Caption: A 4.4 billion-year-old zircon crystal is providing new insight into how the early Earth cooled from a ball of magma and formed continents just 160 million years after the formation of our solar system, much earlier than previously believed. The zircon, pictured here, is from the Jack Hills region of Australia and is now confirmed to be the oldest bit of the Earth's crust.
Credit: Image courtesy of John W. Valley
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Caption: A timeline of the history of our planet places the formation of the Jack Hills zircon and a "cool early Earth" at 4.4 billion years.
Credit: Timline courtesy of Andree Valley
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