UND geologist unearths world’s oldest ice
Categories: News
And you thought the crusty ice in your freezer was old. A UND geologist has ice in his freezer that’s potentially up to 5 million years old — which likely makes it some of the oldest ice ever discovered on the planet. Jaakko Putkonen, associate professor of geology at UND’s Harold Hamm School of Geology & Geological Engineering, doesn’t actually store that ancient ice in his home freezer. Rather, it’s safe and sound in a commercial freezer at the Energy & Environmental Research Center on the east side of campus. It comes out only occasionally if he needs to thaw out a chunk to get at the sand and dirt particles inside, in which case, he temporarily stores it in a small, office freezer.