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Economic Times
12 hours ago
- Science
- Economic Times
Scientists identify 4.16-billion-year-old rock in Canada, possibly Earth's earliest crust
Scientists have identified a 4.16-billion-year-old rock formation in northern Quebec, potentially the oldest known fragment of Earth's crust. This discovery pushes back the timeline of Earth's known crust into the Hadean eon, offering a glimpse into the planet's fiery beginnings. While some experts remain cautious about the dating technique, the find holds cultural significance for Inuit communities. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Hadean eon era Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Cultural relevance An isolated and wind-blasted stretch of Canada's Hudson Bay shoreline may hold the oldest surviving fragment of our planet's crust, a discovery scientists say could open a new chapter in Earth 's early have determined that a section of the Nuvvuagittuq Greenstone Belt, a rocky formation in northern Quebec, is at least 4.16 billion years old. That pushes the timeline of Earth's known crust further back than ever before, into the mysterious Hadean eon, a time when Earth was a fiery, molten Acasta Gneiss Complex, located along a riverbank about 200 miles (300 kilometers) north of Yellowknife in northwestern Canada, is widely recognized as the oldest confirmed geological formation on Earth.'Rocks are books for geologists,' said Dr. Jonathan O'Neil, the University of Ottawa geologist behind the study. 'Right now, we're missing the book on the Hadean. The Nuvvuagittuq Greenstone Belt would be at least one page of that book.'The findings, published in the journal Science, are the most robust evidence yet that remnants of Earth's earliest crust still survive. Previous estimates for the belt's age ranged widely, from 3.75 billion to 4.3 billion years, but this study employed a rare earth element technique to achieve greater the rocks don't contain the mineral zircon, the standard 'clock' for dating ancient rocks, O'Neil's team used samarium-neodymium dating, which relies on isotopes that only formed in the planet's earliest days. The results from two separate isotopic "clocks" both pointed to 4.16 billion perspective, that's just 400 million years after Earth itself formed when the surface was barely solid and life was still a possibility, not a certainty.'This is as close as we get to Earth's birth certificate,' said Dr. Jesse Reimink of Penn State University , who was not involved in the some experts remain cautious. Dr. Hugo Olierook of Curtin University in Australia said the technique has limitations and could be influenced by later geological changes. 'It only takes one altered mineral to reset the age,' he the science, the rocks have cultural weight. The land belongs to Inuit communities, who are calling for more protection after some samples were damaged or taken without consent.'We understand the rocks are important, but so is respect for our land,' said Tommy Palliser of the Pituvik Landholding the discovery may help answer some of the oldest questions humans have ever asked, about our planet's first days and perhaps even the origins of life itself.
Yahoo
12 hours ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Earth's oldest rocks date back 4.16 billion years
While rocks are not exactly living things, they are not immune to Earth's fury. Ever-shifting tectonic plates constantly devour and pulverize them, or some rocks get turned into diamonds from the immense pressure underneath our feet. While life on Earth has almost been wiped out at least five times, some rocks pre-date life on Earth and have stood the ultimate test of time. Gray rocks uncovered in northern Nunavik, Quebec, Canada may be the ultimate primordial find. The stones date back 4.16 billion years to the Hadean era and are the oldest known rocks on the planet. They are described in a study published June 26 in the journal Science. Earth was a ball of molten lava when it first formed about 4.5 billion years ago. Scientists originally believed that Earth's first eon–the Hadean–ended when the first rocks formed. A golden spike–a geological marker indicates a boundary between time periods–that ended the Hadean eon is about 4.03 billion years old and located in Canada's Northwest Territories. The Nuvvuagittuq Greenstone Belt, located over 1,000 miles southeast of the Hadean's golden spike, has long been known for its ancient rocks. However, researchers have disagreed about the true age of these plains of gray stone that line the eastern shore of Hudson Bay in Quebec. In 2008, researchers proposed that these rocks dated back 4.3 billion years. Other scientists using a different dating method contested, saying that contaminants from ages ago were altering the rocks' age and they were only 3.8 billion years old. 'For over 15 years, the scientific community has debated the age of volcanic rocks from northern Quebec,' study co-author and University of Ottawa geologist Jonathan O'Neill said in a statement. 'Our previous research suggested that they could date back 4.3 billion years, but this wasn't the consensus.' [ Related: How old is Earth? It's a surprisingly tough question to answer. ] This new study used rock samples from a different part of the Nuvvuagittuq Greenstone Belt. The samples were collected in 2017 near the municipality of Inukjuak, Nunavik, by study co-author Christian Sole, while was completing his Master's degree. To determine the age of these rocks, the team combined geochemistry with petrology–a branch in geology that focuses on the composition, texture, and structure of rocks and the conditions under which they form. They also applied two radiometric dating methods to see how radioactive isotopes of the elements samarium and neodymium change over time. [ Related: Ancient rocks tie Roman Empire's collapse to a mini ice age. ] They found that both chronometers indicated that the rocks are 4.16 billion years old. Since the planet Earth formed roughly 4.5 billion years ago, this puts the rocks within a few hundred million years of our planet's earliest day–somewhat close in geological time. Typically, primordial rocks like these are melted and used over and over again by Earth's moving tectonic plates. While scientists uncovered some 4 billion-year-old rocks in Canada's Acasta Gneiss Complex, finding them at the surface is not common. According to the team, this discovery opens a unique window on the early Earth, potentially offering up clues to its existence. 'Understanding these rocks is going back to the very origins of our planet,' O'Neill said. 'This allows us to better understand how the first continents were formed and to reconstruct the environment from which life could have emerged.'
