Scientists Studying 3.2 Billion-Year-Old Rock In Australia Found Links To The Book Of Genesis

Australia may be full of many wonders, but the Pilbara region definitely stands out among them all. This area in Western Australia is not only packed with unusual and one-off wildlife and greenery, but it’s also home to a whole host of astonishing geological features. The eye-catching rock formations in the Pilbara have even given scientists crucial insights into the beginning of the world. And, incredibly, one of those discoveries suggests there’s some scientific basis for the events mentioned in the biblical Book of Genesis.

The Pilbara region

Sprawling over more than 193,000 square miles, the Pilbara region is double the area of the entire United Kingdom and as big as the northeastern United States. And given the sheer size of the landscape, it’s perhaps no surprise that environments there are varied, ranging from dry and desert-like to tropical.

Natural diversity

But there’s something for everyone in the region – from beautiful sandy beaches and secluded islets to rocky gorges, plunge pools and mountains. And the incredible natural wonders don’t end there. Rare animals such as the Pilbara leaf-nosed bat and the olive python are also to be found in this part of the world.

Rock carvings

There’s also a more than 30,000-year history of human habitation in the Pilbara, with its one million rock carvings all acting as evidence that ancient peoples once lived and thrived there. Given the remarkable flora and fauna in the area, though, you may be surprised to learn that the Pilbara is also seen as “the engine room of Australia.”

The engine room

How did the region earn that moniker? Well, it appears that the landscape is bursting with natural resources – some of which are typically used within industry. Mining operations have found iron ore, natural gas, gold and base metals, for example, among the rocks there.

Mining history

Yet the history of mining in the Pilbara goes back just a few decades, to the 1960s. And there has been extraction in particular of iron ore, with some six million tons of the metal having been found in the region. In 2014 the Pilbara was said to be responsible for an amazing 95 percent of Australia’s iron ore production, in fact.

Not the first inhabitants

Owing in part to this extraction work, the Pilbara is home to around 60,000 inhabitants – most of whom live in the western third of the region. Many of the various mines, towns and commercial districts are also located in the vicinity. And while this era of human habitation is essentially modern – even industrial – the area has an ancient history that we’re still discovering today.

Early fossils

Indeed, while humans may have lived in the Pilbara for tens of thousands of years, the region itself has existed for far longer than that. And it not only plays home to some of the first rocks to have formed on the planet, but also fossils from the earliest lifeforms. These relics from a bygone age include remnants of sulfur-eating bacteria and stromatolites created by tiny microbes. If there was going to be a place on Earth that would link up with the very first story in the Bible, it would be here!

Incredible rocks

You see, the Pilbara has a remarkably uncommon geological makeup. Rock formations such as those found in Western Australia are only seen in one other place on Earth: South Africa. And these incredibly rare arrangements actually date back to a time before tectonic plates began to create landforms in the way we see today. This makes areas of the rock here billions of years old.

Plate tectonics

Before we move on, though, let’s have a quick chat about plate tectonics. Essentially, movement of the enormous plates that glide across the Earth’s surface can create new landforms – either as the result of causing volcanic lava flow or by pushing rock upward when the plates crash into each other. Yet the Pilbara predates even this incredibly old process.

Volcanic formation

The formation of the Pilbara goes all the way back to the early days of Earth, in fact. At the time, the planet was incredibly hot, with temperatures high enough to melt rock. It’s thought that molten basalt and granite then sank and rose over the course of millions of years, with this process leaving a distinct mark on the region’s landscape.

Towering domes

When seen from above, the area is now dotted with telltale domes of rock – leftovers from that ancient activity. These mounds somehow survived the later tectonic plate movements and survive to this day. And as a result, a number of rocks in the Pilbara region have been dated to over three billion years old.

Landforms taking shape

Understandably, these age-old rock formations have proved popular among geologists and scientists. In particular, they’re of use for those trying to understand exactly when and how plate tectonics began shaping landforms. The theory of gravitational overturn in the Pilbara even came about as a result of research in the region.

