An ancient pool of water has been discovered in a mine in Ontario, Canada, and it is believed to be the oldest water that has flown through the world. Using the available dating technology, scientists claim this pool to be at least 1.5 billion years old. However, two years later, deeper excavations through the mine led scientists to find another site with much more ancient water.
According to a report from Science Alert, an underground tunnel in the Kidd Mine in Ontario has led scientists to a pool of ancient water dating about 1.5 billion years old. Found underneath the ground at an unbelievable depth of 2.4 kilometers from the surface, this particular pool of water has not been exposed to any form of human contamination.
What is more unbelievable is that they have discovered that this particular pool of water has been tested to contain microscopic organisms that may have existed for the past billion years. With more motivation ever, the scientists went further down to 3.1 kilometers from the surface and discovered a much older layer of ground water.
A report from BBC said that this deeper source of water is older by about 500 million years than what has been originally discovered. They have discovered as well that there are chemical traces of single-cell organisms that may have lived in the ancient water for billions of years.
Although this particular pool of water is not potable or safe for drinking, scientists estimate it to have a capacity of about 2.5 million cubic miles. According to a report from the Daily Mail UK, this particular pool flows through tiny networks of cracks on the rock. An ancient water flowing through age-old rock and carrying bacteria billions of years old, this proves to be an exciting venture for scientists to discover.