Conglomeritic Sandstone

This unassuming rock from the Jack Hills of Western Australia contains some of the most ancient treasures on Earth, tiny grains of zircon dating back 4.4 billion years. These zircons formed in the planet’s earliest crust, long before the continents we know today, and survived countless cycles of erosion and deposition.

While the original rocks that created them have long since vanished, these incredibly durable crystals became trapped in younger sedimentary rock about 3.1 billion years ago. Their discovery has helped scientists piece together the story of Earth’s infancy and the conditions in which life first began to emerge.

Donated by Associate Professor Simon Wilde, Curtin University of Technology.