http://sploid.gizmodo.com/this-is-t...source=gizmodo_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow Interesting! Kind of throws a monkey wrench in the works for the "Earth is only a few thousand years old" crowd, doesn't it.
Ya beat me to it - John Valley has done a lot of work in the Jack Hills area examining detrital zircons. Looks like his cool wet early earth may finally be getting some traction - I think that's the real news here that most of the media seems to skip over.
This thing's way too old for carbon dating to be of any use. The radioactive dating method used uranium.
The only primates living in Mesopotamia at that time were a single species of ape, Homo sapiens. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Nonetheless, there were several civilizations thriving on Earth at that time, and the oldest was right there in Mesopotamia. Traders traveled far and wide. You'd think a few rich people would have pet monkeys brought in from Africa, Indonesia, etc.
I wonder how large the crystals were. Zircon can get quite large. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! @Fraggle As the poet says: Quinquireme of Nineveh from distant Ophir, Rowing home to haven in sunny Palestine, With a cargo of ivory, And apes and peacocks, Sandalwood, cedarwood, and sweet white wine. King Solomon had a navy. Ophir was probably in India.
This article: http://www.stuff.co.nz/science/9757488/Oldest-piece-of-Earth-found-on-farm Has a voice interview with John Valley. "...This zircon that we've dated was literally one grain of sand on a beach 3 billion years ago, and it itself was very old already at that time because it formed at 4.4 billion..."
Mind you, rowing from Nineveh (on the Tigris) to Palestine would have been quite a schlep. No Suez canal back then - they'd have had to go round the Cape of Good Hope and through the Straits of Gibraltar!. Phew! Did these ancient seafarers make such voyages?
If we're imagining the King of Israel to possess a navy, we might as well have his trading vessels equipped with wheels for the overland stages of the journey - towed by dinosaurs, if I have my theology straight. If I recall, there are some rocks from my neck of the woods (Canadian shield regions) - entire rock formations, not zircon inclusions - that some folks date to 4.4 billion years. There's an argument. They too show signs of water, ocean.
I have never met or known anyone that thinks the earth is a few thousand years old. It sounds like a straw man.
============== Young Earth creationism From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Young Earth creationism (YEC) is the religious belief that the Universe, Earth and all life on Earth were created by direct acts of the Abrahamic God during a relatively short period, between 5,700 and 10,000 years ago. Its primary adherents are those Christians and Jews who, using a literal interpretation of the Genesis creation narrative as a basis, believe that God created the Earth in six 24-hour days. . . . Since 1982, between 40% and 50% of adults in the United States say they hold the young Earth view that "God created humans in their present form at one time within the last 10,000 years" when Gallup asked for their views on the origin and development of human beings.A 2011 Gallup survey reports that 30% of U.S. adults say they interpret the Bible literally. =========================
That has nothing to do with the age of the earth or the universe. Just how long people have been around which would be referring to civilized, intelligent beings. Either way, I find that hard to believe.
Right, ignorance that you can provide information for to fill the void. It all makes perfectly good sense now.
=========== Young Earth creationism (YEC) is the religious belief that the Universe, Earth and all life on Earth were created . . during a relatively short period, between 5,700 and 10,000 years ago. ========== I do too - but unfortunately it's more common than you think.
Ken Ham Creation Museum 46% of Americans believe God created humans sometime in the last 10,000 years. All based on the Ussher chronology Enough said, or do I need to go on?
Found the memory - this Wiki link gives less attention to the controversies surrounding the dating of the rocks than would be indicated by their heat and persistence: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuvvuagittuq_greenstone_belt One or more of a variety of Young Earth Creationist beliefs are probably held by a majority of the adherents of Judeo/Christian/Muslim religions worldwide.