's a time capsule. And it doesn't just hold
water. "There's a lot of hydrogen in these samples."
That's significant because hydrogen is food for some microorganisms.
Hydrogen-eating microbes have been found deep in the ocean and in South
African mines where chemical reactions in the rock produce a steady
supply of hydrogen.
And that hydrogen, says Holland, "could provide the energy for life to
survive in isolation for 2 billion years."
Holland's colleagues are now testing the water samples for evidence of
microbes. They hope to have results within a year. If life is found, it
would have evolved distinctly from the surface world and might give a
unique insight into the earliest forms of life on Earth. Its discovery
would also give hope to people searching for life in places that are
even more remote.
http://www.npr.org/2013/05/16/183950854/water-trapped-for-1-5-billion-years-could-hold-ancient-life
--
Steven L.
Bob Casanova
May 17, 2013, 1:39:18 PM5/17/13
to
On Fri, 17 May 2013 07:44:12 -0400, the following appeared
in talk.origins, posted by "Steven L."
<sdli...@earthlink.net>:
>Scientists have discovered water that has been trapped in rock for more
>than a billion years. The water might contain microbes that evolved
>independently from the surface world, and it's a finding that gives new
>hope to the search for life on other planets.
>
>The water samples came from holes drilled by gold miners near the small
>town of Timmins, Ontario, about 350 miles north of Toronto. Deep in the
>Canadian bedrock, miners drill holes and collect samples. Sometimes they
>hit pay dirt; sometimes they hit water, which seeps out from tiny
>crevices in the rock.
>
>Recently, a team of scientists (who had been investigating water samples
>from other mines) approached the miners and asked them for fluid from
>newly drilled boreholes.
>
>, a geochemist at Lancaster University in England, and his colleagues
>wanted to know just how long that fluid had been trapped in the rock. So
>they looked at the decay of radioactive atoms found in the water and
>calculated that it had been bottled up for a long time � at least 1.5
Excellent; thanks!
(Note to others: This is the way to reference websites
thought to be of interest; not a bare "Read this and
discuss" followed by a cite.)
--
Bob C.
"The most exciting phrase to hear in science,
the one that heralds new discoveries, is not
'Eureka!' but 'That's funny...'"
- Isaac Asimov
in talk.origins, posted by "Steven L."
<sdli...@earthlink.net>:
>Scientists have discovered water that has been trapped in rock for more
>than a billion years. The water might contain microbes that evolved
>independently from the surface world, and it's a finding that gives new
>hope to the search for life on other planets.
>
>The water samples came from holes drilled by gold miners near the small
>town of Timmins, Ontario, about 350 miles north of Toronto. Deep in the
>Canadian bedrock, miners drill holes and collect samples. Sometimes they
>hit pay dirt; sometimes they hit water, which seeps out from tiny
>crevices in the rock.
>
>Recently, a team of scientists (who had been investigating water samples
>from other mines) approached the miners and asked them for fluid from
>newly drilled boreholes.
>
>, a geochemist at Lancaster University in England, and his colleagues
>wanted to know just how long that fluid had been trapped in the rock. So
>they looked at the decay of radioactive atoms found in the water and
(Note to others: This is the way to reference websites
thought to be of interest; not a bare "Read this and
discuss" followed by a cite.)
--
Bob C.
"The most exciting phrase to hear in science,
the one that heralds new discoveries, is not
'Eureka!' but 'That's funny...'"
- Isaac Asimov
Doug_M
May 17, 2013, 4:52:39 PM5/17/13
to
there.
Friar Broccoli
May 18, 2013, 9:07:20 AM5/18/13
to
On Fri, 17 May 2013 07:44:12 -0400, "Steven L." <sdli...@earthlink.net>
wrote:
>Scientists have discovered water that has been trapped in rock for more
>than a billion years. The water might contain microbes that evolved
>independently from the surface world, and it's a finding that gives new
>hope to the search for life on other planets.
>
>The water samples came from holes drilled by gold miners near the small
>town of Timmins, Ontario, about 350 miles north of Toronto. Deep in the
>Canadian bedrock, miners drill holes and collect samples. Sometimes they
>hit pay dirt; sometimes they hit water, which seeps out from tiny
>crevices in the rock.
>
>Recently, a team of scientists (who had been investigating water samples
>from other mines) approached the miners and asked them for fluid from
>newly drilled boreholes.
>
>, a geochemist at Lancaster University in England, and his colleagues
>wanted to know just how long that fluid had been trapped in the rock. So
>they looked at the decay of radioactive atoms found in the water and
>calculated that it had been bottled up for a long time � at least 1.5
From here:
http://www.cbc.ca/quirks/episode/2013/05/18/may-18-2013/
discussion with much additional context info (maybe 2.6 billion etc)
here:
http://www.cbc.ca/quirks/media/2012-2013/qq-2013-05-18_01.mp3
--
Friar Broccoli (Robert Keith Elias), Quebec Canada
I consider ALL arguments in support of my views
wrote:
>Scientists have discovered water that has been trapped in rock for more
>than a billion years. The water might contain microbes that evolved
>independently from the surface world, and it's a finding that gives new
>hope to the search for life on other planets.
>
>The water samples came from holes drilled by gold miners near the small
>town of Timmins, Ontario, about 350 miles north of Toronto. Deep in the
>Canadian bedrock, miners drill holes and collect samples. Sometimes they
>hit pay dirt; sometimes they hit water, which seeps out from tiny
>crevices in the rock.
>
>Recently, a team of scientists (who had been investigating water samples
>from other mines) approached the miners and asked them for fluid from
>newly drilled boreholes.
>
>, a geochemist at Lancaster University in England, and his colleagues
>wanted to know just how long that fluid had been trapped in the rock. So
>they looked at the decay of radioactive atoms found in the water and
http://www.cbc.ca/quirks/episode/2013/05/18/may-18-2013/
discussion with much additional context info (maybe 2.6 billion etc)
here:
http://www.cbc.ca/quirks/media/2012-2013/qq-2013-05-18_01.mp3
--
Friar Broccoli (Robert Keith Elias), Quebec Canada
I consider ALL arguments in support of my views
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