When the Earth first formed, it was too hot to hold ice. This means that all the water on Earth must have been born from extraterrestrial sources.
Research on ancient terrestrial rocks suggests that liquid water was present on Earth early in the formation of the sun.
Today, more than 4.5 billion years ago, this water is constantly being renewed through the Earth’s water cycle. My research team Recently I proposed a new theory To explain whether water first arrived on Earth.
The Mystery of Billions of Years
Astrophysicists have been working on the question of how water arrived on our young planet for decades. One of the earliest hypotheses suggests that Earth’s water is a direct byproduct of a layer of planets released via magma during volcanic eruptions where most of the fired gas is water vapor. did.
However, this hypothesis evolved in the 1990s following the discovery of its potential role with the analysis of Earth’s water composition. Ice Cometrefers to extraterrestrial origin.
Comets, a mixture of ice and rocks formed in far areas of the solar system, are sometimes ejected towards the sun. When it warms in the sun, they develop a shock of dust and gas that can be seen from the Earth. Asteroids located in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter were also proposed as potential progenitor cells of Earth’s water.
Metstone-mediated study of comets and asteroid rocks – small fragments of these bodies that fell on Earth – provide important insights.
By analysis D/H ratio – Percentage of deuterium (deuterium) to standard hydrogen – Scientists have found that Earth’s water is more closely matched with the water of “carbonaceous” asteroids with traces of water from the past. This shifted the focus of the research towards these asteroids.
Recent research focuses on identifying the heavenly mechanisms that were able to deliver these water-rich asteroids to the dry surfaces of early Earth. Many theories have emerged to explain the “perturbation” of planets – the large, icy body of asteroids and Kuyper’s belt.
These scenarios propose gravitational interactions with these objects removed and soar to the Earth. Such events require a complex “gravity billiards” process, suggesting a turbulent history of the solar system.
It is clear that the planetary layers are accompanied by significant upheavals and effects, but it is possible that Earth’s water delivery occurred in a more natural and less dramatic way.
A simpler hypothesis
I started by assuming that asteroids emerge like ice from cocos of layers, also known as protoplanetary discs. This coco is a huge, hydrogen-rich disk filled with dust, forming planets and early belts. It envelops the entire early planetary system.
When this protective coco dissipates millions of years later, the asteroid warms, melts the ice, and, more precisely, sublimates it. In a universe where pressure is near zero, after this process, water remains in the form of steam.
Next, a disk of water vapor is layered on the asteroid belt that orbits the Sun. As the ice sublimates, the disc is filled with steam and spreads inward towards the sun due to complex dynamic processes. Along the way, this steam disc encounters an inner planet and immerses in a kind of “bath.”
In a sense, the disc “waters” planets on earth: Mars, Earth, Venus, Mercury. Most of this water capture occurred during periods of 20-30 million years after the formation of the sun, when sunlight dramatically increased in a short period and the asteroid deaeration rate increased.
When water is captured by the planet’s gravitational pull, many processes can occur.
However, on Earth, protective mechanisms ensure that the total mass of water remains relatively constant from the end of the capture period until today. When water rises too much into the atmosphere, it condenses into clouds and eventually returns to its surface like rain, a process known as water circulation.
The amount of water on Earth, both past and present, is well documented. Our model begins with degassing ice from the original asteroid belt and successfully explains the amount of water needed, including seas, rivers, lakes and even water buried deep in the Earth’s mantle. It’s there.
Accurate measurements of the D/H ratio of ocean water are also consistent with the model. Furthermore, this model explains the amount of water present in the past, even on other planets and moons.
You may wonder how I have arrived at this new theory. This comes from recent observations, particularly those made with Alma, a wireless telescope array of over 60 antennas in Chile.
Observations of the polar system using belts similar to the Kuiper belt revealed that the planets in these belts sublimate carbon monoxide. For belts close to stars, such as the asteroid belt, CO is too volatile and is more likely to release water to exist.
Building a model
From these discoveries, the original idea of the theory began to take shape. Furthermore, recent data from the Hayabusa 2 and Osiris-Rex missions investigated asteroids similar to those that contributed to the formation of early steam disks and provided important confirmations.
These missions, along with years of observation from ground telescopes, revealed a significant amount of hydrated minerals on these asteroids that can only be formed through contact with water. This supports the premise that these asteroids were initially ice.
With the model foundations in place, the next step was to develop numerical simulations to track ice degassing, water vapor dispersion, and final capture by the planet.
During these simulations it quickly became clear that the model could explain the Earth’s water supply. Additional studies on past water volumes on Mars and other terrestrial planets also confirmed the applicability of the model. It all fits and the results were ready for publication!
As a researcher, it’s not enough to design a model that works and appears to explain everything. Theory needs to be tested on a large scale. Currently, it is not possible to detect the first water vapor disk that “watersprayed” on a terrestrial planet, but using the young asteroid belt to look at the extradiabetic system, and whether such a water vapor disk exists You can check if it is.
Our calculations show that these disks must be detectable by Alma, although faint. Our team set aside time at Alma to investigate specific systems for those evidence.
We may be at the dawn of a new age to understand the origins of the earth’s waters.
Quentin KlarAstrophysician à l’Observatoire de Paris-PSL, CNRS, Sorbonne University, University of Parisite
This article has been republished conversation Under the Creative Commons license. Please read Original article.
