Society for Science & the Public, which publishes Science News, uses cookies to personalize your experience and improve our services. For more information on how we use cookies on our websites, visit our Cookie Policy.
News Environment

‘Fossil’ groundwater is not immune to modern-day pollution

Deep well study finds contamination in at least 12,000-year-old water

Scott Jasechko

DEEP WATER  Deep groundwater wells, such as this hand-pumped well in Uganda being operated by water resources scientist Scott Jasechko, can contain mixes of old and young water and traces of pollution.

Merhawi GebreEgziabher

By Thomas Sumner

This article is only available to Science News subscribers.

Subscribers, enter your e-mail address to access our archives.

Not a subscriber?

Science News is a nonprofit.

Support us by subscribing now.

More Stories from Science News on Environment

  1. pyrocumulonimbus cloud
    Earth

    Smoke from Australian fires rose higher into the ozone layer than ever before

    By Maria Temming
  2. Indonesia forest
    Environment

    How giving cash to poor families may also save trees in Indonesia

    By Megan Sever
  3. people at a well in Misiones, Argentina
    Earth

    Up to 220 million people globally may be at risk of arsenic-contaminated water

    By Carolyn Gramling
  4. House near Boulder, Colorado
    Climate

    How to protect your home from disasters amplified by climate change

    By Mary Caperton Morton
  5. Sediment sample collection near Peru
    Oceans

    Deep-sea mining may damage underwater ecosystems for decades

    By Carolyn Gramling
  6. Moses Bayou
    Environment

    50 years ago, American waterways were getting more protections

    By Allie Wilkinson
  7. MOSAiC scientists
    Environment

    A year long expedition spotlights night life in the Arctic winter

    By Shannon Hall
  8. Climate

    These women endured a winter in the high Arctic for citizen science

    By Maria Temming

From the Nature Index

Paid Content