A team of scientists from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, and Niigata University, Japan, has made a significant discovery in the Himalayas, finding remnants of an ancient ocean that dates back to about 600 million years ago.They discovered water droplets that were trapped in mineral deposits, which were described as a time capsule for paleo oceans by the lead author of the study, Prakash Chandra Arya, a PhD student at the Centre for Earth Sciences (CEaS), IISc.The study has been published in Precambrian Research, a geology-focused scientific journal published by Elsevier.The mineral deposits were rich in calcium and magnesium carbonates, which could provide valuable insights into an oxygenation event that occurred in the Earths past. The findings of the study could shed light on the chemical and isotopic composition of ancient oceans. This information could be crucial for climate modelling and could offer insights into the evolution of oceans and life on Earth.Ancient ocean in Himalayas formed 700-500m years ago, says studyThe discovery indicates that during the Snowball Earth glaciation – a prolonged period of glaciation between 700 and 500 million years ago, sedimentary basins experienced a prolonged calcium deficiency, which could be attributed to reduced riverine input. This led to an increase in magnesium levels, which resulted in magnesium deposits trapping ancient ocean water as they crystallised.The researchers conducted their study across a vast stretch of the western Kumaon Himalayas, from Amritpur to the Milam glacier and Dehradun to the Gangotri glacier region. The study has shown that the water molecules have come from an ancient ocean, rather than alternative sources such as submarine volcanic activity.The studys findings could provide valuable information about the history of our planet and help us better understand how our planet has evolved over time.
