Bedrock: Earth's Earliest History

What are the oldest disputed fossils on Earth? Why are they disputed? Today, we wrap up our tour of Nuvvuagittuq in northern Quebec, 3.8 billion years ago, March 3rd on the Earth Calendar. In 2017, microscopic rusty threads were discovered inside these rocks, thinner than a human hair. Were they bacteria, or something else entirely? Stay tuned to find out! Extra Credit: Learn how to make a chemical garden, or find a piece of chert, flint, jasper, agate, or onyx. Common Descent Interview: https://youtu.be/amQ9rntfKV0?feature=shared

Where does humanity get most of its' iron, and what do these rocks tell us about the ancient Earth? Today, we'll learn about banded iron formations, the backbone of the modern steel industry an important stop in the search for early life and oxygen, and a rock that is impossible to make today. It's rare to find a rock as important to both economics and research. Along the way, we'll take a breath of fresh air, meet orange pond scum in a forest stream, and find a dagger carved from a meteorite. Extra Credit: Find as many steel objects as possible around you, or search for bog iron in a local swamp.

What are Earth's oldest volcanic rocks, and how did they form? Today, we'll explore the seafloor 3.8 billion years ago through dark basalt rocks in Nuvvuagittuq, northern Quebec. Along the way, we'll earn a green belt in geology, rest our heads on volcanic pillows and journey to the deepest spot in the modern ocean. Extra Credit: Try to find dark black basalt in a building or countertop near you.

What's the next step after the oldest rock on Earth? Today, we'll move the story forward 200 million years and 1,000 miles. The time: 3.8 billion years ago... or maybe much older (March 3 on the Earth Calendar). The place: Nuvvuagittuq (noo-voo-ah-git-took), Quebec, Canada, in the lands of the Inuit. In this episode, we'll learn how this seaside outcrop was found and the ongoing debate about its' exact age. Depending on who you talk to, these are either the second-oldest rocks on Earth, or almost as old as the Earth itself.

If the sun was dimmer 4 billion years ago, how did the Earth stay warm? Today, we learn how just a small percent of Earth's atmosphere goes a long way in controlling global climate, both today and in the ancient past. Along the way, we'll visit an imaginary frozen Earth without any sun, a hazy giant moon of Saturn, and learn exactly what the greenhouse effect is. Extra credit: Visit a greenhouse, or find a cleaning product with ammonia.

How has the Sun changed over the past 4 billion years? While the Sun may seem unalterable, it has brightened dramatically over Earth's history, with major implications for our world. Today, we'll meet a team of women who catalogued thousands of stars in the 1800s, play in a galactic ball pit, and puzzle over a cosmic paradox alongside Carl Sagan. Extra Credit: Watch Cosmos (1980)

Is there any place today that resembles the Earth 4 billion years ago? Surprisingly, the answer is yes... ish. Today, we'll learn a secret recipe for continents, one that made the very oldest rocks on Earth and is still making the island of Iceland today. Along the way, we'll freeze a magma chamber solid, meet some politically contentious metals, and cross a real bridge from one tectonic plate to another.

Hi folks, Thanks for your patience- it's been a busy month for me. The next episode will be up on December 4, followed by a more regular schedule for the following weeks. In the meantime, I've updated Episodes 25 and 26, streamlining them to better flow into the next episode. This update also gives a brief explanation for why Bedrock has such large gaps. In short, the podcast is just one part of a busy academic and personal life, and there are times when it has to take a backseat. Your continued support means so much to me, especially during busier times. Thank you once again for listening, telling your friends, and reviewing the show. You'll hear more from me next month! All the best, Dylan

What did the oldest rock look like 4 billion years ago, before it was pressure-cooked? Today, we'll answer that question by melting chocolate chip ice cream, meeting one of granite's less famous cousins, and returning to our old friends: zircon crystals. Extra credit: Eat some ice cream, go on a skiing trip, or both!

