3.65-billion-year-old material found in the Chapada Diamantina region Just as the life of a person or family is recorded in documents the planet’s distant past is preserved in rocks Due to the deformation processes that occur over geological eras rocks older than 3.5 billion years are very rarely exposed on the Earth’s surface making them extremely difficult to find and study recently unearthed the oldest rocks ever found in South America a municipality in the Chapada Diamantina region of the state of Bahia the rocks date from the Eoarchean—the first era on the geological record for which the Earth has a solid crust spanning the period between 4 billion and 3.6 billion years ago the Earth was just under 1 billion years old and the first forms of life were beginning to emerge “Finding such ancient geological samples in a tropical region like ours is almost a miracle,” says Elson Paiva de Oliveira a geologist from the Institute of Geosciences (IG) at the University of Campinas (UNICAMP) and coauthor of the article describing the discovery published in the journal Geoscience Frontiers in February rock formations are more severely eroded due to high temperatures and abundant rainfall making the preservation of such an old sample even rarer The oldest geological samples ever identified on Earth are from Jack Hills The finding was not the first to be made by the researchers in the Chapada Diamantina region a study led by Oliveira and a subsequent article published in the scientific journal Terra Nova reported on the discovery of 3.64-billion-year-old rocks 10 million years younger than those described in February of this year They were also found on the outskirts of Piritiba A craton is a large block of continental crust that has remained fairly stable for a long period of time The earlier initial finding was the starting point for the latest study “We decided to search the region from north to south and we found even older rocks as well as a series of others that tell the story of how our continent was formed,” explains geologist Igor Moreira who is Oliveira’s PhD advisor and lead author of the latest article the paper describes geological samples from two other eras: the Paleoarchean when the continents began to form; and the Neoarchean the period when the first bacteria began to evolve we were able to unravel the ancient history of the continents,” says Moreira The area where these ancient rocks were discovered covers approximately 400 kilometers in the east of Chapada Diamantina between the municipalities of Juazeiro and Ruy Barbosa is part of the northeast section of the São Francisco Craton One of the earliest forms of continent to appear on the planet the huge craton stretches from Brazil’s Southeast all the way to its Northeast The São Francisco Craton is one of the oldest evolving land masses on the planet with extremely well preserved surface rocks These outcrops eventually give rise to a type of metamorphic rock—created by the transformation of preexisting materials subjected to high temperatures and pressures—with a crystalline structure and usually arranged in bands “Metamorphic rocks have undergone many geological processes That’s why the oldest rocks on the surface are usually metamorphic,” explains Natali Barbosa a geologist from the Federal University of Bahia (UFBA) who did not participate in the study of the samples from Piritiba “Gneiss is usually formed at the base of mountain ranges and are found on the boundary between the earth’s upper and lower crust at an approximate depth of 20 kilometers.” Elson Paiva de OliveiraGneiss outcrops provide clues to the existence of ancient geological samplesElson Paiva de Oliveira Zircon dating There are no visual or morphological markers that differentiate old rocks from more recent formations To determine the age of the new samples from Piritiba the scientists had to date the mineral zircon crystals present in the region The age of a geological sample can be calculated based on the radioactive decay rate of heavy and light forms of uranium found in zircon At the Geochronology Laboratory (LAGIS) at IG which involves perforating zircon crystals with a laser beam we established that the samples were 3.65 billion years old,” says Oliveira Studying rocks as old as those found in Piritiba—or older—is important to shed light on exactly what happened in Earth’s early years information that could be useful in efforts to project the planet’s future The 4.4 billion-year-old samples found in Australia provided clues about the presence of water on the earth’s surface just over 100 million years after the planet was formed Not everything was fire and lava in the infancy of Earth Oliveira believes that as well as being scientifically important the oldest geological samples from Chapada Diamantina should also be seen as natural and cultural heritage of the region “Convincing the authorities in Piritiba of the importance of these rocks was not an easy task,” says the UNICAMP geologist the municipality will celebrate 70 years since its political emancipation and the existence of this geological rarity in the region will be highlighted Areas of geological interest attract tourism and have the potential to improve local education.” Project The oldest rocks in the São Francisco Craton: Geological features and tectonic significance (nº 18/25465-0); Grant Mechanism Regular Research Grant; Principal Investigator Elson Paiva de Oliveira (UNICAMP); Investment R$175,109.95 © Revista Pesquisa FAPESP - All rights reserved Hundreds of thousands of people in Belgrade have attended the funeral of Serbian Orthodox Patriarch Pavle Church elders in white robes flanked Pavle's body in an open casket covered by a gold-embroidered green cloth Mourners from across Serbia lined the streets of the capital along the route to the patriarch's final resting place in the suburban Rakovica monastery and was credited with reviving the fortunes of the Church since taking over in 1990 and leading it through the period of the bloody Balkan wars His 19 years as Serbian Orthodox leader also saw the demise of communism and secession of Kosovo from Serbia What are these? Fifteen photographs by Observer photographer Jane Bown are to go on display at the National Portrait Gallery in London The display includes her 1995 portrait of singer Bjork to celebrate Bown's 60-year relationship with the newspaper will include her iconic 1981 study of writer Samuel Beckett Bown's 1949 portrait of portrait of Bertrand Russell was her first to be published in The Observer Bown worked almost exclusively in black and white using natural light Her subjects include a number of high-profile celebrities and artists Rolling Stone frontman Mick Jagger was photographed by Bown in 1977 Bown's portrait of designer Dame Vivienne Westwood is also on show at the free exhibition which opens at the National Portrait Gallery on 1 December 2009 The smoke plume from the blaze at a waste recycling plant near Doncaster was said to be visible for 20 miles (32km) The fire service said they expected to be at the scene for days There are thousands of tyres at the quarry site Firefighters are using water from nearby ponds to tackle the flames The fire is at Hazel Lane Quarry near Doncaster The funeral of "Busby Babe" Albert Scanlon took place in Weaste Sir Bobby Charlton led the tributes to his former team-mate Sir Bobby passed on good wishes from everyone at Manchester United to Albert Scanlon's family Denis Law was among the Manchester United legends who attended the service Crowds lined up outside Old Trafford to pay their respects to the former winger Albert Scanlon (10 October 1935 - 22 December 2009) The fire started as the Balmoral Pub was closing for the night Firefighters used angle grinders to gain access at the rear of the building Firefighters used a turntable ladder to rescue people from flats above the blazing pub The fire was attended by about 70 firefighters using 16 fire engines at its peak More than 20 people were rescued by firefighters as the blaze took hold Scotland fans in good spirits before the Six Nations match with Wales at the Millennium Stadium Thousands made the long trip to Cardiff for the rugby weekend Fans gathering outside the Millennium Stadium ahead of what proved to be a dramatic encounter Scotland would make a fine start to the game but Wales would finish strongly and earn a last gasp victory A young Wales supporter looking forward to the match at the Millennium Stadium Dejected Scotland fans digest the late drama which saw Wales win in the final moments A lonely feeling - a Scottish fan contemplates the 31-24 defeat with the outcome hinging on the last two minutes Photographs by Paul Ellis/Getty and David Jones/Press Association