Microscopic zircon crystals discovered in Western Australia suggest that Earth may have had continental crust as early as 4.4 ...

Analysis of recently discovered zircon crystals reveals a sharp change in Earth’s geochemistry around 3.8 billion years ago. Researchers studying the ancient crystals say the likely explanation is the ...

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. A new analysis of ancient grains of crystal embedded in rock from the Australian outback suggests Earth had dry land and fresh ...

A sample of rough zircon crystal on a white marble background from Khibiny, Kola Peninsula, Russia. It is humbling to think that the history of our planet can be locked inside something so small. The ...

We can stop crediting glaciers—the people had the power to move those massive stones.

The oldest known Earth stuff that remains on the surface of our planet is a mineral that's been called the "Time Lord" because it's so incredibly good at keeping geologic time. The mineral is zircon, ...

Scientists have used a powerful new technique to prove that some tiny crystals found in Western Australia are indeed the oldest known materials formed on Earth. Back in 2001, scientists reported that ...

In 2011, a piece of Mars was discovered in the Sahara desert. The shiny, black stone weighing around 11 ounces was dubbed Northwest Africa 7533. Hidden in its inky depths, it contains clues to the Red ...

Cosmogenic krypton in zircon crystals reveals millions of years of erosion, sediment transport, and landscape evolution in southern Australia.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - To put it mildly, this is one gem of a gem. Scientists using two different age-determining techniques have shown that a tiny zircon crystal found on a sheep ranch in western ...