The oldest stone on Earth dates from the time of the Moon

2014/02/26 Galarraga Aiestaran, Ana - Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Geologia
• Astronomia

The oldest material that solidifies on the terrestrial surface is a piece of circus discovered in western Australia. According to the researchers of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, this crystal was formed about 4,400 million years ago, so it is deduced that the terrestrial surface was formed before the expected, since it is calculated that it was formed 160 million years after the creation of the Solar System.

The researchers have published the study in the scientific journal Nature Geoscience. In the article, it is explained that by solidifying the magma, the atom of uranium and lead were trapped in the crystal and have managed to know their age taking into account the ratio of radioactive decay of them. The results obtained by other methods are also added to this, so with a margin of error of 6 million years, it is confirmed that the circus was formed 4,374 million years ago.

In addition, the researchers have related the formation of the circus with the creation of the Moon. In fact, it is believed that at that time an astro at the height of Mars hit the Earth and that it was the origin of the Moon. At the same time, the crash created a sea of magma on Earth and the zircon was formed by crystallizing the magma.