Studies of mineral veins from New Zealand’s Southern Alps have found that rainwater can penetrate many kilometres below the earth’s surface.
Researchers from the UK and New Zealand analysed fluids trapped inside deformed quartz veins in the earth’s ductile crust, up to eight kilometres below the surface. The composition of hydrogen isotopes in the fluids indicated that they had originated as rainwater.
Understanding the fluids in the earth’s crust can give us insight into how earthquakes occur along fault lines, and also in the deposition of valuable metals.
Read more at University of Southampton