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yesterday

Earth’s Oldest Known Rocks Dated to 4.16 Billion Years in Canada

Using two matching samarium-neodymium clocks scientists have settled the Nuvvuagittuq outcrop’s Hadean-era age

© Jonathan O’Neil
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Christian Sole, Hanika Rizo and Jonathan O'Neil, three co-authors of the new paper, stand on the Nuvvuagittuq Greenstone Belt in northern Quebec. Their study provides new evidence that it contains the oldest rocks on Earth.

Overview

  • The June 26 study in Science sampled an intrusion of ancient magma within the Nuvvuagittuq Greenstone Belt and applied two distinct samarium-neodymium dating techniques to yield identical ages of 4.16 billion years.
  • These concordant dates resolve earlier conflicts in which one samarium clock suggested younger ages due to isotope resetting or contaminant mixing.
  • If confirmed, the Nuvvuagittuq rocks would be the oldest preserved fragments of Earth’s crust, providing direct chemical records from the planet’s earliest eon.
  • Some geochemists remain skeptical, cautioning that complex early-Earth processes and mixed rock histories could still complicate a definitive Hadean classification.
  • The Inukjuak Inuit community has paused further sampling and is working with researchers to establish a provincial park to protect the fragile outcrop.