According to a U.S. Geological Survey report, some of the water underneath Maryland is more than a million years old. This is the first such ancient groundwater discovered along the Atlantic coast.
Apparently, water flowed from the land surface into the deep Upper Patapsco aquifer during cooler periods in our earth's history, when glaciers covered much of the northeastern U.S. and sea level was about 125 meters lower than it is today. Today, however, even this deep aquifer, which provides freshwater for the region east of Washington and Baltimore, may not meet future needs.
Worldwide, there aren't many aquifers containing million-year-old groundwater.
The Alberta Basin in Canada, the Nubian aquifer in the Sahara Desert, and the Great Artesian Basin in Australia are other examples.
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