Ancient rocks with the oldest evidence of magnetic field of the Earth have been found in Greenland

May 8, 2024 #Bank_PO, #BPSC, #Current_Affairs, #DSSSB, #Railway, #WBPSC

Ancient rocks with the oldest evidence of magnetic field of the Earth have been found in Greenland.
These rocks have been discovered by geologists at MIT and Oxford University.
The researchers found that the age of rocks is nearly 3.7 billion years.
Their magnetic field had a minimum strength of 15 microtesla.
There is evidence from earlier research that the magnetic field on Earth is at least 3.5 billion years old.
The lifetime of the magnetic field is being extended by an additional 200 million years by the current study.
The magnetic field might have been essential to bringing about the habitability of Earth.
The early magnetic field was powerful enough to hold onto a climate that supported life.
It was powerful enough to prevent harmful solar radiation from reaching the Earth
The team took samples from rock formations in southwest Greenland’s Isua Supracrustal Belt.
They discovered that some of the magnetized minerals were probably roughly 3.7 billion years old based on the uranium to lead ratio.
The Earth’s magnetic field is currently about 30 microtesla.