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Where did the water on Earth come from? Scientists make a major breakthrough as they discover that our planet was completely DRY when it formed
- Scientists claim that the Earth was created from dry, rocky building blocks
- This suggests that the water must have arrived late in the planet’s formation
Although 71 percent of the Earth’s surface is covered by water, an important question remains: Where did this water come from in the first place?
Scientists have come up with a number of theories over the years, ranging from water arriving on asteroids to Earth producing its earliest water itself.
Now scientists at the California Institute of Technology have taken a big step toward solving the mystery.
The researchers argue that Earth was formed from dry, rocky building blocks, indicating that the water must have arrived late in the history of the planet’s formation.
“A major addition of volatiles essential to life, including water, occurred only during the last 15 percent (or less) of Earth’s formation,” the team said.
Although 71 percent of the Earth’s surface is covered by water, an important question remains: Where did this water come from in the first place?
Earth dates back to about 4.5 billion years ago, and scientists are still trying to understand the processes by which our planet formed.
One of the easiest ways for researchers to explore this formation is to examine the magmas that flow deep into the Earth’s interior.
While we can’t easily venture deep into our planet, the magmas deep within the Earth eventually find their way to the surface, in the form of lava.
“The parent magmas of these lavas may come from different depths within the Earth, such as the upper mantle, which begins about 15 kilometers [nine miles] below the surface and extends for about 680 kilometers [422 miles]; or the lower mantle, which extends from a depth of 680 kilometers [422 miles] all the way to the core-mantle boundary at about 2,900 kilometers [1,800 miles] under our feet,” the researchers explain in a statement.
“Like tasting different layers of a cake — the frosting, the filling, the sponge — scientists can study magmas that come from different depths to understand the different “flavors” of the Earth’s layers: the chemicals contained in them. encountered and their relationship to each other. ‘
The Earth did not form immediately, but instead coalesced as materials coalesced over time.
This means that the lower mantle and the upper mantle may provide different clues about what happened during the formation of the Earth.
In the new study, the team found a lack of volatiles — chemicals that can easily evaporate, including water — deep within the planet.
The researchers suggest that Earth formed from hot, dry, rocky materials and that water came to our planet later (artistic impression)
However, the upper mantle turned out to be rich in volatiles.
This suggests that Earth formed from hot, dry, rocky materials and that water came to our planet later, the team said.
The researchers hope the findings will help unravel the mystery of how Earth — as well as the other rocky planets in our solar system — formed.
“Space exploration to the outer planets is very important because a water world is probably the best place to look for extraterrestrial life,” said Dr Francois Tissot, who led the study.
“But the inner solar system should not be forgotten. There hasn’t been a mission to touch the surface of Venus in nearly 40 years, and there’s never been a mission to the surface of Mercury.
“We need to be able to study those worlds to better understand how terrestrial planets like Earth formed.”