Sep 9, 2025 08:26 PM
(This post was last modified: Sep 9, 2025 08:26 PM by C C.)
https://www.universetoday.com/articles/l...from-space
EXCERPTS: . . . these elements were not incorporated into the solid rocky materials from which the inner planets formed. Only celestial bodies that formed farther from the Sun retained the substances essential to life, which raises questions about how and when they were introduced to Earth. In a new study, researchers from the University of Bern showed for the first time how the chemical composition of primordial Earth was complete three million years after it formed (ca. 4.5 billion years ago). Their results imply that the ingredients for life (water, carbon compounds, sulfur, etc.) were introduced later, likely by an impact.
The study was conducted by Pascal Maurice Kruttasch and Klaus Mesger, a postdoctoral researcher and a Professor Emeritus of Geochemistry (respectively) with the Institute of Geological Sciences (GEO) at the University of Bern. Mesger is also a member of the scientific committee that oversees Bern's Center for Space and Habitability (CSH). Their study, which was part of Kruttasch's dissertation at GEO, was published on August 1st in Science Advances.
[...] These results support the Giant Impact Hypothesis, which states that the Earth-Moon system formed due to a massive impact ca. 4.5 billion years ago between primordial Earth and a Mars-sized object (Theia). It is further theorized that Theia formed farther out in the Solar System, and its composition would include more volatile elements, including water. In effect, the team's analysis indicates that primordial Earth was a dry, rocky planet, and its collision with Theia introduced all of the elements that made life possible here.
Their findings also contribute significantly to our understanding of the processes at work in the early Solar System and provide clues about how and when life emerged. They could also be significant in the search for life beyond Earth (astrobiology) and determining whether rocky planets orbiting closer to their Suns could possess the ingredients necessary for life. The next step, says Kruttasch, is to investigate the collision event in more detail, which will likely involve computer modelling and simulations... (MORE - missing details)
EXCERPTS: . . . these elements were not incorporated into the solid rocky materials from which the inner planets formed. Only celestial bodies that formed farther from the Sun retained the substances essential to life, which raises questions about how and when they were introduced to Earth. In a new study, researchers from the University of Bern showed for the first time how the chemical composition of primordial Earth was complete three million years after it formed (ca. 4.5 billion years ago). Their results imply that the ingredients for life (water, carbon compounds, sulfur, etc.) were introduced later, likely by an impact.
The study was conducted by Pascal Maurice Kruttasch and Klaus Mesger, a postdoctoral researcher and a Professor Emeritus of Geochemistry (respectively) with the Institute of Geological Sciences (GEO) at the University of Bern. Mesger is also a member of the scientific committee that oversees Bern's Center for Space and Habitability (CSH). Their study, which was part of Kruttasch's dissertation at GEO, was published on August 1st in Science Advances.
[...] These results support the Giant Impact Hypothesis, which states that the Earth-Moon system formed due to a massive impact ca. 4.5 billion years ago between primordial Earth and a Mars-sized object (Theia). It is further theorized that Theia formed farther out in the Solar System, and its composition would include more volatile elements, including water. In effect, the team's analysis indicates that primordial Earth was a dry, rocky planet, and its collision with Theia introduced all of the elements that made life possible here.
Their findings also contribute significantly to our understanding of the processes at work in the early Solar System and provide clues about how and when life emerged. They could also be significant in the search for life beyond Earth (astrobiology) and determining whether rocky planets orbiting closer to their Suns could possess the ingredients necessary for life. The next step, says Kruttasch, is to investigate the collision event in more detail, which will likely involve computer modelling and simulations... (MORE - missing details)