Researchers at the University of Lorraine in Nancy, France, have been able to more accurately pinpoint the place in geologic time when a massive impact disrupted the rock that formed Earth's moon by studying isotopes trapped inside ancient quartz crystals.  

The formation of Earth and the collision that caused the moon happened about 60 million years earlier than previously believed, according to a University of Lorraine press release.

Figuring out Earth's exact age isn't easy, since studying the planet's earliest rock layers using "classical geology" clues, like a missing layer of rock, does very little to assist researchers.

Scientists can recalibrate their traditional dating techniques and come to a more accurate estimate of Earth's age and major geological events by comparing isotopes of long ago to today's.

"The composition of the gases we are looking at changes according to the conditions they are found in -- which of course depend on the major events in Earth's history," said geochemist Guillaume Avice, according to the release.

Avice joined Bernard Marty to explain their research at the Goldschmidt Geochemistry Conference in Sacramento, California, on June 10.

"We are using standard methods to compute the age of Earth, but having access to these ancient samples gives us new data and allows us to refine the measurement," Avice added.

Marty said that while 60 million years doesn't seem like a long period in cosmic time, the discrepancy is important.

"These differences set time boundaries on how the planets evolved, especially through the major collisions in deep time which shaped the solar system," Marty added, according to the release.

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