Scientists have found the oldest body of water beneath Chesapeake Bay. The ancient seawater dates back to 100 to 145 million years ago.
The scientists found the ancient body of water 0.6 miles deep the biggest crater in the U.S. and is said to be from the North Atlantic Sea during the Early Cretaceous period.
There is more water waiting to be discovered beneath the Chesapeake Bay as well as various areas along the East Coast. Sanford said that this would entail high expenses and tough challenges. "Until someone decides they want to spend that kind of money again, it's hard to go there to see what else we can learn."
Samples of the water extracted back in 2005 were tested and were found to have twice as high saline content than the modern Atlantic's ocean water. They used water chemistry analysis to determine the water samples with high chloride and bromide content. High levels of these chemicals strongly suggest ancient water, which also support the previously theorized transition of the North Atlantic Ocean from a closed body of water to a larger and expansive area of water, which had diluted the salinity content.
Previous to this study, scientists used a more indirect method to prove saline content in sea waters. Since this is one of the first attempts to use samples of ancient water that have been in the same ancient origins, the researchers were able to "direct estimate of its age and salinity."
Acting associate director of US Geological Society (USGS), Jerad Bales, said in a statement, "We knew from previous observations that there is deep groundwater in quite a few areas in the Atlantic Coastal Plain around the Chesapeake Bay that have salinities higher than seawater. Various theories related to the crater impact have been developed to explain the origin of this high salinity. But, up to this point, no one thought that this was North Atlantic Ocean water that had essentially been in place for about 100 million years."
The details of the discovery were published in the online journal Nature.
