The World’s Oldest Rock Was Found On the Moon

Even if the majority of us aren't very interested in rocks, learning about the oldest rock ever does pique our curiosity. Given that the Earth is just 4.5 billion years old, a rock that is four billion years old sounds fairly amazing.

Since rock makes up the majority of the planet, a rock with such a large age might theoretically originate from anyplace. Despite this, the oldest rock in the world actually has a fascinating origin story because it was not discovered on or even on the planet. It originated on the moon.

A little two-centimeter-long chip of rock that was embedded in a bigger boulder was one of the moon rock samples collected during the Apollo 14 mission. According to studies, the object was created here on Earth, not on the moon, four billion years ago. Quartz, zircon, and other minerals found in its makeup allow scientists to scientifically determine that it originated here as opposed to there.

It would have been launched into space and crashed against the moon if an asteroid had struck the Earth. Given its presence, it is likely that some of the craters and pockmarks on the moon's surface were created by rocks that originated on Earth, and there may be a significant number of more Earth rocks up there.