Frontiers Lecture Series 
Zircons as a Window into the Very Early History of the Earth
Professor Bruce Watson
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The Reception is for Dr. Watson and to recognize the retirements of Wally Bothner (January) and Frank Birch (May), which will be held at the Three Chimney's Inn directly after the lecture.
All are invited to attend
ABSTRACT:
The Hadean Eon, the time since Earth's formation to about 3.8 billion years ago, is widely regarded as the most geodynamically vigorous period in the history of our planet. It has been variously inferred that during this time Earth collided with a Mars-sized- object, formed a deep magma ocean, grew the first continents, suffered withering bombardment, and witnessed the emergence of life. It is also possible and consistent with the limited geochemical record from these earliest times that the importance of these events has been overestimated. The difficulty is that we have no rock record from this interval with which to learn about these processes: the oldest firmly dated terrestrial rock is only 4.06 billion years old. A summary will be provided of the evidence gleaned recently from ancient minerals - zircons formed within the first few hundred million years of Earth's formation from Western Australia- supporting the view that continental crust was already fully developed, plate tectonic-style recycling in full swing, and (possibly) liquid water at or near the Earth's surface, a condition that may bear on the development of habitable conditions on earliest Earth.
BIO:
Prof. Watson received his B.A. in Geology from UNH and his Ph.D. from MIT. After a postdoctoral fellowship at the Carnegie Institute of Washington, Watson joined the faculty at RPI, where he now holds the title of Institute Professor of Science. Watson's scholarship has been recognized with numerous honors, including a NSF Presidential Young Investgator award, top awards from the Geochemical Society, American Geophysical Union and geological Society of America and selection as fellow of the National Academy of Sciences.