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A grain of zircon found on a sheep ranch in Jack Hills, Western Australia formed 4.4 billion years ago is the oldest known piece of our planet. When our solar system formed 4.5 billion years ago earth was a fiery ball covered in a magma ocean. It is now believed the earth’s crust cooled and formed 100 million years after this event rather than 600 million years as initially thought. It is also believed the environment back then was similar to now and able to support life on earth.
Originally formed by crystallization from a magma or in metamorphic rocks, zircons are so durable and resistant to chemical attack that they rarely go away. They may survive many geologic events, which can be recorded in rings of additional zircon that grow around the original crystal like tree rings. Like a tiny time capsule, the zircon records these events, each one of which may last hundreds of millions of years. Meanwhile, the core of the zircon itself remains unchanged, and preserves the chemical characteristics of the rock in which it originally crystallized.
From the oldest mineral to some of the newest technologies, the ability of zircon to withstand high temperatures and harsh environments means it is found in the oldest rocks on earth and it is these characteristics that find it being used in demanding applications in modern technologies.
Zircon sand is the raw material used in the production of the majority of added value zirconium chemicals and oxides which find use in a diverse range of industrial applications, including refractories, thermal barrier coatings, engineering ceramics and electronics.
Images courtesy of Sci News
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A shard of zircon crystal
How old is Zircon?
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