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Earth’s oldest rocks may be at least 4.16 billion years old

An unconventional dating method aims to settle a dispute over the age of some Canadian rocks 

A photograph of the Nuvvuagittuq Greenstone Belt in Canada, which may contain the world's oldest rocks.

The Nuvvuagittuq Greenstone Belt in Canada may hold the oldest rocks in the world, dating to Earth’s earliest eon, the Hadean.

Jonathan O’Neil

By Carolyn Gramling

A remote outcrop in Canada harbors rocks that are at least 4.16