3 billion years ago gold in the ocean is 10 times more than today

Three billion years ago, gold in the ocean was 10 times more than today, Australian mining scientists concluded.

Gold in ancient oceans is 10 times more than today

The study, conducted by the University of Tasmania's mining research center, was published in the EPSL magazine earlier this month, saying there were times when the amount of gold in the ocean was 2,000 times more than the stock of Fort Knox. . This is the largest gold store in the world with 4,577 tons of 12.4 kg ingot gold ingot, located next to Fort Knox military base, Kentucky, USA.

The gold content in the ocean is 2,000 times more than the gold stored in Fort Knox.(Photo: Reuters)

"That's the time when the world's largest gold mine in the Witwatersand Basin, South Africa was formed, " explains the Ross Large professor of CODES.

"Over 400 million years later, the amount of gold in the ocean is still high and with that many other important mines formed, including the Golden Mile in Western Australia. This means the peak of gold reserves in The ocean corresponds to the best time to form gold ore in Earth's history. "

"First, at that time, volcanoes were very active and gold was pushed from deep in the earth to the surface of the Earth in the form of micro particles in lava and volcanic gas. Then, due to the impact of erosion. worn, gold and elements such as arsenic, nickel, antimony, tellurium and mercury drifted into the ocean, so the ancient ocean was rich in gold but also extremely toxic. "

During the Pristine period - the period before the complicated life on Earth expanded, the amount of gold fell to a record low. However, life on Earth gradually enriched, causing the amount of gold to begin to rise again about 550 million years ago. The reason is that the gold solubility in the ocean is seriously affected by the amount of oxygen in the sea, according to IB Times.

"When the oxygen content increased during the explosion of life in the ocean of the Cambrian period, the gold content also gradually increased and eventually reached the peak of 525 million years ago, " concluded Professor Large.