James Hutton, a Scottish naturalist, discovered Earth's oldest rocks, estimated to be around 4.6 billion years old, through his geological studies and hypotheses on the Earth's age.
James Hutton, a Scottish naturalist in the 18th century, was the scientist who found Earth's oldest rocks. He studied geological processes and rock formations, which led him to propose that the Earth was much older than previously believed, possibly hundreds of millions of years old.
Earth's oldest known rocks are estimated to be between 3.8 and 4.2 billion years old, with the oldest minerals dating back to 4.4 billion years. This suggests an ancient age for our planet, which aligns with Hutton's groundbreaking ideas.
By studying the chemical elements in rocks using isotopic analysis, scientists can determine the age of the Earth and confirm its estimated age of 4.6 billion years, a calculation first done by Caltech professor Clair Patterson in 1956 through radiometric dating of meteorites.
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