What is the approximate age of earth?
Scientists believe that the Earth (and the Sun and the other planets in the solar system) is about 4.6 billion years old. This is really quite old! 4.6 billion is a VERY big number. For instance, if you started counting now and counted up as fast as you can without stopping for food or sleep or even a glass of water, it would take you about 44 years just to count to 4.6 billion! Sue Barns Life’s Big Questions, October 1994 At this point, what do you know about the composition of the rocks and soil on Mars? The first analysis of Martian soils took place over 20 years ago by Viking. Then the Pathfinder mission landed on Mars in 1997. Do you remember the vehicle called Sojourner which roamed the Martian surface and analyzed rocks called Scoobie Doo and Barnacle Bill? We have found that the rocks analyzed by Pathfinder contain a lot of an element called silicon. It has been suggested that rocks with high amounts of silicon are probably andesites. One way andesites can form is when liquid,
