Scientists Discover Cosmic Clock in Zircon Crystals That Tracks Earth’s Landscape History
Scientists have identified a natural “cosmic clock” inside zircon crystals that can date Earth’s surface processes over millions of years. By measuring cosmogenic krypton created by cosmic rays, researchers reconstructed erosion rates in southern Australia, revealing an exceptionally stable landscape shaped slowly over 40 million years and explaining the region’s zircon-rich sands.