How old is the oldest rock, where was it found, and what type of rock is it? To answer that question, we'll journey into Canada's Northwest Territories, deep underground to the breaking point of rocks, and we'll run into a shrimpy friend from Episode 10.

Welcome to Season 2 of Bedrock! This episode introduces Season 2's subject: the Eoarchean (ee-oh-ar-key-an) chapter of Earth's history. The Eoarchean lasted from 4 to 3.6 billion years ago, from February 15 to March 19 on the Earth Calendar. In future episodes, we'll meet Earth's oldest rocks, the Man in the Moon, and a faint young sun. Since this is our first big chapter break, we'll also learn how and why geologists split time into these chapters, including one of Canada's greatest scientists: Sir William E Logan.

Get caught up to speed on Season 1, a time known as The Hadean. The Hadean covers Earth's earliest days from 4.6 to 4 billion years ago, January 1 to Feb 14 on the Earth Calendar. This is a time of many firsts, including the formation of the Earth, Moon, oceans, islands, and perhaps life. Check out previous episodes for more details, like the women who mapped the Earth's inner core (6) and seafloor (11), the largest object to strike our planet (8), and our earliest ancestor (23).

Season 1 Finale. What was the first living thing on Earth, when did it live, and what did it do? Today, we end Season 1 by meeting LUCA, the oldest ancestor for every living thing on Earth today. On the way, we'll tackle how complex life formed in a chaotic universe and why it hasn't formed again, take a trip down life's family tree, and meet a deadly modern microbe- one of the closest relatives of the oldest living thing. Thank you all for listening to Season 1, and stay tuned for Season 2! Extra Credit: Take a look at family photos, or check your canned foods for botulism.

How and where did the first cells form on planet Earth, 4 billion years ago? To answer that question, we investigate why oil and water hate each other, explore the seafloor with the Titanic's discoverer, and take a relaxing dip inside a hot spring. Extra credit: drop some olive oil into water, or make a trip to the closest hot spring in your local area.

When did DNA show up in Earth's past, and how does it actually work today? In this episode, we brush up on biology, learning about DNA's hardworking but underrated sister RNA, how cells turn genetic code into meat, and inch closer to actual living things in the Hadean. Extra Credit: Help someone make a tasty dish in the kitchen today, or thank someone you think doesn't get enough credit for their work.

How did the Earth transform simple carbon into the complex ingredients of life? Today, we'll meet a troubled Charles Darwin hunting for fossils, we'll create slime from thin air in one of the greatest laboratory experiments, and we'll learn what was in Earth's earliest atmosphere. Extra Credit: Breathe in, breathe out, and have a sip of your favorite soup.

How did the ingredients of life arrive on Earth? Today, we look at how asteroids brought organic material from the depths of space to Earth's surface. On the way, we'll run into an old friend from Episode 4, meet an ancient Greek astronomer, and search for aliens hidden in Antarctic ice. Extra credit: Eat something with glutamic acid in it- meat, mushrooms, or soy sauce. Extra extra credit if you can have all three at once.

How were life’s ingredients assembled billions of years ago? Today, we journey to the deepest reaches of space to take the first steps from non-living molecules to life. On the way, we learn what it really means to be organic, how to break a rainbow, and what space smells like. Extra credit: Separate light using a prism, or cook a steak.

When did life begin on planet Earth? That's a big question to tackle, one that will take a few episodes to answer. Today, we start this new arc by introducing three key ingredients of life: proteins, carbohydrates, and fats. These three molecules can be found in the food we eat, our own bodies, and as we'll see in future episodes, in the voids between stars. Extra credit: Keep tabs on which foods you eat have more carbs, proteins, or fats. Make yourself a dish that has all three ingredients.

Miniseries Episode 7: The oldest rocks on Earth are hidden deep in the Canadian North, 4 billion years old. For our final stop of our tour, we sneak a peek at these and other rocks we'll meet soon in the main series, including reefs made from bacteria and mysterious stones hidden beneath Greenland's glaciers.