This entry was posted on July 8, 2023 by Anne Helmenstine (updated on April 3, 2024)
Among the many questions posed by early philosophers, scholars, and scientists, one that intrigues us to this day is: “How old is the Earth?” The short answer is that the Earth is approximately 4.54 billion years old. Here is a look at the history of our understanding of the Earth’s age and the innovative techniques that scientists use to estimate it.
- Scientists estimate the age of the Earth is approximately 4.54 billion years, plus or minus 50 million years.
- This estimate is for the age of the Earth’s accretion into a planet with a core and spherical shape.
- While the Earth and the Mars-sized planet that likely collided with it (Theia) formed at the same time, the development of the Earth and Moon occurred slightly after the birth of the early Earth. But, that event likely melted the very oldest rocks.
- We estimate the age of the planet largely from radiometric dating, which compares the abundance of a radioisotope to its decay products. This works because the synthesis of some elements pre-dates the formation of the solar system.
Early Estimates of the Age of the Earth
Before the age of science, most cultures explained the origin of the Earth through their respective creation myths. These were based on religious texts or oral traditions. Early estimates of the age of the Earth were relatively short, often just a few thousand years.
The understanding of Earth’s age began shifting during the Enlightenment. In the late 18th century, James Hutton, the father of modern geology, proposed that geological forces acted continuously over extremely long periods of time. This was a departure from the common belief that catastrophic events shaped Earth’s surface. Hutton’s ideas laid the foundation for the concept that Earth must be far older than previously thought.
In the 19th century, Lord Kelvin estimated Earth’s age using the cooling rate of the planet, which yielded an age of between 20 to 100 million years. Although significantly older than earlier estimates, Kelvin’s calculation did not consider the effects of convection in the Earth’s mantle or radiogenic heating, which is heat within the Earth due to the decay of long-lived radioactive isotopes.
In 1895, Irish mathematician and engineer John Perry calculated the age of the Earth as between 2 and 3 million years. His model included a convective mantle and a thin curst, but most scientists ignored his work.
Accurate Estimates of the Age of the Earth
The first accurate estimates of how old the Earth is came from radiometric dating, which scientists discovered in the 20th century. Radiometric dating uses the decay rate of radioactive elements to date rocks and minerals. Scientists date the age of meteorites using this method and, since these meteorites formed around the same time as Earth, they provide a good estimate of Earth’s age.
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In the early 1950s, Clair Patterson’s lead-lead dating method using the Canyon Diablo meteorite provided the first accurate age of the Earth: 4.5 billion years. This method involves comparing the ratios of lead isotopes present in the sample, some of which are the end products of uranium and thorium decay. Patterson’s use of meteorites meant that the estimate was unaffected by geological processes, like weathering and plate tectonics, that affect rocks.
Zircon crystals, which are extremely durable and resistant to weathering, are another valuable tool. Using uranium-lead dating, the oldest zircon crystals, found in Western Greenland and Western Australia, are approximately 4.4 billion years old.
How We Know How Old the Earth Is
In summary, here are some key pieces of evidence that contribute to our current understanding of the Earth’s age:
- Radiometric Dating: This process uses the rate of decay of radioactive elements within rocks to determine their age. Different elements with varying half-lives allow for dating over different geological timescales. For example, uranium-lead dating helps with dating rocks billions of years old.
- Meteorites: These extraterrestrial rocks likely formed at the same time as the Earth and other bodies in the solar system. By analyzing isotopic ratios in these meteorites, particularly using lead-lead dating, scientists estimate the age of the Earth to be around 4.54 billion years.
- Oldest Rocks on Earth: The oldest rocks on Earth are from the Acasta Gneiss Complex of northwestern Canada. Uranium-lead dating places these rocks at 4.02 billion years old.
- Zircon Crystals: These resilient crystals resist weathering and erosion. They trap the chemical signature of the time they formed. The oldest zircon crystals date at around 4.4 billion years.
- Moon Rocks: Brought back from the Apollo moon missions, these rocks are between 4.4 and 4.5 billion years old. The formation of the Moon probably occurred shortly after the formation of the solar system. This offers evidence that the Earth is at least as old as the Moon.
- Plate Tectonics: The movement and interactions of continental and oceanic plates suggest a very old Earth due to the time scale required for these processes to occur and shape the Earth’s surface as we know it.
- Ice Cores: By drilling deep into ice sheets in places like Antarctica and Greenland, scientists extract cores that contain trapped air bubbles from thousands to hundreds of thousands of years ago. This provides direct evidence of the Earth’s climate and atmospheric composition over these time scales.
Complicating Factors
Estimating the age of Earth is complicated due to factors such as the continuous recycling of the Earth’s crust by plate tectonics and the formation of the Earth-Moon system. Some scientists argue that the Earth-Moon system, created after a collision between the young Earth and a Mars-sized body named Theia, might be slightly younger than the Earth itself. This implies that while the material that makes up the Earth might be around 4.54 billion years old, the current Earth-Moon system might be slightly younger.
Another consideration is the nature of planetary formation itself. Planets don’t form overnight. They grow over millions of years and accumulate matter through collisions with other bodies. So, assigning a precise “birth date” to Earth is challenging. The 4.54-billion-year estimate is the time when Earth had reached its current size.
References
- Bouvier, A.; Wadhwa, M. (2010). “The age of the Solar System redefined by the oldest Pb–Pb age of a meteoritic inclusion”. Nature Geoscience. 3 (9): 637–641. doi:10.1038/NGEO941
- Canup, R.; Asphaug, E. I. (2001). “Origin of the Moon in a giant impact near the end of the Earth’s formation”. Nature. 412 (6848): 708–712. doi:10.1038/35089010
- Dalrymple, G. Brent (2001). “The age of the Earth in the twentieth century: a problem (mostly) solved”. Geological Society, London, Special Publications. 190 (1): 205–221. doi:10.1144/GSL.SP.2001.190.01.14
- Halliday, Alex N. (2000). “Terrestrial accretion rates and the origin of the Moon”. Earth and Planetary Science Letters. 176 (1): 17–30. doi:10.1016/S0012-821X(99)00317-9
- Manhesa, Gérard; Allègre, Claude J.; Dupréa, Bernard & Hamelin, Bruno (1980). “Lead isotope study of basic-ultrabasic layered complexes: Speculations about the age of the earth and primitive mantle characteristics”. Earth and Planetary Science Letters. 47 (3): 370–382. doi:10.1016/0012-821X(80)90024-2