Indian, Japanese scientists discover remnants of 600 million-year-old river in Himalayas

New research by scientists from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and Japan's Niigata University has discovered water droplets in mineral deposits that are believed to be from an ancient ocean that existed around 600 million years ago.

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In a release on Thursday, the IISc said that analysis of the deposits revealed calcium and magnesium carbonates. This discovery led the team of scientists to suggest that there may have been a major oxygenation event in Earth's history.

Scientists believe that the Earth may have been covered by thick sheets of ice between 700 and 500 million years ago, known as the Snowball Earth glaciation. This event was followed by the Second Great Oxygenation Event which led to an increase in the amount of oxygen in the Earth's atmosphere which led to the evolution of complex life forms. 

The IISc release said that scientists have not been able to fully understand how these events are linked due to a dearth of well-preserved fossils and the disappearance of all past oceans that existed in Earth's history, but exposure to marine rocks like these could help them find some answers.

The new research could help provide information about ancient oceanic conditions like pH, chemistry and isotopic composition which have only been theorized or modelled so far. It could also help answer questions related to the evolution of oceans, Earth's history and even life.

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IISc PhD student and first author of the study Prakash Chandra Arya said, “ We don't know much about past oceans… How different or similar were they compared to present-day oceans? Were they more acidic or basic, nutrient-rich or deficient, warm or cold, and what was their chemical and isotopic composition?”

The corresponding author of the study Sajeev Krishnan while speaking about the possible Himalayan ocean said, "During this time, there was no flow in the oceans, and hence no calcium input. When there is no flow or calcium input, as more calcium precipitates, the amount of magnesium goes up," Sajeev Krishnan, Professor at CEaS and corresponding author of the study.

(With inputs from PTI)