ACASTA GNEISS - the world's oldest known rock - Canada
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ACASTA GNEISS
The oldest known rock on Earth
4.03 billion years old
300 km. north of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada
Discovered in 1989, the Acasta Gneiss is an outcrop of metamorphic rock dating from the earliest part of the Precambrian Era. It falls within the Hadean Period, which started with the formation of the Earth 4.6 billion years ago and named after Hades, the Greek god of the underworld and the hellish conditions that prevailed on Earth at the time.
Only a few geological traces from this period remain and there are other contenders for this record, notably in Western Greenland and Western Australia, but the radiometric dating methods used have involved dating the zircon crystals in the rock and it is somewhat contentious whether the date represents the age of the rock itself. The Acasta Gneiss is therefore still generally regarded as the oldest known intact crustal fragment on Earth.
Please note: We only have a small number of these specimens in stock. You will receive the best example we currently have.
Click on a picture for a larger image
Size: 5 x 5 x 2 centimetres (size of box)
Weight: varies
Price per specimen
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