Crystals Envision Crusty Earth

Reuters reported that “Tiny zircon crystals dug up from ancient Australian deposits appear to have been formed right after the birth of the planet – a finding that suggests that early on, Earth had a cool crust much like today’s that could have harbored life, scientists said on Thursday.” (see MSNBC News).  This interpretation comes from hafnium dating of the crystals at 4.4 to 4.5 billion years old.  The summary on Science Daily called this “surprising” and said it overturns “a long-held theory that the early planet was either moon-like or dominated by oceans.”  According to the new interpretation, the earth had a cool crust only 100 million years after it formed.  Another study in 2001 suggested that water was present by 4.3 million years.  Some evolutionists seem pleased that the earth appears to have become habitable earlier than expected.

These folks need to read the RATE book (see 11/05/2005 entry).  They built their interpretation on a foundation of sand; their dating method cannot be trusted.  It won’t help the origin-of-life crowd anyway (09/15/2005).