New York (AP) – Scientists have identified what could be The oldest rocks On the ground from a rock formation In Canada.
Nuvuagituq Greenstone belt has long been known for it Old rocks – Plains of the gray stone on the eastern beach of Hudson Bay in Quebec. But researchers do not agree to their age exactly.
The work was suggested for two decades that the rocks may be 4.3 billion years old, which puts them in The nearest period of Earth’s history. But other scientists who use a different dating method are opposed to the result, on the pretext that the long pollutants that imagined the era of rocks and that they were a little younger at 3.8 billion years.
In the new study, the researchers took samples from a different section of the rocks from the belt and estimated its life using the previous dating techniques – measuring how a radioactive element decomposes to the passage of time. The result: The rocks were about 4.16 billion years.
The author of the study, Jonathan O’Neill, with the University of Ottawa, said that the various methods “gave the exact same age.”
The new research was published on Thursday in the magazine.
The Earth was formed about 4.5 billion years ago from a cloud of dust and gas shortly after the presence of the solar system. Primitive rocks are often dissolved and recycled with Earth’s moving plates, making them very rare on the surface today. Scientists have unveiled 4 billion rocks of another formation in Canada called the ACSTA GNEISS complex, but Nuvuagituq rocks may be older.
The study of rocks from the early history of the Earth can give a glimpse of how the planet appears – how the oceans of magma gave it the way to tectonic paintings – and even how life began.
“You have a sample of what was going on on the ground at that time is really valuable,” said Mark Reagan of Iowa University, who studies volcanic rocks and lava and did not participate in the new study.
The formation of rocks is located on Inukjuak tribal lands, and the local Invita community has briefed scientists from taking samples from the site due to the damage caused by previous visits.
After some geologists visited the site, the large pieces of rocks were missing and the community noticed pieces for sale online, said Tommy with the button, who runs the land with Pituvik Landholding Corp. The Invett community wants to work with scientists to establish a regional garden that protects the land while allowing researchers to study it.
“There is a lot of attention to these rocks, which we understand,” said the button, a member of society. “We just don’t want more damage.”
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