NIWA marine geologist Dr Joshu Mountjoy says the discovery is one of the few times a significant offshore aquifer has been located around the world and may lead to a new freshwater resource for the region.
The aquifer lies just 20 metres below the seafloor, making the find one of the shallowest in the world. It extends up to 60 kilometres from the coastline and may contain as much as 2000 cubic kilometres of water which is equivalent to half the volume of groundwater across Canterbury.
Derived from rainfall, the aquifer is partly being replenished by groundwater flow from the coastline between Timaru and Ashburton. However, most of the freshwater became trapped offshore during the last three Ice Ages, when sea level was more than 100 metres lower than it is today.
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