ESA
A new study, conducted by scientists at Oxford University, undermines popular theory that water on Earth originated in asteroids that bombarded its surface, and suggests that water on Earth is native – is a natural result of what our planet is made.
A team of researchers from Oxford University discovered crucial evidence from Origin of water on the earth.
Using a rare type of meteorite, known as Condrito Enstatitewhich has a composition analogous to that of the primitive land (4.55 billion years ago), discovered a hydrogen source which would have been fundamental for the formation of water molecules.
The most important thing is that they demonstrated that the hydrogen present in this material was intrinsic, and not from contaminationexplains the.
The results of the, published at the beginning of the month in the magazine Icarusthey suggest that the material from which our planet was built was much richer in hydrogen than previously thought.
Unintendeda fundamental element for the construction of water, would have been Impossible for our planet develop the conditions to support life.
The origin of hydrogen and, by extension, of water on Earth has been highly debated, with many scientists believing that the necessary hydrogen was (E) during the first about 100 million years of Earth.
But these new discoveries contradict this theory, suggesting that the earth had the hydrogen needed to create water since its formation initial.
The investigators team analyzed the elementary composition of a meteorite known as LAR 12252originally collected in Antarctica.
Used an elementary analysis technique called X -ray absorption conceoscopy with a structure near the edge (XANES) no sincrotrão Diamond Light Source em Harwell, Oxfordshire.
An earlier driven by a French team had originally identified Traces of hydrogen in the meteorite within organic materials and non -crystalline parts of cannon (spherical objects of millimeter size within the meteorite).
However, The rest was not accounted for – Which means it was unclear whether hydrogen was native or due to earthly contamination.
Oxford’s team suspected that significant amounts of hydrogen could be linked to the abundant sulfur of the meteorite. Using the synchrother, they launched a powerful x -ray beam on the structure of the meteorite to look for sulfur compounds.
In initially analyzing the sample, the team concentrated their efforts on the non -crystalline parts of the collapse, where hydrogen had been found earlier.
But By analyzing, by chance, the material Outside of one of these cannons, consisting of an extremely thin (sub-micrometric) material matrix, the team found that The matrix itself was incredibly rich in hydrogen sulfide. In fact, its analysis revealed that the amount of hydrogen in the matrix was five times higher than the non -crystalline sections.
In contrast, in other parts of the meteorite, with cracks and signs of obvious terrestrial contamination (such as rust), there was very little or none Hydrogen present.
This makes highly unlikely that the compounds of hydrogen sulfide detected by the team have originated in a terrestrial source.
Since Proto-Earth was made of material similar to condrites, this suggests that at the time the planet in formation became large enough to be hit by asteroids, would have already accumulated sufficient hydrogen reserves To explain the abundance of water that the earth has currently.
“We were incredibly enthusiastic When the analysis told us that the sample contained hydrogen sulfide – but not where we expected! ” Tom Barrettresearcher at the Department of Earth Sciences at Oxford University, which led the study.
“How the probability of this hydrogen sulfide had originated in terrestrial contamination It’s very lowthis investigation provides vital evidence to support the theory that Water on Earth is native – which is a natural result of what our planet is made, ”concludes Barret.
