Geologists have found significant evidence indicating the preservation of Hadean Rocks, with an age of 4.16 billion years. The Nuvvuagittuq Greenstone Belt offers a rare glimpse into the early Earth.
The earliest geological history of Earth remains largely unclear due to the scarcity of rocks and minerals from the Hadean period (over 4.3 billion years ago).
These ancient materials are often altered or destroyed as the planet’s crust undergoes continual recycling through various geological processes.
“One potential survivor of the Hadean era crustal rock is the Nuvvuagittuq Greenstone Belt,” stated Dr. Christian Saul, a senior author from the University of Ottawa and his colleagues.
“However, this perspective is contentious. Some researchers argue that the isotopic data backing these estimates might instead reflect later geological mixing rather than the true age of the layers.”
“If proven to be of Hadean origin, the Nuvvuagittuq Greenstone Belt would represent the oldest known preserved rock sequence on Earth.”
“This could yield critical insights into early geology and possible environments for the emergence of life.”
To refine the age of the Nuvvuagittuq Greenstone Belt, researchers concentrated on specific types of ancient rock intrusions known as metagabbro within the belt.
These intrusions intersect with ancient basaltic rocks, enabling the authors to utilize combined uranium-lead (U-Pb) dating to determine the minimum age limits of older layers, along with both short and long-lived samarium-neodymium (Sm-Nd) isotopic analysis.
Sm-Nd data yielded a consistent age of approximately 4.16 billion years, irrespective of the sample location or mineral composition.
The convergence of both isotope systems producing the same age in rocks with clear evidence of magma differentiation strongly supports their Hadean era crystallization.
This is in accordance with the Hadean Eon surviving within the Nuvvuagittuq Greenstone Belt.
“Studying these rocks allows us to trace back to the origins of our planet,” noted Dr. Jonathan O’Neill, a researcher at the University of Ottawa.
“This will enable us to gain a better understanding of how the first continent formed and help reconstruct the environment in which life emerged.”
Survey results published in the journal Science.
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C. Sole et al. 2025. Evidence of Hadean Mafic invasion in the Canadian Nuvvuagittuq Greenstone Belt. Science 388 (6754): 1431-1435; doi: 10.1126/science.ads8461
Source: www.sci.news
