
2.6-Billion-Year-Old Water Found in Reservoirs Under Canada : D-brief - xtraclass
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/d-brief/?p=1257&utm_source=feedly&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+DiscoverMag+(Discover+Magazine)#.UZSVY0AW1tI
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androidb
I had my hopes high for Lake Vostok as well, but unfortunately there weren't
any new organisms found (though there is some debate over an unknown bacteria
[http://www.nature.com/news/russian-scientist-defends-lake-
vo...](http://www.nature.com/news/russian-scientist-defends-lake-vostok-life-
claims-1.12578)). It would be great if they'd find some life forms in there,
as by analogy it could exist on other planets as well (they mention Mars).

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prawks
_the discovery of the Timmins reservoir could cause scientists to rethink
habitable zones on a planet, as well as what role isolated underground
reservoirs may play in the preservation and evolution of life._

It's always amazing to me the kinds of discoveries that people are still
making, and reinforces just how little we really know about the planet we live
on.

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ewolfe
How does one date water?

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dghughes
Probably a variation of the isotopes of oxygen.

edit: I found this
[http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/Paleoclimatology_O...](http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/Paleoclimatology_OxygenBalance/)

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dghughes
(I guess comment edit option goes away)

CBC has this story and they mention it's zenon isotopes that are measured to
determine the age of the water.

>The researchers estimated how old the water was based on an analysis of the
xenon gas dissolved in it. Like many other elements, xenon comes in forms with
different masses, known as isotopes. The water in the Timmins mine contained
an unusually high level of lighter isotopes of xenon that are thought to have
come from the Earth's atmosphere at the time it became trapped.

[http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story/2013/05/15/science-o...](http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story/2013/05/15/science-
oldest-flowing-water-timmins-mine.html)

