Glacially carved lake valley on Baffin Island.Jason Briner
Scientists have found what they call hints of the earth's original recipe in an outcrop of rocks along a remote coast of Baffin Island.
The chemical composition of the Arctic rocks hasn't changed in 4.5 billion years, which makes it about the same age as the earth itself.
Researchers say that gives them their first real look at the planet's original make-up.
Previously, scientists based such theories on meteorites, which are assumed to have roughly the same composition as the early earth.
But the geologist behind the new research says differences between the Baffin Island rocks and meteorites suggests that theory will have to change.