Today's Edition
(AGENCIES)
Scientists conducting a first-of-its-kind drilling operation have extracted samples of fresh water hiding in massive reservoirs deep under the ocean.
The consortium of more than a dozen nations sank pipes through the seabed muck off Cape Cod this summer to extract water and sediments from a freshwater aquifer located deep beneath the Atlantic Ocean, and stretching along the United States' East Coast.
The collected samples will be studied to see how old that water is, what organisms live in it, and whether it is a renewable resource that could someday slake the planet’s growing thirst.
The scientific expedition was launched nearly 50 years after US researchers searching for hydrocarbons and minerals discovered freshened water under the seabed.
"One of the last places you would probably look for fresh water on Earth is beneath the ocean, which is full of salt. So, that is sort of a mystery in itself," said Brandon Dugan, the expedition's co-chief scientist who spent 20 years preparing for the mission.
The research work at sea unfolded over three months from Liftboat Robert, an oceangoing vessel that, once on site, lowers three enormous pillars to the seafloor and squats above the waves. The vessel normally services offshore petroleum sites and wind farms.
“We're currently about 25 to 30 miles ( 40 to 48 kilometers) off the coastline. We have about 160 feet (49 meters) of water beneath us. And then we're drilling down another 300 feet (91 meters), and we're starting to see water that doesn't look like an ocean. It has much less salt than the ocean, almost to the definition of fresh water – so, one part per thousand salt we've discovered," Dugan said.
Scientists will be analyzing nearly 50,000 liters of the freshened water back in their labs around the world in the coming months. The global expedition seeks to answer questions on the origins of this undersea treasure.
In just five years, the United Nations says, the global demand for fresh water will exceed supplies by 40%. Rising sea levels from the warming climate are souring coastal freshwater sources while data centres that power AI and cloud computing are consuming water at an insatiable rate.
By some estimates, each midsize data center consumes as much water as 1,000 households.
The research project - Expedition 501 - is a $25 million scientific collaboration of more than a dozen countries backed by the US government's National Science Foundation and the European Consortium for Ocean Research Drilling.
