They are described in a study published June 26 in the journal Science. Earth’s early days–and rocks. Earth was a ball of molten lava when it first formed about 4.5 billion years ago.

Item 1 of 3 An outcrop of meta gabbroic rocks from the Nuvvuagittuq greenstone belt in Nunavik, Quebec, Canada, that are 4.16 billion years old, in this photograph released on June 26, 2025.

Geological evidence of the transition when Earth was plunged into a planetary-wide deep-freeze discovered in ancient Scottish rocks. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an ...