Time of India
18 hours ago
- Science
- Time of India
Scientists identify 4.16-billion-year-old rock in Canada, possibly Earth's earliest crust
An isolated and wind-blasted stretch of Canada's Hudson Bay shoreline may hold the oldest surviving fragment of our planet's crust, a discovery scientists say could open a new chapter in Earth 's early history. Hadean eon era Researchers have determined that a section of the Nuvvuagittuq Greenstone Belt, a rocky formation in northern Quebec, is at least 4.16 billion years old. That pushes the timeline of Earth's known crust further back than ever before, into the mysterious Hadean eon, a time when Earth was a fiery, molten world. The Acasta Gneiss Complex, located along a riverbank about 200 miles (300 kilometers) north of Yellowknife in northwestern Canada, is widely recognized as the oldest confirmed geological formation on Earth. 'Rocks are books for geologists,' said Dr. Jonathan O'Neil, the University of Ottawa geologist behind the study. 'Right now, we're missing the book on the Hadean. The Nuvvuagittuq Greenstone Belt would be at least one page of that book.' Live Events The findings, published in the journal Science , are the most robust evidence yet that remnants of Earth's earliest crust still survive. Previous estimates for the belt's age ranged widely, from 3.75 billion to 4.3 billion years, but this study employed a rare earth element technique to achieve greater precision. Because the rocks don't contain the mineral zircon, the standard 'clock' for dating ancient rocks, O'Neil's team used samarium-neodymium dating, which relies on isotopes that only formed in the planet's earliest days. The results from two separate isotopic "clocks" both pointed to 4.16 billion years. For perspective, that's just 400 million years after Earth itself formed when the surface was barely solid and life was still a possibility, not a certainty. 'This is as close as we get to Earth's birth certificate,' said Dr. Jesse Reimink of Penn State University , who was not involved in the study. However, some experts remain cautious. Dr. Hugo Olierook of Curtin University in Australia said the technique has limitations and could be influenced by later geological changes. 'It only takes one altered mineral to reset the age,' he warned. Cultural relevance Beyond the science, the rocks have cultural weight. The land belongs to Inuit communities, who are calling for more protection after some samples were damaged or taken without consent. 'We understand the rocks are important, but so is respect for our land,' said Tommy Palliser of the Pituvik Landholding Corporation. Still, the discovery may help answer some of the oldest questions humans have ever asked, about our planet's first days and perhaps even the origins of life itself.