Eyebrow-raising research

But there are certainly other findings to be made about the Pilbara. For instance, in March 2020 University of Colorado Boulder researchers Benjamin Johnson and Boswell Wing published a study in the journal Natural Geoscience that detailed some of their work in the region. And during the course of the duo’s investigations, they discovered some very interesting things indeed.

Chemical makeup

More specifically, Johnson and Wing decided to analyze the chemical composition of the ancient rock of the Pilbara, looking in depth at the levels of the isotopes oxygen-18 and oxygen-16 there. These elements can, it appears, tell us a lot about the formation of landmass.

Isotopes inside

The isotopes actually become trapped in the rock at the time of its formation, and their differing levels may give clues as to what the surrounding environment was like when that rock was created. For instance, lower amounts of oxygen-18 are a telltale sign that a landmass had appeared. Explaining this further, Wing was quoted in a March 2020 Daily Express article as saying, “When you form a soil, you form clays, and clays hoover up heavy oxygen.”

Testing samples

Soil and clay, of course, form on the ground, and therefore low levels of the heavier oxygen-18 can indicate the presence of land. Wing went on, “What you can tell from that is how much soil formation was going on.” So, given how old the Pilbara rocks are, the pair decided to test samples from the area for the two oxygen isotopes. And the results of this investigation may well surprise you.

Heaven and Earth

In total, Wing and Johnson analyzed over 100 rock samples from the Panorama region of the Pilbara. But while tests for levels of oxygen-18 and oxygen-16 should have revealed steady, consistent levels of these isotopes throughout the ages, these processes ultimately indicated something entirely different. And what the researchers discovered had implications not just for our understanding of the early Earth, but also of more heavenly considerations.

Higher levels

After looking at the samples, Wing and Johnson discovered that oxygen-18 isotopes existed at higher than expected levels in the Pilbara rocks — the difference was small but still significant. Why? Well, although the heavy compound is usually hoovered up by soil and clay-rich environments, that doesn’t appear to have happened in this area. In a March 2020 report by Sci-News.com, Wing is quoted as saying, “Though these mass differences seem small, the [isotopes] are super-sensitive.” Faced with these unusual levels, the researchers then came to a unique conclusion.

Ocean bed

Johnson and Wing theorized that these higher oxygen-18 levels suggested that no continents had existed at the time the isotope was trapped, over three billion years ago. This subsequently led them to assume that the world, without any landmass, was covered in an enormous ocean – meaning the Pilbara, in turn, was once an ancient ocean bed. And this links up with the Book of Genesis because of the order in which God is said to have created the world — water first, then land.

Water, water everywhere

And the evidence seemed to fit. Some of the examples of early life found in the Pilbara region are water-based, after all, while much of the landscape bears the scars of flowing liquid. “Today, there are these really scrubby and rolling hills that are cut through by dry river beds. It’s a crazy place,” Johnson said of the area, according to a March 2020 article by The Independent.

Origins of our world

Of course, the possibility of a world covered in water has implications not only for geologists, but also for theologians. And while those two groups may sound like curious bedfellows, they do actually have a few things in common. Both share an interest in the mechanics of the beginning of the world, for instance.

Tale of creation

For scientists, of course, the Big Bang and the evolution of the solar system are key. Theologians, on the other hand, are more typically concerned with the divine creation of Earth and everything on it – a process that is described in the Book of Genesis.

Six-day narrative

The Book of Genesis opens both the Old Testament and the Hebrew Bible. And, famously, it recounts a version of what is claimed to be the beginning of the world, which God apparently created in six days. Some aspects of the tale even seem to mirror Johnson and Wing’s theory.

Let dry ground appear

In particular, Genesis states, “And God said, ‘Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.’ And it was so.” The suggestion here is that at some point during the six-day creation period, Earth was covered in water – with no land in sight.

