Posted: May 14, 2021 1:57 PM ET | Last Updated: May 14
Recent explosive volcanic deposit discovered around a fissure of the Cerberus Fossae system. It s located only 10 kilometres from the youngest large-impact crater on Mars, so the researchers speculate if the impact might have actually triggered the eruption. (NASA / JPL / MSSS / The Murray Lab)
A recent study of a fissure on the surface of Mars reveals what looks like volcanic activity as recently as 50,000 years ago. This could mean that warm magma beneath the surface, and groundwater we suspect is there, could provide a habitat for alien life.
This raises the question, if Mars has indigenous life, should humans go there?
Salty, viscous water with a yellow hue was extracted from rocks in OntarioCanva
The true age of the water was not immediately apparent to researchers - it wasn’t until investigating it further that the team came to realise the true magnitude of their findings.
When testing the water for chemicals and bacteria, tiny microbes, the kind only ever seen
This
type of bacteria had never been recorded before on land, and was one of the first clues that the water source may be much older than first thought.
Samples were sent to the University of Oxford and tested using a mass spectrometer. The verifiers believed their equipment, some of the most advanced in the world, had broken when provided an average age of 1.6 billion years old.
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It has recently come to light that a geologist in Canada has discovered what might just be the oldest water on Earth. The water sample was collected from a mine in Ontario and has been analyzed by geochemists at the University of Oxford.
As
reported by Macleanâs, the geochemist named Barbara Sherwood Lollar sent water samples for testing to a colleague at the University of Oxford. She discovered the water sample while visiting the Glencore-owned Kidd Creek mine. Lollar first went on an expedition to the Kidd Creek back in 1992 and 17 years later, Lollar along with her team extracted whatâs being reported as the Earthâs oldest water from 2.4 kilometres underground.
Story highlights
Tests conducted by researchers at the University of Oxford found that the mean age of the samples was 1.6 billion years old, making it the oldest water sample ever found on Earth
Researchers from the University of Toronto have discovered the world’s oldest sample of water, a finding that could offer clues about the possibility of life on Mars.
Professor Barbara Sherwood Lollar and her team found the water three kilometres beneath the Earth’s surface at a base metal mine in Timmins, Ontario in 2009.
Tests conducted by researchers at the University of Oxford found that the mean age of the samples was 1.6 billion years old, making it the oldest water sample ever found on Earth.