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Rocks on the shore of Hudson Bay in northern Canada were shown in 2025 to be at least 4.16 billion years old, making them the oldest known rocks on Earth.

Science (2025)

ScienceHistory

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The rocks form the Nuvvuagittuq Greenstone Belt in northern Quebec, a strip of ancient volcanic rock later altered by heat and pressure. Their age had been argued over for years: a 2007 study put them at about 3.75 billion years, while a 2012 study suggested 4.32 billion. In 2025 a team dated gabbro, a dark rock that had forced its way through the older layers while molten and then hardened. A rock has to exist before another can cut through it, so the layers are at least as old as the gabbro, about 4.16 billion years. That places them in the Hadean, Earth's first eon, a few hundred million years after the planet formed some 4.5 billion years ago.

Türkçe oku
Kanada'nın kuzeyinde, Hudson Körfezi kıyısındaki kayaların en az 4,16 milyar yaşında olduğu 2025'te gösterildi. Bunlar Dünya'nın bilinen en yaşlı kayaları.
Science (2025)

Bu kayalar, Kanada'nın Quebec eyaletinin kuzeyindeki Nuvvuagittuq Yeşiltaş Kuşağı'nda yer alıyor. Kuşak, eski volkanik kayaların sonradan ısı ve basınçla dönüşmesiyle oluşmuş. Yaşları yıllardır tartışılıyordu: 2007'deki bir çalışma yaklaşık 3,75 milyar yıl derken, 2012'deki bir başkası 4,32 milyar yıl önermişti. 2025'te bir ekip, eriyik hâldeyken eski katmanların arasına sokulup katılaşmış koyu renkli bir kayaç olan gabroyu tarihlendirdi. Bir kayanın içinden başka bir kaya geçebilmesi için önce kendisinin var olması gerekir; bu yüzden katmanlar en az gabro kadar, yani yaklaşık 4,16 milyar yıl yaşlı. Bu da onları, gezegenin yaklaşık 4,5 milyar yıl önce oluşmasından birkaç yüz milyon yıl sonrasına, Dünya'nın ilk çağı olan Hadeen'e yerleştiriyor.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: Nuvvuagittuq Greenstone Belt
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