It is doubtful that this 145 million year old salty water
would quench much of a thirst. Under the dust of America’s backyard is an
ancient underground bowl of water that may hold the key to the Earths
development. US Geological Survey (USGS) scientists believe they found water so
old it may unlock mysterious creatures unknown.
Located under the Chesapeake Bay in the U.S. is the
world’s oldest body of salt water. Dating back 100 to 145 million years old it
is an amazing discovery just a mile underground. Sometime around 35 million
years ago, a large piece of ice or rock slammed into the Cape Charles seafloor
and dug out a 56-mile wide hole. It is believed that this disturbance pushed
additional rocks and sediment over the ancient water and covered it from the
main body.
Even though the International Continental Scientific
Drilling Program originally drilled in 2005, it took a number of years to
analyze the water. They used chloride
and bromide to understand the date and nature of the water and came across its
ancient source. The researchers believe that there may be other ancient
deposits within the area but no plans have been developed to find them yet.
The water is definitely more salty than current
seawater. There are some arguments why this may or may not be the case. Some
believe that if a meteor hit the area and burned off a proportion of the water
leaving more salt in a smaller area. Others believe that it is possible that
water in ancient times was simply more salty and this changed over the course
of thousands of years.
What the journal and the reports do not discuss are
the microbial and potential ancient creatures the water may contain. Perhaps
the keys to life on earth can be found within the water itself. Future research
may move beyond simply understanding the age of the water and analyzing the treasures,
it may hold for planetary development and life.
Sanford, W. et. al (November 2013). Evidence for
high salinity of early cretaceous sea water from the Chesapeake bay crater.
Nature. http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v503/n7475/full/nature12714.html
