A rare supply of fresh water has been discovered under the seabed off the coast of New Zealand's South Island that could help prevent droughts and mitigate climate change in the coming years.
Marine desalinated groundwater was detected using a combination of seismology and electromagnetic wave scanning techniques that were used to construct a 3D map of the aquifer under the sea.
Although the exact volume of water has yet to be calculated, researchers believe the system could hold up to 2,000 cubic kilometers of fresh water – that's 800 million Olympic-sized pools, or more than Lake Ontario.
How the fresh water supply was formed. (Marcan)
Such aquifers embedded in rocks can be found in various places around the world, although they are not very common. In this case, according to scientists, a significant portion of the water was collected over the past three ice ages.
Local authorities are keen to study how a newly discovered aquifer can help with fresh water supplies without harming the environment or dependent ecosystems.
The research was published in Nature Communications.
