Meteorite Study Suggests Earth May Have Been Wet Since It Formed

nickwinlund77 shares a report from Phys.Org: A new study finds that Earth's water may have come from materials that were present in the inner solar system at the time the planet formed -- instead of far-reaching comets or asteroids delivering such water. The findings published Aug. 28 in Science suggest that Earth may have always been wet.

Researchers from the Centre de Recherches Petrographiques et Geochimiques (CRPG, CNRS/Universite de Lorraine) in Nancy, France, including one who is now a postdoctoral fellow at Washington University in St. Louis, determined that a type of meteorite called an enstatite chondrite contains sufficient hydrogen to deliver at least three times the amount of water contained in the Earth's oceans, and probably much more. Enstatite chondrites are entirely composed of material from the inner solar system -- essentially the same stuff that made up the Earth originally. "Our discovery shows that the Earth's building blocks might have significantly contributed to the Earth's water," said lead author Laurette Piani, a researcher at CPRG. "Hydrogen-bearing material was present in the inner solar system at the time of the rocky planet formation, even though the temperatures were too high for water to condense."

Neon

[ShanghaiBill]

Most scientists believe that Earth lost her water during the collision with Theia [wikipedia.org], and then later gained water again from comets and asteroid impacts.

A strong piece of evidence for this is the near-total absence of Neon on Earth. Neon is common in the Universe and in the rest of the Solar System. But if the post-collision Earth was too hot to hold onto Neon (atomic weight: 20) it would have also been too hot to hold onto water (molecular weight: 18). Ergo, the water came later.

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[tonique]

Boiling point of lithium is 1600 K, which is considerably more than that of neon or water. Lithium would have been vaporised in the collision but would have condensed fast.

Re:Neon

[Sique]

As Neon is lighter than N2, it would also today go up into the atmosphere and leave Earth, not as fast as Helium though, but after 4.5 billion years, there is not much Neon left. So I doubt the "Neon mainly got lost in the Theia impact" hypothesis a little. Additionally, in the heat as strong as after a strike with a planet the size of Mars, not many molecules would be left, the atmosphere would probably turn into a plasma. But apparently, Earth didn't lose its Nitrogen during the event, though atomic Nitrogen is even lighter than Neon.

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[ShanghaiBill]

But apparently, Earth didn't lose its Nitrogen during the event

Maybe it did. Nitrogen is rare on Earth. We only think it is common because we are surrounded by it, but the atmosphere is just a tiny wisp when compared to the bulk of the planet. Oxygen also exists in the atmosphere, but 99.99% of it is in the oceans and lithosphere. But with nitrogen, the atmosphere is almost all there is.

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[Sique]

While in the Solar System, the relative content of Neon (3.4 * 10^6) is about equal to Nitrogen (3.7 * 10^6), on Earth, it's not (5.0 * 10^-3 vs. 3.0 * 10^2). If Neon were lost on Earth mainly in a single event, when Nitrogen would also be lost, then they should remain about equal. But Earth has only about one hundred thousandst of Neon compared to Nitrogen, which points to a process that loses Neon with much higher probability than Nitrogen, and that would happen if the temperature on Earth was low enough

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[tragedy]

Nitrogen might be quite reactive compared to Helium and Neon and other noble gases, but I don;t think you can really consider it "quite reactive" in an objective sense.

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[tragedy]

For industrial purposes nitrogen is frequently used as an "inert" gas. Nitrogen fixation is tricky enough biologically that plants leave it to symbiotic relationship with bacteria. Still, there are compunds that nitrogen can form naturally in an atmosphere such as ammonia and nitrous oxide. Ammonia is lighter than air though. Nitrous oxides are heavier than air, but we're still talking about gases. In any case, in the scenario we're talking about, the atmosphere and the ground can be presumed to be very hot

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[Bengie]

Atomic Nitrogen is extremely reactive, right up with Oxygen and Florine. N2 a nitrogen compound and is very inert because of the strong triple bond.

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[Bengie]

Not criticizing, just trying to better understand, but wouldn't atomic nitrogen be almost impossible? Atomic nitrogen is extremely reactive and forms crazy strong bonds when it does react. Neon on the other hand is a noble gas and pretty much doesn't react with anything to form any molecules.

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[h33t l4x0r]

the near-total absence of Neon on Earth

Ok so explain my neighbors "Tig ol' Bitties" man-cave sign, smart guy.

Re: Neon

[aRTeeNLCH]

But if the post-collision Earth was too hot to hold onto Neon (atomic weight: 20) it would have also been too hot to hold onto water (molecular weight: 18). Ergo, the water came later.

Just from the atomic and molecular weight, the conclusion seems logical, until you realize that water has entirely different properties, not being inert, being a dipole, etcetera. If water has evaporated and blown off, you can (likely) make the conclusion that neon would also have, but the other way around is not a given.

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[RockDoctor]

Most scientists believe that Earth lost her water during the collision with Theia, and then later gained water again from comets and asteroid impacts.

That is one of the theories in consideration, but if you actually read the current science (drinking from the firehose, I know) you'll find that it's a lot further from a consensus than you imply.

Theia (or something similar) does appear a lot, but the details of the collision are much more unsure. Certainly, gravitational potential energy became heat, but whe

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[andyring]

Was going to post the same thing but you beat me to it.

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[dryeo]

Where's the turtle? My wives religion has a better story,

"the earth was the thought of [a ruler] of a great island which floats in space [and] is a place of eternal peace."[3] Sky Woman fell down to the earth when it was covered with water, or more specifically, when there was a "great cloud sea".[1] Various animals tried to swim to the bottom of the ocean to bring back dirt to create land. Muskrat succeeded in gathering dirt,[1] which was placed on the back of a turtle. This dirt began to multiply and also

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[TrumpShaker]

"In the beginning, Good always overpowered the evils of all man's sins... But in time The nations grew weak And our cities fell to slums While evil stood strong. In the dusts of hell Lurked the blackest of hates. For he whom they feared Awaited them... Now many many lifetimes later, lay destroyed, beaten, beaten down, Only the corpses of rebels Ashes of dreams And blood stained streets. It has been written "Those who have the youth Have the future" So come now, children of the beast Be strong And Shout at t

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[TrumpShaker]

Or did you mean Genesis? Maybe you should holler to your "Mama" cause you're "In Too Deep"? Your mind seems to be in "The Land of Confusion" and if you don't stop soon, you will be "Throwing it all away".

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[RockDoctor]

If I was looking for comment from a Bronze Age goat herder (if your claim of an accurate translation from the Hebrew were relevant, which it's not ; the original version was in Akkadian, a millennium or so before Hebrew became worth knowing to anyone), I'd look for their advice on the herding of goats, and possibly the breeding and cooking of goats.

Is your holy book useful for goat farming? Very important factor for God books, less relevant for the physical sciences.

Wet?

[nospam007]

Moist.

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[itiswhatitiwijgalt]

The sun really does it for her.

I knew it!

[quonset]

Mother Earth has been horny all along.

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[Bgward]

So Earth was a WAP (Wet Ass Planet) right from the start.

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[Quakeulf]

I knew someone would write it.

Ben Shaprio...

[brent_linux]

...says "No Thanks!" and boards a Falcon 9 to Mars.

well.....

[inerlogic]

i've certainly been.....

That slut!

[eggstasy]

Anything will get her wet! She's been wet since she was born!