Scientists have been able to uncover ancient inland oceanic remnants that have been trapped for many centuries. According to SciTechDaily, this unforeseen discovery of seawater 390 million years old sheds light on the evolution of oceans as well as their adaptation to climate change. The findings may also be applied when it comes to the safe transportation and underground storage of hydrogen, an energy source that is free of carbon.
Seawater Worth 390 Million Years Old
The study findings were included in the Earth and Planetary Science Letters. Sandra Taylor, study author and scientist at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) of the Department of Energy, noted how they discovered the capacity to get data from the mineral features that could assist with informing geologic studies, including the ancient chemistries of seawater.
Taylor collaborated with colleagues John Cliff, Daniel Perea, and Libor Kovarik from the PNNL to conduct analyses. The team also collaborated with geochemists Daniel Gregory and Timothy Lyons, from the University of Toronto and the University of California.
Several gems and minerals are filled with trapped fluid packets. At times, gemstones become highly valued because of the trapped liquid bubbles inside them that catch light. What makes the study different, however, is that the team was able to shed light on the insight of such minute pockets. They were able to do so by utilizing advanced microscopy technologies as well as chemical analyses.
NDTV reports that upon examining the trapped seawater, the researchers discovered that its origins can be traced back to the time when the seas were filled with huge sea scorpions, ammonoids, and great armored fish. During the Middle Devonian era, the particular inland sea stretched from Michigan all the way to Ontario. The sea had a coral reef that is on par with the Great Barrier Reef.
However, the climate eventually changed. With this crisis, several creatures as well as the actual sea ended up disappearing. Only fossil remnants got left behind. These remnants got embedded in sediments that turned into pyrite rock, which was used in the experiment.
Climate Change Clues
The researchers made use of the samples to figure out the course of climate change. They utilized mineral deposits to gauge ancient ocean temperatures. Study leader Gregory notes that trapped salt deposits within seawater are quite rare. This means that many millions of years are still undocumented. He notes how using the said technique to sample the specimen could lead to a million years' worth of findings and help in better understanding climate change.
Their analyses showed the presence of toxic arsenic that was leaching from the rock. The pyrite materials were particularly described as framboids due to their raspberry cluster appearance when viewed with a microscope.
Through advanced methodologies and technologies such as atom probe tomography, the researchers confirmed that the bubbles were indeed full of water and had salt chemistries that matched prehistoric oceans.
Implications on Safe Hydrogen Storage
SciTechDaily notes how such studies may grant insight regarding how hydrogen and other types of gasses could be safely stored underground.
Taylor notes how hydrogen is being examined as a fuel source that is low in carbon and that could be used across different energy applications. To do so, it is important to safely store and access large hydrogen quantities from underground reservoirs. Taylor further notes how atom probe tomography, one of the approaches they used, is one of the few methods that enables not just measuring hydrogen but also evaluating its direction within the mineral.
The findings suggest that small mineral defects could be capable of trapping hydrogen. Hence, by using such a method, scientists may be able to know what is happening at an atomic scale. This could, then, help in examining and maximizing plans for the storage of hydrogen.
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