Oldest Water Found On Earth Is Older Than The Planet; Hints At Possibilities Of Existence Of Life On Mars

Earth's oldest water gets older. The once thought oldest water in the world found in Timmins in Ontario, Canada, back in 2013 just got bumped off its place. The new oldest water in the world is found in the same mine where the previous known oldest water was discovered. The new discovery affirms that there is evidence of life even on the deep underground. This hints at possibilities that other extreme places like those found on Mars could also hint at the possible existence of life.

The world's oldest water is found 1.9 miles down the Kidd Mine in Ontario, Canada. The ancient water is said to be around 2 billion years old. This is 500 million years older to the previously found ancient water. The younger ancient water was discovered 1.5 miles down in the same Canadian mine back in 2013.

In an article by Live Science back in 2013, Sherwood Lollar, geochemist, said: "As the prices of copper, zinc and gold have gone up, mines go deeper, which has helped our search for long-isolated reservoirs of water hidden underground." The Kidd Mine where the two ancient water reservoirs were found is the deepest base metal mine in the world.

Not much is known about how vast the ancient water reservoirs are but it is not like a trickle of groundwater. The ancient water reservoirs have a flow rate of 2 liters per minute.

In order to deduce the age of the waters, the team of scientists analyzes a ratio of noble gasses in the liquids. It primarily focuses on the ratio of helium, neon, argon and xenon. Past studies have indicated that air trapped in ancient rock in distinct ratios corresponds to the different times on Earth. Both the ages of the ancient water found are said to be older than Earth itself.

Published in Nature, the findings of the analysis of the sulfate content in the ancient water surprised the scientists. They found out that the sulfate content in the water is produced in place from the reaction of the water to that ancient rock it was trapped in. Typically, sulfate content is distributed by surface water seeping underground.

The sulfate content produced in place in the ancient water means there are geochemical conditions in the ancient water reservoir that are sufficient to sustain microbial life. With this new information, this implicates that there are other natural energy supply sources that can sustain life even at the harshest and extreme of places.

"Because this is a fairly common geological setting in early Earth as well as modern Mars, we think that as long as the right minerals and water are present, likely kilometers below the surface, they can produce the necessary energy source to support the microbes," said Long Li from the University of Alberta's Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, as reported by McGill.

Sherwood Lollar shares there is still no evidence of life found in the ancient waters but hopes that finding more isolated ancient water reservoirs could mean the possibility that maybe one is thriving with microbial life. The latest findings regarding the oldest water on Earth was presented during this year's American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting.