In 2016 theoldest water in the worldwas found 3 klick ( 1.8 international mile ) deep at the bottom of a Canadian mine . Since the previous record had been set three years in the beginning at a higher horizontal surface of the same mine , it seemed like there might be something special about that location . Now , however , the same team have find water at similar depth in the Moab Khotsong gold and uranium mine in South Africa and it ’s at least 1.2 billion years old . Like the Canadian water , it contains component that provide life to outlive without any accession to energy from the Sun .
Many life forms survive without direct sunlight , for example in caves and at the bottom of the ocean . For most , however , the Sun is still the ultimate source of energy , for example , benthic mintage swear on foods that percolate down from the sea ’s surface . exception include life forms inhabit aroundhydrothermal ventson the sea base , and bug thatlive off hydrogendeep underground .
We ’ve yet to set up the depth limits for such hydrogen - fed animation forms , but a new newspaper inNature Communicationsprovides evidence exceptionally mysterious and ancient home ground site may be quite abundant . The waters beneath Moab Khotsong have higher concentrations of elements bring forth by radioactive decay than have ever been seen before , and some of them declare oneself opportunities for life .
Dr Oliver Warrof the University of Toronto and co - authors found weewee within precambrian crystalline rocks 2.9 kilometers below the surface . They note these rocks cover an estimated 72 percent of Earth ’s continental crust by Earth’s surface region , and may account for as much as 30 per centum of the major planet ’s groundwater .
reaction between the water and sure rock types produces H gas here . Although production is slow for any specific interface , over such a large area this can produce an immense volume of flatulence over time , provide a major energy source for microbes , or perhaps for human beings if we can tap it . Some of the hydrogen reacts with carbon to produce methane and more complex hydrocarbon , expanding the range of microorganisms that can be supported .
Meanwhile radioactive decay of precarious isotopes produces alpha particle , which become helium through electron capture , provide a source for arguably themost finite resource . Uranium , atomic number 90 and potassium in the surrounding rocks decay to produce lighter elements , including noble gasses ( atomic number 2 , neon and argon ) whose concentration builds up over prison term and provides a standard of the age of the water in which they are trapped .
" Think of it as a Pandora ’s Box of helium - and - hydrogen - producing big businessman , one that we can see how to rein for the benefit of the deep biosphere on a global scale . " Warr said in astatement .
The theme does not explore the extent to which life has taken advantage of what Moab Khotsong has to propose . However , future subject may not only reveal a deep foreign ecosystem , they could provide insight into the potential for life deep within other worlds , where water is abundant but sunlight unavailable .
This is only the 2nd model of groundwater aged more than a billion years , but there is one important difference of opinion from the old one . At Canada’sKidd Creekthe groundwater ’s isolation was full , whereas at Moab Khotsong the water system could not mix , but lighter noble accelerator have escaped by diffusing through the tilt , leading to discrepancies in the concentration between dissimilar elements .
