Starling murmuration over the ruins of Brighton's West Pier, England

Rust meets rush. Starling murmuration over the ruins of Brighton's West Pier, England

Today is a day that puts time into perspective. Old Rock Day highlights the vast geological processes that have shaped our world since its earliest eras. In Arches National Park, Utah, United States, Turret Arch—seen through North Window—offers a striking reminder: landscapes can take hundreds of millions of years to assemble. The Entrada Sandstone that forms these arches began as shifting dunes and shallow seas long before erosion carved today's shapes. Even so, these formations are relatively young. Most rocks on Earth disappear over time because plate tectonics, erosion and volcanism continually recycle the crust. Only the planet's ancient continental shields preserve truly old material. Canada's Acasta Gneiss, about 4 billion years old, is the oldest known rock still rooted where it formed.

Old Rock Day also remembers the pioneers of geology. Theophrastus and Pliny the Elder recorded early mineral studies, while Ulisse Aldrovandi helped establish the term 'geology' in 1603. One hundred fifty years later, William Smith drew the first geological map. And in 1785, James Hutton revealed the Earth's immense age, providing insights that continue to shape our understanding of the ground beneath our feet.