A large pocket of fresh water that was sucked down into Earth's crust 6 million years ago is still buried deep below a mountain range in Sicily, new research has found.
The fresh water likely became trapped underground during the Messinian salinity crisis, when the Mediterranean Sea dried up after the ocean floor around the Strait of Gibraltar began to rise, isolating the sea. This event likely exposed the seabed to rainwater that then trickled down into Earth's crust, according to a study published Nov. 22 in the journal Communications Earth & Environment.