Some parallels

And this idea that the young planet contained nothing but water appears to parallel Johnson and Wing’s research. If their theories are correct, then, the Book of Genesis may actually have some basis in fact. Yet there is one small problem with the Bible-mirroring-life theory.

Three days?

According to the Book of Genesis, God creates the oceans and the land in around three days. For many biblical scholars, this event took place around 6,000 years ago. But, of course, the scientists studying the Pilbara have dated the rocks there to approximately 3.2 billion years ago – which makes for quite the disparity in time periods.

Different definitions

Still, there are those who don’t see this difference as anything to worry about. Indeed, some so-called Old Earth creationists believe that there’s a perfectly good explanation for this not-inconsiderable discrepancy. It’s all to do with the translation of the Hebrew word yom, meaning, among other things, “day.” Many readings of Genesis verses take that as a literal 24-hour time period.

Scriptural debates

By contrast, a number of Old Earth creationists translate the word to mean a time period with a definite duration – not necessarily a 24-hour cycle. This interpretation of yom does have precedent in Hebrew, but in this instance, members of the group have taken its definition a little further. And by a little, we mean so much further…

Really long days

For Old Earth Creationists, you see, a biblical day can last up to billions of years. This means that the time period in which God created the land could have lasted epochs. And given that we still don’t really know how, why or exactly when plate tectonics created the continents, it’s easy to see why this explanation appears so attractive to some. If it’s true, then the Bible may well describe the actual creation of the planet.

Pivotal findings

However, many geologists are excited by the findings for many different reasons. According to the Daily Express, Wing has said, “[These findings are] at the limit of the geological record. That’s why old rocks and the ancient Earth [are] so fun.” And there’s potential for the Pilbara rocks to teach us even more.

Getting real answers

Wing was quoted by Sci-News.com as saying, “Our findings could help scientists to better understand how and where single-cell organisms first emerged on Earth. The history of life on Earth tracks available niches. If you’ve got a waterworld, a world covered by ocean, then dry niches are just not going to be available.”

Micro-continents

So, to understand the journey of life on Earth, we need to discover when the planet finally spawned a landmass. According to Wing, though, his and Johnson’s theory doesn’t entirely rule out land altogether. “There’s nothing in what we’ve done that says you can’t have teeny micro-continents sticking out of the oceans,” he explained.

Filling the gap

Wing went on, “We just don’t think that there were global-scale formation of continental soils like we have today.” And now he and Johnson intend to study young rocks all over the world in an attempt to pinpoint the birth of tectonic plates. Indeed, Johnson was quoted by The Independent as saying, “Trying to fill that gap is very important.”

Heavy investments

Meanwhile, the Pilbara region itself is about to become part of Western Australia’s future in a big way. While the mining industry there still grows, the government is plowing over a billion dollars of investment into the area. And the plans in place are ambitious.

Boom towns

The authorities intend not only to boost infrastructure, but also the populations of two of the towns in the Pilbara to 50,000 people each. That’s a long way from the 60,000 or so current residents of the Pilbara’s three regions. Yet the ambitions for the historic area don’t end there – and they don’t all include mining, either.

Modernization

In essence, one of the aims of the project has been to “[transform] Pilbara mining communities into modern cities and towns.” To do that effectively, then, the government intends to concentrate on community projects, land development and economic diversification of the area. And the development of agriculture in the Pilbara seems to mark a move away from mining.

Farm expansion

In particular, a multi-million-dollar government investment saw abandoned mines being repurposed into new farmland. Land purchased around old operations has been used for growing animal fodder, making use of the excess water used in ore extraction. To date, three schemes of this type have been funded in the area.

More information needed

But those moving to the Pilbara over the next few years may well have no idea that they’re so close to some of the world’s oldest features. And while Johnson and Wing continue to search for answers, the region will always offer a window into a time before life as we know it took hold of the planet – either by way of divine intervention or nature itself.