Could the Grand Canyon be much older than previously thought? A recent study seems to point that dir
Could the Grand Canyon be much older than previously thought? A recent study seems to point that direction. Most geologists think the canyon emerged about 5-6 million years ago, whereas this study points to the canyon being around 70 million years old. The study led by Rebecca Flowers of the University of Colorado Boulder looked at the amount of helium in the mineral apatite.“When the apatite is hot, the helium simply diffuses out of the crystal; when the apatite is cold, helium is completely retained. So by measuring the helium we are constraining when the rock went from hot to cold as it moved closer to the Earth’s surface, or as the Earth’s surface moved closer to the rock as the canyon was carved” says Flowers.We’ll have to wait and see which of these dates is supported through new studies and discoveries.—AdamPhoto Credit: National GeographicFurther Reading:http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/346741/description/Grand_Canyon_could_be_much_older_than_thought__http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2012/11/a-grand-old-canyon.html -- source link
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