Scientists discover the oldest place on Earth hidden away in Canada for 4 billion years

 

By Daily Mail Reporter

Last updated at 8:33 PM on 25th September 2008

 

 

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Scientists believe they have identified the oldest place on Earth - a chunk of Canada dating back more than four billion years.

The Nuvvuagittuq greenstone belt is a swathe of bedrock exposed on the eastern shore of Hudson Bay in northern Quebec.

By measuring tiny variations in the composition of rare elements, scientists determined that rock from the site was between 3.8 and 4.28 billion years old.

 

The Nuvvuagittuq greenstone belt - a swathe of bedrock in Canada - has been identified as the oldest place in the world, dating back some four billion years

 

The oldest samples were rocks known as 'faux amphibolite' which are thought to be ancient volcanic deposits.

Dr Richard Carlson, from the Carnegie Institute in Washington DC, who led the study published today in the journal Science, said: 'There have been older dates from western Australia for isolated resistant mineral grains called zircons, but these are the oldest whole rocks found so far.'

The most ancient zircons date back 4.36 billion years. Previously, the oldest known genuine rocks were from a body called the Acasta Gneiss in Australia's Northwest Territory. They are 4.03 billion years old.

 

Most of the planet's early surface has been smashed up several times by tectonic activity, making this discovery extremely rare

 

 

 

 

The Earth was created 4.6 billion years ago, and remnants of its early crust are extremely rare.

Most of the planet's early surface has been smashed up and recycled several times over by colliding tectonic plates.

The Canadian rocks are chemically similar to volcanic rocks found where tectonic forces are at work.

"This gives us an unprecedented glimpse of the processes that formed the early crust," said Dr Carlson.

:O interesting

I doubt it. Scientific dating is far from correct.

I doubt it. Scientific dating is far from correct.

 

Same as you, then.:rolleyes:

The dating system they use is not accurate at all. They date things from 50 years ago to be 200 years old, and things from 200 years ago to be 50. Time and time again these dating methods are disproven. It's no secret.