Objective "Current knowledge of the nature and origin of the earliest crust on Earth comes largely from studies of the mineral zircon. The oldest zircon crystals from Jack Hills in Australia provide a wealth of information and represent a time capsule of what the Earth was like from 4.4 to 4.0 Ga during the Hadean. These zircons are detrital grains preserved in much younger rocks, and no known rocks of this age have survived on Earth. By applying the most up–to-date technologies to various isotopic systems in these zircons, it has been possible to deduce that continental crust and oceans formed early in Earth`s history and that the planet cooled more quickly than was previously realised. The aim of this proposal is to compare the information acquired from these detrital grains with comparable new data to be obtained from the earliest known rocks on Earth. These ancient rocks are preserved in Antarctica, Canada, China, Greenland, Western Australia and Swaziland. Extensive investigation of these rocks will allow us to characterize further the nature of the earliest preserved crust and, more importantly, to document what changes took place from the formation of the earliest zircons (4.4 Ga) to the oldest preserved crust (4.03 Ga) and to evaluate why so few Hadean rocks survived on Earth. This period represents the ‘dark ages’ in terms of Earth history and marks the onset of stable conditions on the Earth that set the stage for a habitable planet." Fields of science humanitieshistory and archaeologyhistoryagricultural sciencesagriculture, forestry, and fisheriesagriculturegrains and oilseedsnatural sciencesphysical sciencesastronomyplanetary sciencesplanets Programme(s) FP7-PEOPLE - Specific programme "People" implementing the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities (2007 to 2013) Topic(s) FP7-PEOPLE-2010-IOF - Marie Curie Action: "International Outgoing Fellowships for Career Development" Call for proposal FP7-PEOPLE-2010-IOF See other projects for this call Funding Scheme MC-IOF - International Outgoing Fellowships (IOF) Coordinator NATURHISTORISKA RIKSMUSEET EU contribution € 374 907,50 Address Frescativägen 40 SE 114 18 Stockholm Sweden See on map Region Östra Sverige Stockholm Stockholms län Activity type Research Organisations Administrative Contact Martin Whitehouse (Prof.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Total cost No data
