Earth’s oldest water found in Timmins, Ont., by UofT researchers
TORONTO — Researchers from the University of Toronto say they have discovered the world’s oldest water — about two billion years old — a finding that could offer clues about the possibility of life on Mars.
Prof. Barbara Sherwood Lollar and her team found the water three kilometres beneath the Earth’s surface at a base metal mine in Timmins, Ont.
“This water is full of all kinds of dissolved elements, dissolved chemicals and it’s those chemicals that allow life to eke out an existence in these deep, dark places,” Sherwood Lollar said.
The water is up to 10 times the salinity of seawater, she said, and “it’s a little bit yellowish, a little bit viscous and a whole lot smelly.”