Smithsonian researchers trekked to a remote site in northern Canada to collect four-billion-year-old rock samples that could ...

The oldest rock in the United States has been discovered in Michigan, with zircons dating back 3.82 billion years.

Geologists recently dated the age of Watersmeet gneiss, a type of rock in the Upper Peninsula, as the oldest in the U.S. Here ...

Scientists use a wide variety of methods to subsample and analyze the rock samples, like thin sections, isotope analysis, chemical analysis, among others, to get a greater understanding about ...

The scientists then performed extensive laboratory testing on 10 of the samples. Using the observed ... of a granulite facies (a kind of metamorphic rock that contains minerals) assemblage causes ...

Sedimentary rocks are made up of pieces of older rocks (igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary) and organic remains (shells, bone, etc.). When rocks break apart from erosion they are transported by ...

The technique involves measuring the decay of various isotopes within a rock sample. Gneiss is a metamorphic rock composed of bands and lenses of various minerals, according to Geology.com.