You may have seen some variation of the following meme making the rounds on social media:
the appalachian mountains are older than saturn’s rings. the appalachian mountains are older than dinosaurs. the appalachian mountains are older than trees. the appalachian mountains are literally older than BONES. the appalachian mountains should be regarded with pure terror.
@bookishseawitch
The geology of the Appalachians dates back to more than 480 million years ago.
Let’s look at how that compares to some of the meme’s other statements:
The Appalachian mountains are older than Saturn’s rings.
Data collected by NASA’s Cassini probe shows Saturn’s rings are likely only 10 to 100 million years old.
True ✓
The Appalachian mountains are older than dinosaurs.
The earliest dinosaur fossils are 228 million years old.
True ✓
The Appalachian mountains are older than trees.
The first tree-like plants appear in the fossil record 360-300 million years ago.
True ✓
The Appalachian mountains are literally older than BONES.
The oldest evidence of bone is found in 400 million-year-old fossils of ancient fish called heterostracan.
True ✓
The Appalachian mountains should be regarded with pure terror.
There is a fine line between awe and terror…
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