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A large pocket of fresh water that was sucked down into Earth’s crust 6 million years ago is still buried deep below a mountain range in Sicily, new research has found.

The fresh water likely became trapped underground during the Messinian salinity crisis, when the Mediterranean Sea dried up following a global cooling event that locked ocean water up in ice sheets and glaciers. This event likely exposed the seabed to rainwater that then trickled down into Earth’s crust, according to a study published Nov. 22 in the journal Communications Earth & Environment.

Takeaways:

• A massive coronal hole, wider than 60 Earths, has opened up on the sun’s surface, releasing unusually fast solar wind towards Earth. This phenomenon is unprecedented at this stage of the solar cycle.

• The hole, which took shape near the sun’s equator on Dec. 2, reached its maximum width of around 497,000 miles within 24 hours. Since Dec. 4, it has been pointing directly at Earth.