Geologist Tastes Underground Water (Thousands of Years Old) in Canadian Mine — Here’s What It Really Reveals

In a remarkable scientific moment deep beneath the surface, geochemist Barbara Sherwood Lollarand her team made an unusual choice during their research in a Canadian mine: they took a taste of the groundwater they were studying — not out of thirst, but out of scientific curiosity. 

Sherwood Lollar was leading a group of researchers working at the Kidd Creek Mine in Ontario when they accessed a flowing source of deep underground water that had been isolated far below the surface for an exceptionally long time. This water wasn’t connected to the modern hydrological cycle and had sat within fracture networks in the Earth’s crust, buffered from surface conditions and influences. Scientists examine such fluids to learn about Earth’s deep ecosystems and how water and life might exist in extreme environments. 

While testing and analysing samples back at the lab, the team also took the rare opportunity to assess what the water tasted like. Sherwood Lollar described it as distinctly very salty and bitter, reflecting its unusual composition compared with the water we drink every day. The high salinity and minerally complex nature of the fluid likely result from long-term interactions with the surrounding rock and dissolved gases, which give it a flavour very different from surface water.