Researchers have claimed Earth is 60 million years older than previously thought.
Our
planet was believed to have formed approximately 100 million years
after the solar system started to take shape 4.6 billion years ago, but
scientists now say it was actually closer to just 40 million years.
They
came to the conclusion by analysing ancient gases in quartz, which
showed astronomers had underestimated the timing of the impact that
formed the moon - and in turn the age of Earth.
Scientists know Earth was born from a disk of
dust and gas about 4.6 billion years ago (artist's illustration shown),
but the exact timing of this is unknown. New research suggests it may
have occurred just 40 million years after the solar system formed, 60
million years older than initially thought
The
research was presented by geochemists from the University of Lorraine
in Nancy, France to the Goldschmidt Geochemistry Conference in
Sacramento, California.
HOW THE MOON FORMED
Many researchers believe the moon formed after Earth was hit by a planet the size of Mars billions of years ago.
This is called the giant impact hypothesis.
The hypothesis claims the moon is
debris left over following an indirect collision between our planet and
an astronomical body approximately 4.5 billion years ago.
The colliding body is sometimes called Theia, after the mythical Greek Titan who was the mother of Selene, the goddess of the Moon.
This is called the giant impact hypothesis.
The colliding body is sometimes called Theia, after the mythical Greek Titan who was the mother of Selene, the goddess of the Moon.
Calculating exact dates that far back, however, is no mean feat.
Looking back into 'deep time' it becomes more difficult to put a date on early Earth events.
In part, this is because there is little 'classical geology' dating from the time of the formation of the Earth, such as an absence of rock layers from that era.
So geochemists rely on other methods to estimate early Earth events.
One of the standard techniques is measuring the changes in the proportions of different gases (isotopes) which survive from the early Earth - but even this only gives an estimate.
'It’s not possible to give an exact date for the formation of the Earth,' said Dr Guillaume Avice of the University of Lorraine.
'The oldest rocks of the solar system have been dated to 4,568 million years ago - so Earth is younger than that.
'What this work does is show Earth is older than we thought - by around 60 million years.'
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