We would find in Quebec the oldest rocks in the world

It is in Nunavik. However, in northern Quebec, that we possibly find the oldest rocks in the world, believes an Ontario researcher.

These rocks have formed only a hundred million years after the formation of the earth itself. Similarly, which means that they are old about four billion years, said Professor Jonathan O’Neil, of the University of Ottawa.

“These rocks (…) would be the only ones currently known (from a period) which covers almost the first 600 million years in. Furthermore, the history of the earth. In addition, ” summed up the researcher.

Professor O’Neil. Moreover. However, his colleagues have been interested in the belt of green rocks of Nuvvuactuq for many years, a rocky formation located on the eastern shore of Hudson bay, about forty kilometers south-east of Inukjuak.

Work that they published in 2008 demonstrated that some of the rocks we would find quebec oldest new found there we would find quebec oldest. new date from Hadéen – the first eon in the history of the earth. Similarly, which begins with the formation of the planet about 4.6 billion years ago to end around 600 million years later – and that they are therefore incredibly old. Therefore,

Their age offered at this time, 4.3 billion years, was not unanimous for various reasons. Therefore, The most recent study published by the prestigious Revue Science calls on very sophisticated methods of analysis. Moreover, refines the age of certain rocks to 4.16 billion years.

“The problem with the Hadéen is that we have very little material with whom to work,” said Professor O’Neil. However, There are almost no terrestrial equipment that dates from this period. Nevertheless, Everything was destroyed, everything has been recycled. The earth is very effective in recycling its own crust and refounding its own rocks. we would find quebec oldest new ”

We cannot be explained how. why such we would find quebec oldest new old rocks are still accessible today. he admitted, but we know a long time that a large portion of the Canadian shield has given access to some of the oldest rocks on the planet.

It was thus considered, up to twenty years ago, said Professor O’Neil, that most of the Nunavik rocks had between 2.7 billion and 3 billion years. A large cartography campaign organized by the Quebec government in the early 2000s turned everything up when he found. rocks old 3.8 billion years old.

“There are only five or six places around the world where there are such old rocks,” he said. So it is certain that it aroused great interest. ”

A little geology lesson is necessary here. The rocks that have been examined as part of the new study. and the age of we would find quebec oldest new which has been pinned to 4.16 billion years. are in “intrusion” in the Nuvvuactuq we would find quebec oldest new belt. which means that they overlap what are called “host rocks”, said Professor O’Neil.

“And there is a principle in geology which tells us that a rock which cuts another. or a rock which is in intrusion into another, must necessarily be younger,” he said. You can’t go over something that does not exist. “

We can therefore logically conclude that “host rocks” are even older than “intrusion rocks” which are the subject. of the most recent study.

These are the host rocks, the age of which was evaluated at 4.3 billion years during the study published in 2008. Researchers who had then claimed that they had rather 3.8 billion years could now have to be changed, believes Professor O’Neil.

“Yes, we argue for around 500 million years, but it’s we would find quebec oldest new important,” he said. By studying the age of the rocks in intrusion. it imposes a limit lower than the age we would find quebec oldest new of the cashesy rocks. and their minimum age becomes 4.16 billion years. So, necessarily, the cashesy rocks must be older, and it is believed that they have 4.3 billion years. ”

His colleagues. him. said Professor O’Neil, are of the opinion that the new study “really brings even stronger constraints to suggest that these rocks are Hadéennes, therefore older than four billion years”.

For people like him who are “interested in studying how young land grew up in his childhood. adolescence”, rocks and minerals are all books that tell “the history of the earth”, explained the researcher.

If we want to understand how the earth has formed. if we want to know if there was a plates tectonics when the planet was very young. we would find quebec oldest new if we want to analyze the composition of the early oceans (and perhaps detect the first signs of life on earth), we need to study the we would find quebec oldest new oldest rocks that can be found, he said.

“It is much more than saying that my rock is older than your rock,” concluded by laughing Professor O’Neil. It is a unique window on the young period of our planet. ”