Ancient seawater discovered deep beneath US East Coast
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.027513
Washington Post : Ancient seawater at least 100 million to 150 million years old has been discovered about a half mile underground near the Chesapeake Bay on the US East Coast. Ward Sanford of the US Geological Survey (USGS) and colleagues discovered the water while drilling holes to study an impact crater that was created in the North Atlantic Ocean by an asteroid or other large object some 35 million years ago. Over the centuries, the crater, along with the prehistoric seawater it contained, got covered with sand and silt; the ancient seawater was preserved “like a prehistoric fly in amber,” said the USGS in a statement. Although saltwater is commonly found underground all over the world, this particular sample showed high levels of chlorides and bromides, indicative of seawater from the Early Cretaceous period.
