Thread Rating:
  • 0 Vote(s) - 0 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5

Meteorite study suggests Earth has always been wet

#1
C C Offline
https://www.upi.com/Science_News/2020/08...598637335/

RELEASE: For decades, planetary scientists have been operating under the assumption that Earth was born dry, its water arriving only later, delivered via comets and asteroids. But in a new study, published Friday in the journal Science, researchers argue Earth was always wet, formed by waterlogged building blocks. The proof: a collection of meteorites called enstatite chondrites.

"[Enstatite chondrites] are rocky meteorites made mostly of silicate, metal and sulfides," lead study author Laurette Piani told UPI in an email. "They have a very peculiar mineralogy with phases such as calcium- or magnesium-sulfides, nitrides, and silicide that are almost nonexistent on Earth, although their isotope compositions of many elements indicate a clear link with the Earth building blocks," said Piani, a researcher at the University of Lorraine in France.

Because enstatite chondrites are delicate and reactive, they are easily transformed beyond recognition. Pristine enstatite chondrites, unmarred by collision, are especially rare. But most scientists agree that these rocks were the primary building blocks for early Earth. "Chondrules are among the most abundant constituents of primitive meteorites and are among the first solids to form in the solar system," Piani.

Because enstatite chondrites formed in the inner solar system, so close to the sun's extreme heat, scientists have long assumed that these rocky meteorites were dry, totally devoid of hydrogen. However, when Piani and her research partners surveyed enstatite chondrites using a pair of advanced imaging and isotopic analysis techniques, they not only found evidence that hydrogen is abundant in portions of the primitive rocks, but that their ratios of hydrogen and nitrogen isotopes are similar to those found on Earth.

"We found that a part of the hydrogen is present dissolved in the silicate glass of chondrules," Piani said. "Chondrules are among the most abundant constituents of primitive meteorites and are among the first solids to form in the solar system."

Their findings suggest Earth's building blocks were the opposite of dry. "We propose in the paper that the water present in the Earth's mantle was directly inherited from enstatite chondrite-like material and present from the beginning of the Earth formation, while the surficial water, or oceans, could be made out of about 95 percent of EC-like material and 5 percent of hydrated asteroids."

In follow-up studies, researchers hope to figure out how enstatite chondrites came to host so many volatile elements.
Reply


Possibly Related Threads…
Thread Author Replies Views Last Post
  Article 'Snowball Earth' may not have been an endless frozen wasteland after all C C 0 84 Apr 5, 2023 02:04 PM
Last Post: C C
  Study suggests La Niña winters could keep on coming (geophysics) C C 0 137 Oct 4, 2022 04:02 AM
Last Post: C C
  What created the continents? New study points to giant meteorite impacts C C 0 128 Aug 10, 2022 09:35 PM
Last Post: C C
  Wild new paper suggests Earth's tectonic activity has sources in space C C 0 62 Jan 27, 2022 06:33 PM
Last Post: C C
  Martian meteorite’s "life signs" not biological, formed by geochemical interactions C C 0 64 Jan 15, 2022 02:22 AM
Last Post: C C
  The mystery boom noise has been heard once again in San Diego C C 1 96 Mar 16, 2021 10:21 PM
Last Post: Zinjanthropos
  The plastic ‘missing’ from our oceans has been found C C 1 149 Mar 14, 2020 06:19 PM
Last Post: Zinjanthropos
  Meteorite grains older than solar system + Giant meteorite struck 800k yrs ago C C 0 186 Jan 14, 2020 01:36 AM
Last Post: C C
  Ancient Earth: Why formamide may have been early life’s alternative to water C C 0 364 Apr 28, 2018 09:22 PM
Last Post: C C
  Serpentine rock + Frankenturtles released into Chesapeake Bay + New type meteorite C C 0 457 Jun 19, 2016 02:58 PM
Last Post: C C



Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)