Oldest natural creations still intact

The oldest parts of Earth testify to a living world that has been moving and taking shape for eons. Check out some of the oldest natural creations:

Oldest Water - 2.6 bn years

Two miles down a Canadian mine sits what used to be a prehistoric ocean floor. There, scientists tested a water pocket and found it to be the oldest H2O still on the planet. It even predates the development of multicellular life


Mount Roraima - 2 bn years

This mountain in Venezuela was first brought to attention in 1596 by Sir Walter Raleigh while travelling to Guyana in search of the mythical city of El Dorado. Roraima is listed among the most ancient formations in the world


Reefs - 548 mn years

The oldest reef is a massive network spanning 7 km and is in Africa. The first creatures to have skeletons, Cloudina are the suspected master builders behind this natural wonder in Namibia


Desert - 55 mn years

The Namib desert is officially the world’s oldest heap of sand. It is home to the Welwitschia plant, some of which are 2,500 years old. Its origins reach back to the continental split of West Gondwana that happened 145 million years ago


Oceanic Crust - 340 mn years

A portion in the Mediterranean Sea escaped the normal geological recycling. When researchers examined the eastern Mediterranean-time stamps, rocks in the Herodotus Basin matched magnetic alignments of 340 million years ago