Scientists agreed the rocky outcrops in a remote part of Quebec, Canada, were ancient. But were they really Earth’s oldest?

Scientists agreed the rocky outcrops in a remote part of Quebec, Canada, were ancient. But were they really Earth’s oldest? New research suggests they are.

Bernard Bourdon, a geochemist at the Lyon Geology Laboratory in France who had previously taken issue with the earliest dates for Nuvvuagittuq Greenstone Belt published by O’Neil, said he was ...

These tiny crystals incorporate a bit of uranium into their structure, and researchers can pinpoint their age by measuring the radioactive decay of uranium atoms, which turn into lead at a known rate.

Scientists agreed the rocky outcrops in a remote part of Quebec, Canada, were ancient. But were they really Earth’s oldest? New research suggests they are.