Los Angeles Times
18 hours ago
- Science
- Los Angeles Times
These Canadian rocks may be the oldest on Earth
NEW YORK — Scientists have identified what could be the oldest rocks on Earth from a rock formation in Canada. The Nuvvuagittuq Greenstone Belt has long been known for its ancient rocks — plains of streaked gray stone on the eastern shore of Hudson Bay in Quebec. But researchers disagree on exactly how old they are. Work from two decades ago suggested the rocks could be 4.3 billion years old, placing them in the earliest period of Earth's history. But other scientists using a different dating method contested the finding, arguing that long-ago contaminants were skewing the rocks' age and that they were actually slightly younger at 3.8 billion years old. In the new study, researchers sampled a different section of rock from the belt and estimated its age using the previous two dating techniques — measuring how one radioactive element decays into another over time. The result: The rocks were about 4.16 billion years old. The different methods 'gave exactly the same age,' said study author Jonathan O'Neil with the University of Ottawa. The new research was published Thursday in the journal Science. Earth formed about 4.5 billion years ago from a collapsing cloud of dust and gas soon after the solar system existed. Primordial rocks often get melted and recycled by Earth's moving tectonic plates, making them extremely rare on the surface today. Scientists have uncovered 4-billion-year-old rocks from another formation in Canada called the Acasta Gneiss Complex, but the Nuvvuagittuq rocks could be even older. Studying rocks from Earth's earliest history could give a glimpse into how the planet may have looked — how its roiling magma oceans gave way to tectonic plates — and even how life got started. 'To have a sample of what was going on on Earth way back then is really valuable,' said Mark Reagan with the University of Iowa, who studies volcanic rocks and lava and was not involved with the new study. The rock formation is on tribal Inukjuak lands and the local Inuit community has temporarily restricted scientists from taking samples from the site due to damage from previous visits. After some geologists visited the site, large chunks of rock were missing and the community noticed pieces for sale online, said Tommy Palliser, who manages the land with the Pituvik Landholding Corp. The Inuit community wants to work with scientists to set up a provincial park that would protect the land while allowing researchers to study it. 'There's a lot of interest for these rocks, which we understand,' said Palliser, a member of the community. 'We just don't want any more damage.' Ramakrishnan writes for the Associated Press. The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Yahoo
21 hours ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Rocks in Canada's Quebec province found to be the oldest on Earth
By Will Dunham (Reuters) -Along the eastern shore of Hudson Bay in Canada's northeastern province of Quebec, near the Inuit municipality of Inukjuak, resides a belt of volcanic rock that displays a blend of dark and light green colors, with flecks of pink and black. New testing shows that these are Earth's oldest-known rocks. Two different testing methods found that rocks from an area called the Nuvvuagittuq Greenstone Belt in northern Quebec date to 4.16 billion years ago, a time known as the Hadean eon. The eon is named after the ancient Greek god of the underworld, Hades, owing to the hellish landscape thought to have existed then on Earth. The research indicates that the Nuvvuagittuq Greenstone Belt harbors surviving fragments of Earth's oldest crust, the planet's outermost solid shell. The Nuvvuagittuq rocks are mainly metamorphosed volcanic rocks of basaltic composition. Metamorphosed rock is a kind that has been changed by heat and pressure over time. Basalt is a common type of volcanic rock. The rocks tested in the new study were called intrusions. That means they formed when magma - molten rock - penetrated existing rock layers and then cooled and solidified underground. The researchers applied two dating methods based on an analysis of the radioactive decay of the elements samarium and neodymium contained in them. Both produced the same conclusion - that the rocks were 4.16 billion years old. Future chemical analyses of these rocks could provide insight into Earth's conditions during the Hadean, a time shrouded in mystery because of the paucity of physical remains. "These rocks and the Nuvvuagittuq belt being the only rock record from the Hadean, they offer a unique window into our planet's earliest time to better understand how the first crust formed on Earth and what were the geodynamic processes involved," said University of Ottawa geology professor Jonathan O'Neil, who led the study published on Thursday in the journal Science. The rocks may have formed when rain fell on molten rock, cooling and solidifying it. That rain would have been composed of water evaporated from Earth's primordial seas. "Since some of these rocks were also formed from precipitation from the ancient seawater, they can shed light on the first oceans' composition, temperatures and help establish the environment where life could have begun on Earth," O'Neil said. Until now, the oldest-known rocks were ones dating to about 4.03 billion years ago from Canada's Northwest Territories, O'Neil said. While the Nuvvuagittuq samples are now the oldest-known rocks, tiny crystals of the mineral zircon from western Australia have been dated to 4.4 billion years old. The Hadean ran from Earth's formation roughly 4.5 billion years ago until 4.03 billion years ago. Early during this eon, a huge collision occurred that is believed to have resulted in the formation of the moon. But by the time the Nuvvuagittuq rocks formed, Earth had begun to become a more recognizable place. "The Earth was certainly not a big ball of molten lava during the entire Hadean eon, as its name would suggest. By nearly 4.4 billion years ago, a rocky crust already existed on Earth, likely mostly basaltic and covered with shallow and warmer oceans. An atmosphere was present, but different than the present-day atmosphere," O'Neil said. There had been some controversy over the age of Nuvvuagittuq rocks. As reported in a study published in 2008, previous tests on samples from the volcanic rock layers that contained the intrusions yielded conflicting dates - one giving an age of 4.3 billion years and another giving a younger age of 3.3 to 3.8 billion years. O'Neil said the discrepancy may have been because the method that produced the conclusion of a younger age was sensitive to thermal events that have occurred since the rock formed, skewing the finding. The new study, with two testing methods producing harmonious conclusions on the age of the intrusion rocks, provides a minimum age for the volcanic rocks that contain these intrusions, O'Neil added. "The intrusion would be 4.16 billion years old, and because the volcanic rocks must be older, their best age would be 4.3 billion years old, as supported by the 2008 study," O'Neil said.
