Apr 12, 2025 06:42 PM
(This post was last modified: Apr 12, 2025 07:23 PM by Magical Realist.)
I got it in the mail just now! A piece of what is currently the world's oldest rock--the Acasta Gneiss in Yellowknife Northwest Territories Canada. It is measured to be a little over 4 billion years old! I'm in awe of it. I've been wanting something like this for a long time. Earth being only 4.5 billion years old, this was likely formed when it was still in a semi-molten stage. It is pink with grey streaks. Don't ask me what I paid for it! lol
https://science.gc.ca/site/science/en/ed...neiss-1983
"The Canadian Shield, the largest expanse of Precambrian rocks on Earth, is host to Earth’s oldest known rock – the Acasta Gneiss of the Slave Province of the Shield, located about 300 kilometres north of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories.
Gneiss is a type of rock that has been metamorphosed (affected by intense heat and pressure) at depth in Earth’s crust. Geological Survey of Canada geologist Janet King discovered the Acasta Gneiss during fieldwork in 1983.
The composition and texture of the Acasta Gneiss suggest that, before metamorphism, the gneiss was an igneous rock that formed about 4.03 billion years ago. We know it is that old because the Survey’s Geochronology Laboratory determined it by isotopic dating. This analytical laboratory process measures the ratios between parent and daughter atoms in mineral grains such as zircon that contain traces of radioactive uranium. Essentially, this is counting how many uranium atoms have transformed to lead, and permits calculation of an age. Isotopic dating gives absolute ages in years or millions of years. In contrast, the layered successions of rocks give only relative ages – older than, or younger than."
https://science.gc.ca/site/science/en/ed...neiss-1983
"The Canadian Shield, the largest expanse of Precambrian rocks on Earth, is host to Earth’s oldest known rock – the Acasta Gneiss of the Slave Province of the Shield, located about 300 kilometres north of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories.
Gneiss is a type of rock that has been metamorphosed (affected by intense heat and pressure) at depth in Earth’s crust. Geological Survey of Canada geologist Janet King discovered the Acasta Gneiss during fieldwork in 1983.
The composition and texture of the Acasta Gneiss suggest that, before metamorphism, the gneiss was an igneous rock that formed about 4.03 billion years ago. We know it is that old because the Survey’s Geochronology Laboratory determined it by isotopic dating. This analytical laboratory process measures the ratios between parent and daughter atoms in mineral grains such as zircon that contain traces of radioactive uranium. Essentially, this is counting how many uranium atoms have transformed to lead, and permits calculation of an age. Isotopic dating gives absolute ages in years or millions of years. In contrast, the layered successions of rocks give only relative ages – older than, or younger than."