Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Some of Earth’s oldest water found
Pakistan Today ^ | May 20, 2013 | News Desk

Posted on 06/09/2013 7:06:23 AM PDT by SunkenCiv

"Old" might not top the list of the adjectives you'd use to describe water, but that could very well change after reading this story: Scientists say they've found water whose age clocks in at no less than 1.5 billion years, making it the oldest cache to have ever been discovered. (As the BBC explains, the only water to top it is "minute quantities" contained in some rock minerals.) Gold miners in Timmins, Ontario, were the ones who uncovered the water while drilling into bedrock; NPR reports that the team behind the discovery had been requesting such samples from a number of mines; a trio of dating techniques revealed this particular water to be remarkable -- between 1.5 billion and 2.6 billion years old. The BBC reports the water likely didn't begin its ancient life 1.5 miles beneath the surface: It would have seeped from above ground through the earth, eventually becoming trapped. As a geochemist involved in the study explains, "The fluids that we see now are actually preservations of ancient oceans." But that may not be the most interesting part: The water, which contains a good deal of hydrogen, could hold ancient life, too, and the scientists are currently testing samples to see if that's the case. And if it is, that could fuel hope that the same kind of life persists on Mars, which was once covered in oceans as well.

(Excerpt) Read more at pakistantoday.com.pk ...


TOPICS: History; Science; Travel
KEYWORDS: canada; godsgravesglyphs; ontario
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-44 next last

Some of Earth's oldest water found

1 posted on 06/09/2013 7:06:23 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: StayAt HomeMother; Ernest_at_the_Beach; decimon; 1010RD; 21twelve; 24Karet; 2ndDivisionVet; ...

 GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother & Ernest_at_the_Beach
Thanks, FReeper who wishes to remain anonymous.

To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list.


2 posted on 06/09/2013 7:08:37 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (McCain would have been worse, if you're a dumb ass.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: SunkenCiv

There was a “Northern Exposure” episode about something like this.

It did not end well.

:)


3 posted on 06/09/2013 7:09:43 AM PDT by Salamander (The only things that last forever are memories and sorrow.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SunkenCiv

Comming to us soon at $199.95 a bottle.


4 posted on 06/09/2013 7:09:52 AM PDT by Gadsden1st
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SunkenCiv

Wouldn’t most of the water today have been formed at the same time when the hydrogen was initially oxidized?

What am I missing here?


5 posted on 06/09/2013 7:15:39 AM PDT by babygene ( .)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SunkenCiv

IBTHTP


6 posted on 06/09/2013 7:16:08 AM PDT by null and void (Republicans create the tools of opression, and the democrats gleefully use them!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SunkenCiv

This obviously proves life on mars. It also explains the price of eggs in China.


7 posted on 06/09/2013 7:17:54 AM PDT by boycott (CAL)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SunkenCiv

How would one distinguish one particular molecule of H20 from another molecule of H2O?


8 posted on 06/09/2013 7:22:04 AM PDT by meadsjn
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SunkenCiv

Something else for the islamics to p*ss in.


9 posted on 06/09/2013 7:26:08 AM PDT by Hardraade (http://junipersec.wordpress.com (Obama equals Osama))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SunkenCiv

Timmins, Ont., I wonder if thats why Shania Twain has a great voice.


10 posted on 06/09/2013 7:27:13 AM PDT by BerryDingle (I know how to deal with communists, I still wear their scars on my back from Hollywood-Ronald Reagan)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SunkenCiv

This ancient water contains a great deal of hydrogen. (Otherwise it might be something else.)


11 posted on 06/09/2013 7:27:26 AM PDT by smokingfrog ( ==> sleep with one eye open (<o> ---)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: meadsjn
Different ratios of the isotopes of the oxygen molecules.

/johnny

12 posted on 06/09/2013 7:28:29 AM PDT by JRandomFreeper (Gone Galt)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: babygene

Since water moves, I would say that where it is, is not necessarily where it was.


13 posted on 06/09/2013 7:30:15 AM PDT by Sacajaweau
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: BerryDingle
I wonder if thats why Shania Twain has a great voice

It might explain her torso.

14 posted on 06/09/2013 7:30:34 AM PDT by chesty_puller (Viet Nam 1970-71 He who shed blood with me shall forever be my brother. Shak.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: babygene
Water is broken down by plants, the hydrogen incorporated with carbon to make various plant compounds, and the O2 is released, to be recombined with hydrogen later, when plants are broken down by microorganisms.

/johnny

15 posted on 06/09/2013 7:30:53 AM PDT by JRandomFreeper (Gone Galt)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: SunkenCiv

The oldest water in the world is in bottles on the bottom shelf at the local bodega.
How old is it? Who knows? The labels fell off before the present manager took over a couple of years ago.


16 posted on 06/09/2013 7:32:40 AM PDT by count-your-change (you don't have to be brilliant, not being stupid is enough)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: babygene

“Wouldn’t most of the water today have been formed at the same time when the hydrogen was initially oxidized?”

The answer is no, water molecules are constantly being destroyed and recreated by a wide variety of inorganic and organic chemical reactions. When the younger water molecules are recreated using younger isotopes of oxygen, the new water molecules acquire a younger isotopic signature. To retain the older isotopic signature, a water molecule must be isolated in an environment in which the molecule remains unchanged and retains the its original atoms.


17 posted on 06/09/2013 7:32:47 AM PDT by WhiskeyX (The answer is very simple and easy to understand economics. The U.S. Treasury is printing vast)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: meadsjn

That’s the same question I ask about what separates CO2 man-made versus nature’s-made. Some unique marker attached? LOL


18 posted on 06/09/2013 7:34:13 AM PDT by SIRTRIS
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: SunkenCiv

Just add a couple of drops of that flavoring stuff and it will be fine.


19 posted on 06/09/2013 7:38:03 AM PDT by blueunicorn6 ("A crack shot and a good dancer")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SunkenCiv

A molecule of water can only have so much hydrogen in it. As I recall, 2:1 ratio with oxygen.

And what do the Pakistanies know about Canadian water anyhow?


20 posted on 06/09/2013 7:39:09 AM PDT by Delta 21 (Oh Crap !! Did I say that out loud ??!??)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-44 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson