Latest news with #oldestrocks
BBC News
5 hours ago
- Science
- BBC News
Oldest rocks in the world are in Canada scientists say
Scientists think they have found the oldest rocks on ancient rocks were found in the Nuvvuagittuq Greenstone Belt, in Quebec in Canada, and for the last two decades scientists have been studying they hadn't been able to agree on an accurate age for the rocks, until teams using two different dating methods had produced different ages for the rocks: 4.3 billion and 3.8 billion years the latest study says the rocks are actually 4.16 billion years old! How did scientists test the old rocks? The scientists used both the techniques from previous tests, but focussed in on just one type of rock that made up the stripy stones. This type of stone is called metagabbro and is a rock that formed under huge heat and pressure inside the planet's crust billions of years tests brought back the same result this time - the rock was 4.16 billion years rocks are from one of the earliest periods on Earth, known as the Hadeon Earth was formed around 4.5 billion years ago and rocks from this time are an incredibly rare, as the movement of the Earth's tectonic plates mean that many have been melted and O'Neil, who led the study in the Science journal said the rocks give a "unique window into our planet's earliest time to better understand how the first crust formed on Earth".He added that because some were formed through ancient seawater, they shed light on the first oceans and "help established the environment where life could have begun on Earth."
CBS News
6 hours ago
- Science
- CBS News
These may be the oldest rocks on Earth
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. This photo provided by researcher Jonathan O'Neil shows the landscape at the Nuvvuagittuq Greenstone Belt in northeastern Canada. Jonathan O'Neil / AP Dispute apparently settled 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. This photo provided by researcher Jonathan O'Neil shows an outcropping of about 4.16 billion year old rocks at the Nuvvuagittuq Greenstone Belt in northeastern Canada, with a knife to indicate scale. Jonathan O'Neil / AP Ancient rocks could shed light on Earth's earliest days 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. This photo provided by researcher Jonathan O'Neil shows a closeup of a rock from Canada's Nuvvuagittuq Greenstone Belt dated to about 4.16 billion years old. Jonathan O'Neil / AP Inuit community wants steps to avoid rocks being exploited 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."
CBS News
7 hours ago
- Science
- CBS News
What may be Earth's oldest rocks found in Canada
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. This photo provided by researcher Jonathan O'Neil shows the landscape at the Nuvvuagittuq Greenstone Belt in northeastern Canada. Jonathan O'Neil / AP Dispute apparently settled 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. This photo provided by researcher Jonathan O'Neil shows an outcropping of about 4.16 billion year old rocks at the Nuvvuagittuq Greenstone Belt in northeastern Canada, with a knife to indicate scale. Jonathan O'Neil / AP Ancient rocks could shed light on Earth's earliest days 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. This photo provided by researcher Jonathan O'Neil shows a closeup of a rock from Canada's Nuvvuagittuq Greenstone Belt dated to about 4.16 billion years old. Jonathan O'Neil / AP Inuit community wants steps to avoid rocks being exploited 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."
CTV News
10 hours ago
- Science
- CTV News
Rocks found on Quebec shoreline found to be the oldest on Earth
A Telecommunications tower is seen in the village of Inukjuak on the shore of Hudson Bay Thursday, May 12, 2022 in Inukjuak, Quebec. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld 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 analyzes 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. Reporting by Will Dunham in Washington, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien, Reuters
The Independent
11 hours ago
- Science
- The Independent
Scientists think they have found the oldest rocks on earth
A new study has pinpointed what could be the oldest rocks on Earth, found within a remote Canadian rock formation, offering fresh insights into our planet's earliest history. The Nuvvuagittuq Greenstone Belt, located on the eastern shore of Hudson Bay in Quebec, has long been recognised for its ancient geological formations. However, the precise age of these streaked grey stones has been a subject of scientific contention for decades. Research from two decades ago suggested the rocks could be as old as 4.3 billion years, placing them firmly in Earth 's infancy. Yet, other scientists challenged this, arguing that long-ago contaminants had skewed the dating methods, proposing a younger age of 3.8 billion years. In a bid to resolve this long-standing debate, researchers in the latest study sampled a distinct section of rock from the belt. Employing both of the previously used dating techniques – which measure the decay of radioactive elements over time – they arrived at a refined age. Their findings indicate the rocks are approximately 4.16 billion years old, a figure that bridges the gap between earlier estimates and provides a more precise timeline for these ancient geological wonders. This discovery not only refines our understanding of the Nuvvuagittuq Greenstone Belt's immense age but also contributes significantly to the broader scientific effort to map the earliest chapters of Earth 's formation. 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.'
