Last Updated: Earth's Crust Emerged 500 Million Years Earlier Than Previously Thought, Research Uncovers Scientists have devised new way to date ancient chunks of crust and as per their research, the age of the continents have been misjudged by half a billion years Image: Unsplash Earth’s continental crust may have emerged 3.7 billion years earlier than scientists had previously estimated. A team of scientists has devised a new way to date ancient chunks of crust and according to their latest research, the age of the continents have been misjudged by half a billion years. A research presented at the virtual European Geosciences Union (EGU) General Assembly 2021 conference, the team showed that by analyzing a mineral called barite, which is a combination of ocean salts and barium released by volcanic ocean vents, they found evidence that Earth’s continental crust was around at least 3.7 billion years ago, much older than previous estimates.