Re: OT South African Mystery Spheres

From: Henry Spencer (henry_at_spsystems.net)
Date: 03/03/05 

Date: Thu, 3 Mar 2005 05:41:05 GMT

In article <MPG.1c8ff60890e2b3439896c7@news-server.mn.rr.com>,
Doug... <dvandorn1@NOSPAM.mn.rr.com> wrote:
>Ooooo-kay... Um, correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought the oldest
>rocks found on Earth were granites from the Canadian Shield, that
>weighed in at around 2.5 byo...

No, Earth rocks go back to about 3.8, possibly a bit more if recent finds
have pushed things back further (I haven't kept current on this). Hmm,
"The Planetary Scientist's Companion" (a very useful reference), which is
copyright 1998, says that 4.1 is now the age record.

>it sounds a little odd to me that a layer of pyrophyllite in South
>Africa would date out at 2.8 - 3 byo.

That's not even exceptionally old by Earth standards. And some of the
oldest known Earth rocks *do* come from southern Africa, if memory serves,
although I couldn't tell you type or location. 

-- 
"Think outside the box -- the box isn't our friend."    |   Henry Spencer
                                -- George Herbert       | henry@spsystems.net

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