Oldest Rocks on Earth Discovered – They Are More Than 4 Billion Years Old
4.28-billion-year-old garnet in “faux-amphibolite”, the oldest known Earth rock of which direct samples are available. Nuvvuagittuq Greenstone Belt. Image credit: James St. John
According to the scientists, although there are tiny mineral grains in western Australia that date back 4.36 billion years, no entire rocks older than the newly identified ones have been discovered.
The Nuvvuagittuq rocks are “the oldest whole rocks found so far”, said geologist Richard Carlson of the Carnegie Institution, who analyzed the rocks with Jonathan O’Neil, a Ph.D. student at McGill University in Montreal. The team’s findings were published in the journal Science.
The rocks have a pinkish, brownish color. “It’s a very pretty rock. It’s layered pink. And then it’s got big garnets in it that make big, round blobs in the layering,” Carlson said.
In addition to its geological significance, the NGB also has astrobiological implications, as it may contain traces of ancient life. In 2017, a team of scientists reported finding microfossils of bacteria-like organisms in iron-rich sedimentary rocks within the NGB, which they dated to 3.77 billion years ago. If confirmed, these would be the oldest fossils ever discovered on Earth, pushing back the origin of life by hundreds of millions of years.
According to the scientists, although there are tiny mineral grains in western Australia that date back 4.36 billion years, no entire rocks older than the newly identified ones have been discovered.
The Nuvvuagittuq rocks are “the oldest whole rocks found so far”, said geologist Richard Carlson of the Carnegie Institution, who analyzed the rocks with Jonathan O’Neil, a Ph.D. student at McGill University in Montreal. The team’s findings were published in the journal Science.
The rocks have a pinkish, brownish color. “It’s a very pretty rock. It’s layered pink. And then it’s got big garnets in it that make big, round blobs in the layering,” Carlson said.
In addition to its geological significance, the NGB also has astrobiological implications, as it may contain traces of ancient life. In 2017, a team of scientists reported finding microfossils of bacteria-like organisms in iron-rich sedimentary rocks within the NGB, which they dated to 3.77 billion years ago. If confirmed, these would be the oldest fossils ever discovered on Earth, pushing back the origin of life by hundreds of millions of years.
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10 August 2023
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