Early Earth likely had continents, was habitable, according to new study
A surprising new study by an international team of researchers has concluded Earths continents most likely were in place soon after the planet was formed, overturning a long-held theory that the early planet was either moon-like or dominated by oceans.
The team came to the conclusion following an analysis of a rare metal element known as hafnium in ancient minerals from the Jack Hills in Western Australia, thought to be among the oldest rocks on Earth. Hafnium is found in association with zircon crystals in the Jack Hills rocks, which date to almost 4.4 billion years ago.
“These results support the view that the continental crust had formed by 4.4-4.5 billion years ago and was rapidly recycled into the mantle,” the researchers wrote in Science Express. Led by Professor Mark Harrison of the Australian National University, the team also included University of Colorado Assistant Professor Stephen Mojzsis and researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles and Ecole Normale Superieure University in France.
The researchers used hafnium as a “tracer” element, using isotopes to infer the existence of early continental formation on Earth dating to Hadeon Eon, which took place during the first 500 million years of Earths history, said Mojzsis, an assistant professor of geological sciences at CU-Boulder. Mojzsis also is a member of CU-Boulders Center for Astrobiology.
“The evidence indicates that there was substantial continental crust on Earth within its first 100 million years of existence,” said Mojzsis. “It looks like the Earth started off with a bang.”
A 2001 study led by Mojzsis published in the journal Nature showed evidence for the presence of water on Earths surface roughly 4.3 billion years ago. “The view we are taking now is that Earths crust, oceans and atmosphere were in place very early on, and that a habitable planet was established rapidly,” said Mojzsis.
Media Contact
More Information:
http://www.colorado.eduAll latest news from the category: Studies and Analyses
innovations-report maintains a wealth of in-depth studies and analyses from a variety of subject areas including business and finance, medicine and pharmacology, ecology and the environment, energy, communications and media, transportation, work, family and leisure.
Newest articles
Novel catalyst for charge separation in photocatalytic water splitting
A research team led by Prof. JIANG Hailong, Prof. LUO Yi, and Prof. JIANG Jun from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) discovered a metal-organic framework (MOF)…
Finding a missing piece for neurodegenerative disease research
Research led by the University of Michigan has provided compelling evidence that could solve a fundamental mystery in the makeup of fibrils that play a role in Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and…
BESSY II: New procedure for better thermoplastics
Thermoplastic blends, produced by a new process, have better resilience. Now, experiments at the IRIS beamline show, why: nanocrystalline layers increase their performance. Bio-based thermoplastics are produced from renewable organic…