2007-02-10 04:29:28 · 16 answers · asked by Laurenzo O 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Earth Sciences & Geology
moon rocks!
some of the samples brought back by the apollo missions apparently turned out to be around 4.5 billion years old, more or less the same age as the earth itself.
and if you really want to get picky, the age of the atoms inside those moon rocks (and meteorites as well) would be even older since they would have been cooked up inside some ancient star going supernova!
2007-02-10 06:12:23 · answer #1 · answered by waif 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Besides the rocks and other natural phenomena mentioned by otheres here, the oldest man made creation on the earth could be the Great Sphinx of Giza.
Its estimated to have been constructed between 3000 and 6000 BC, and had to be dug out of the sand and restrored several times. The first time being in 1400 BC.
The Nearby Great Pyramids of Giza are the only remaining of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, yet were constructed relatively soon afterwards.
Another possibility is the Gigantic Ggantija Temples in Xaghra, Gozo (on the island of Malta). It is a huge complex of two temples built to sacrifice to the gods. Archaeologists date it at around 3600 BC.
Scientists in England however have also discovered a stone age era house dubbed the "Howick House", built around 7600 BC. The house has several hearthes and evidence of hazelnut roasting occuring in this time period. This is quite possibly the oldest thing on earth ever discovered if you dont include the earth (rocks, sand , dirt, bare elements).
2007-02-10 12:58:15 · answer #2 · answered by Fruityloop 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
The oldest life is 3 1/2 Ga, the oldest rock is about 4 Ga, and the oldest date ever found is on the highly durable mineral Zircon from Australia, it's date is 4.2 Ga.
2007-02-12 18:44:15 · answer #3 · answered by QFL 24-7 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Some stone meteorites are in fact composed of the same material that coalesced to form the Earth and so they predate the Earth itself.
2007-02-12 06:16:25 · answer #4 · answered by U.K.Export 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The oldest rocks on Earth found so far are the Acasta Gneisses in northwestern Canada near Great Slave Lake (4.03 Ga) and the Isua Supracrustal rocks in West Greenland (3.7 to 3.8 Ga), but well-studied rocks nearly as old are also found in the Minnesota River Valley and northern Michigan (3.5-3.7 billion years), in Swaziland (3.4-3.5 billion years), and in Western Australia (3.4-3.6 billion years).
Source: US Geological Survey http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/geotime/age.html
2007-02-10 12:43:32 · answer #5 · answered by chimpus_incompetus 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Life. It came with Earth.:)
2007-02-10 13:56:26 · answer #6 · answered by rosemary 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There are fossils in Greenland that are 3 billion years old.
2007-02-10 12:34:59 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Huh?
That doesn't make sense. Nothing ON earth is older than the earth.
The universe is older than the earth.
2007-02-10 12:32:41 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
every thing! every thing on earth, comes from the earth, which is all the same age.
2007-02-10 12:36:55 · answer #9 · answered by Apache Rose Peacock 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
the ocean.... i bet if you can get to the deepest part of the ocean.... you will find things as old as the earth itself.... (of course we humans havent been able to travel that deep...)
2007-02-10 12:33:50 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