PRIOR — glacial aquifer water from the Ansel Shelf
Water from beneath the Ansel Shelf
It fell as snow before anyone was here to see it.
71°04′N 24°51′W
I
It fell as snow
11,400 years ago.
The ice pressed it into the basalt. The basalt kept it sealed, cold, and in the dark. It has never touched air.
II
Composition, as drawn
- Silica
- 18.2 mg/L
- Bicarbonate
- 19.6 mg/L
- Calcium
- 4.1 mg/L
- Magnesium
- 0.9 mg/L
- Sodium
- 2.2 mg/L
- Potassium
- 0.4 mg/L
- Chloride
- 1.4 mg/L
- Sulphate
- 1.2 mg/L
- Dry residue at 180 °C
- 38 mg/L
- pH at source
- 7.4
Nothing added. Nothing removed. Measured at the wellhead.
III
Drawn fourteen days a year,
in the weeks after thaw.
The wellhead is opened by hand and closed again when the pressure falls. Each bottle is filled, stoppered in basalt, and numbered at the source.
2,400 bottles for the 2026 draw
The 2026 draw
Allocations are offered,
not sold.
The bottle will open.