Oldest Crust of Early Earth Found

It has been thought that, due to crustal subduction, the earliest crust of the planet has long since gone and the earliest that we have on the planet is 3.6 or so billion years old.  The age of the planet has always been derived from meteorites.  The St. Severin, Juvinas and Allende chondrites all have dates that cluster around 4.5 billion years old.

Now it has been found that zircon crystals in Western Australia formed around 4.4 billion years ago.  From the Science Daily story:

Writing today (Feb. 23, 2014) in the journal Nature Geoscience, an international team of researchers led by University of Wisconsin-Madison geoscience Professor John Valley reveals data that confirm the Earth’s crust first formed at least 4.4 billion years ago, just 160 million years after the formation of our solar system. The work shows, Valley says, that the time when our planet was a fiery ball covered in a magma ocean came earlier.

“This confirms our view of how the Earth cooled and became habitable,” says Valley, a geochemist whose studies of zircons, the oldest known terrestrial materials, have helped portray how the Earth’s crust formed during the first geologic eon of the planet. “This may also help us understand how other habitable planets would form.”

Another piece of the puzzle.

Amazing Find Rock Evolutionary Theory!!

According to The Panda's Thumb, a fossil find in pre-Cambrian beds in the Flinders Range in Australia will overturn the theory of evolution. Nick Matzke writes:

It’s hard to believe, but a reptile has been found in Precambrian strata (specifically Ediacaran) – with preserved skin. This sometimes happens in more recent deposits, but there has never been a case this old. Plus, this fossil is the first one I’ve ever seen that could meet Haldane’s criteria for falsifying evolution: a Precambrian rabbit. I mean, I guess now that push comes to shove I have to say that I wouldn’t give up evolution because of one out of place fossil, but I’ve always prided myself on sticking to the evidence, so I figured I should post it as soon as I heard about it.

Here is the accompanying photo that is truly quite startling.



Oh yeah, by the way, Australia is across the International Date line. It is now April 1 over there.

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Creationism in Australia: An Update

The Australian has an article on the teaching of creationism in New South Wales. According to the story:

STUDENTS at one NSW school were told by an untrained scripture teacher they would "burn in hell" if they didn't believe in Jesus

And, elsewhere in the state, children at other schools were given creationism showbags. A survey by Sydney's Macquarie University also found 70 per cent of scripture teachers think children should be taught the Bible as historical fact and 80 per cent believe students should not be exposed to non-Christian beliefs.

The survey found a group of scripture volunteers were distributing kits called "Creation For Kids" containing colouring books, calendars and DVDs deriding evolution and claiming that the universe was only 6000 years old.

There is no link to the survey so it is not clear just exactly what questions were asked, nor is it clear what kind of sample was used. It is sad that these groups seem bound and determined to link their Gospel message with creationism. That is sort of like a practicing dentist admitting he believes in the tooth fairy. The credibility goes out the window and the entire message is lost.

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Australia's Fossil Graveyard

The Brisbane Times is reporting on the Billabong graveyard in western Australia that is teaming with fish. Deborah Smith writes:

DEATH came on a grand scale 360 million years ago in the state's central west.

When severe drought caused a large billabong to dry up, the fish in it expired en masse, forming a uniquely rich fossil site near Canowindra.

''There are literally thousands of fishes, crowded together like sardines in a gigantic tin,'' said Per Ahlberg, a palaeontologist at Uppsala University in Sweden.

The extraordinarily well-preserved fish fossils, excavated 17 years ago, have helped make Canowindra a popular tourist destination.

But the money is running out and there is much more to be found. Dr. Ahlberg believes that among the fish could be early tetrapod remains, which would make this area one of the earliest tetrapod locations.

Money for Footprints

ABC News of Australia is reporting that a fossil site yielding a trove of dinosaur footprints is getting a financial boost from the government to continue the work at the site. That is good news. Chrissy Arthur writes:

Lark Quarry, near Winton, attracts about 20,000 visitors a year to see thousands of fossilised dinosaur footprints - believed to be 95 million-years-old.

Heritage Minister Peter Garrett has announced funding for the quarry's conservation park to improve toilets and waste management at the site.

Winton Mayor Ed Warren says it is long overdue.

"It's the only preserved site in the world that's a recording of dinosaur footprints and we've got to have strategies in place to try and look after it and preserve the area for people to come and view this wonderful expanse of dinosaur footprints," he said.

So, the question that is lurking at the back of my mind is "how do flood geologists explain all of those footprints?"

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Galloping Kangaroos!

An article in the Sydney Morning Herald has shed light on a study examining the evolution of kangaroos in Australia. Apparently, kangaroos roaming the landscape 25 million years ago had shorter legs, galloped around and had long fangs:

The near-complete skeleton represents a species called Nambaroo gillespieae, one of the earliest known predecessors to the modern roo.

The La Trobe University palaeontologist Ben Kear, part of an Australian team that analysed the bones, said the Nambaroo had big, muscly forearms that showed it galloped or bounded like a brushtail possum.

The ancient kangaroo also had opposable big-toes and flexible feet, a sign it had some climbing ability, like today's tree kangaroos. It lived in a dense, forest environment, which suggests a diet of fruit and fungi.

This form appears to be at the beginning of the radiation of the different kangaroo forms present recently and today.

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New Dinosaurs in Australia

Australian Age of Dinosaurs relates that three new dinosaurs have been discovered in Queensland, Australia. The finds were, of course, put in their proper context:

“These discoveries are a major breakthrough in the scientific understanding of prehistoric life in Australia, and the potential for educational tourism through their permanent display at the Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum of Natural History in Winton, is enormous,” said the Premier (Anna Bligh).

Well, I suppose if it brings people to dinosaurs, there's no harm in that.