Yellowknife (Aug 04/06) -A little piece of the NWT is helping Afghan geologists rebuild their people's interest in earth sciences.

In April, the NWT Northern Geoscience Centre in Yellowknife received a request from Brian Jackson who is working with the British Geological Survey.

Geologist Hendrik Falck, from the NWT Geoscience Centre in Yellowknife, holds a piece of Acasta gneiss from the NWT, the oldest kind of rock found in the world. - Jessica Gray/NNSL photo

Jackson is also the head of Mineralogy for the National Museums of Scotland.

The British Survey is partnered with the Afghan Geological Survey, which is trying to modernize the Geological Museum in Kabul, Afghanistan.

To do this, Jackson wanted rocks from the NWT, which are the oldest found on the planet according to outreach geologist Donna Schreiner.

"The rocks are about four-billion-years-old," said Schreiner.

But it's more than just modernizing a museum.

In an email to the centre, Jackson wrote, "Rebuilding war torn Afghanistan is a big job and helping the museum get back on its feet will be a significant step in reintroducing the Afghan people to geology."

The oldest rocks in the world are called Acasta gneiss and are found about 300 km North of Yellowknife on an island in the Acasta River.

Geologist Hendrik Falck said he receives 30 to 40 requests for samples from the NWT in a year.

"Acasta gneiss is so old, that's what makes it unique," said Falck, explaining why researchers are so interested in samples from the NWT.

What did surprise Falck was the sample's destination.

"I was somewhat surprised where it was going," he said.

Falck and Schreiner sent Jackson a five-pound sample of Acasta Gneiss and a similar sample of another rock unique to the North, kimberlite.

Geologists with the centre have sent samples from the North worldwide, to support research and geological education. The centre also supports field research projects in the NWT.