Ancient rocks unearthed in Canada: 29-09-2008
Rocks found in Canada may be the oldest on earth, according to research published in the journal Science.
Anyone looking for an adventure holiday could make the trip to see the bedrock in northern Quebec, which scientists believe is 4.28 billion years old.
One of the paper's authors, Richard W Carlson of the Carnegie Institute of Washington, told the New York Times that the rocks "paint this picture of an early earth that looked pretty much like the modern earth".
But the paper also reported an assertion by Stephen J Mojzsis of the University of Colorado that they might be younger sedimentary rocks pressed out of the remains of earlier rocks that were 4.28 billion years old.
The expanse measures about four square miles and comprises of the volcanic rock basalt.
Isotopic dating methods were used to analyse the elements samarium and neodymium to age the rocks.
Prior to the discovery, the oldest known piece of bedrock was Acasta Gneiss in northwest Canada, which is 4.03 billion years old.