Early Earth was hit by objects over 600 miles in diameter capable of “global sterilization” and “ocean vaporization,” wrote the authors of a new study. (Photo credit: Simone Marchi)

The durable mineral zircon is the oldest known stuff in our Earth’s crust. It is formed only under extreme temperatures and is difficult to destroy, but until now we’ve never figured out exactly how it is made.

A newly published model of early Earth, out July 30 in Nature, may have stumbled upon the answer.

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