Unravelling Earth’s 4.5-billion-year history with rocks is tricky business. Case in point: the discovery of an ancient meteorite impact crater was recently reported in the remote Pilbara region of ...

Since their formation billions of years ago, the oldest parts of the Earth's continental rocks have generated natural ...

Since their formation billions of years ago, the oldest parts of Earth's continental rocks have generated natural hydrogen in ...

In a controversial 2008 study, O’Neil and his research team claimed that they had discovered a part of the original crust in northeast Canada’s remote Nuvvuagittuq Greenstone Belt.

It’s the only rock determined to be from the first of four geological eons in our planet’s history: the Hadean, which began 4.6 billion years ago when the world was hot, turbulent and hell-like.

Unravelling Earth ’s 4.5-billion-year history with rocks is tricky business. Case in point: the discovery of an ancient meteorite impact crater was recently reported in the remote Pilbara region of ...

A Part of Earth’s Original Crust Still Exists NEMES LASZLO/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY - Getty Images "Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links." ...

New research suggests that the geological site harbors the oldest known surviving fragments of Earth’s crust, dating back to 4.16 billion years ago.

The original study, by a different group, made headlines with the claim that the crater formed 3.5 billion years ago. If true, it would be Earth’s oldest by far.