Ancient Ocean Found Under Chesapeake Bay Is Up To 150 Million Years Old

[webthing03]

The remains of a salty ocean ancient enough for dinosaurs to have drowned in it have been found deep in the sediment under the Chesapeake Bay. The seawater—believed to be 100 to 150 million years old—was isolated, trapped a half-mile underground, and preserved with the help of an asteroid that smashed into the area around 35 million years ago, creating a huge crater. The watery fossil holds around 3 trillion gallons, and is "the oldest large body of ancient seawater in the world," according to government hydrologists who made the amazing find while mapping the ancient crater under Virginia's Cape Charles. "We weren't looking for ancient seawater," the lead researcher tells the Washington Post, calling the find "surprising."

Links

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/seawater-discovered-near-the-chesapeake-bay-is-up-to-150-million-years-old/2013/11/16/096ac7ae-4e10-11e3-be6b-d3d28122e6d4_story.html

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v503/n7475/full/nature12714.html