A closer look

Earth’s chaotic infancy wasn't just an endless sea of molten lava waiting billions of years to chill out. Tiny, indestructible zircon crystals found in Australia’s Jack Hills act as geological time capsules, holding trapped uranium and lead isotopes that date back 4.4 billion years. Even crazier, their oxygen isotopes reveal they crystallized in the presence of liquid water, meaning Earth formed oceans almost immediately after its violent birth.