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The researchers say they discovered evidence that the early Earth was home to more hydrogen than previously believed, which is widely questioned by beliefs about the origins of water and the development of our planet.
Scientists from Oxford University analyzed a rare type of meteorite known as EntaTite Chondrite. Space Rock Dates to about 4.6 billion years and believed to be similar in the formation of early Earth, according to a study published on Wednesday in the magazine Icarus.
The researchers found that the majority of hydrogen contained inside the meteorite was fundamental, instead of being due to pollution, indicating that the early land was home to adequate hydrogen to allow the formation of water molecules.
This discovery calls for questioning the belief on a large scale that hydrogen arrived on Earth in asteroids that bombed what was previously a dry and rocky planet unable to support life.
“We assumed that the Earth has water today because of a lucky scenario as these asteroids were exposed to,” said the main author of the study, Tom Barrett, a doctorate student in the Department of Earth Sciences at Oxford University, on Wednesday.
He added: “But what we showed in this study is that the material that formed the land in the first place already contains a lot of hydrogen and oxygen.” “The discovery of hydrogen in this meteorite means that the Earth may be wet or wet from its initial composition.”
As for the lack of discovery of the previously defined hydrogen levels, Barrett explained that the chemical component is difficult to measure, especially with low concentrations. He said that the detection was only possible thanks to a technique known as the absorption of X -rays near the edge structure, or xanes, spectral analysis.
EntaTite Chondrite is a rare type of meteorite that is believed to be similar in composition with early Earth. NASA
“To do this, you need to accelerate particles,” he said. “This is a truly huge and expensive facility, which we were very fortunate to use in this study. But it is not exactly the type of experience you can do in the garage.”
Barrett said that the study is likely to increase our understanding of the early land, but the discovery of hydrogen in the meteorite does not mean that life would have necessarily develop soon. This is because the ability of the planet may depend on the way in which it develops more than the material from which it is formed.
Hydrogen
It was a team of scientists at the French National Center for Scientific Research It was previously analyzed The meteor, known as Lar 12252, which was collected in Antarctica. The August 2020 study found that space rocks, or small football things, and organic materials inside them had traces of hydrogen. However, the research represented only part of the hydrogen inside the meteorite.
The researchers behind the new study believe that more hydrogen can be linked to sulfur inside the meteorite. The team discovered an unexpectedly discovered hydrogen sulfide inside the microscopic matrix that directly surrounds the presence – “on average more than 10 times more hydrogen sulfide than in spherical objects, according to the study.
“We were incredibly enthusiastic when the analysis told us that the sample contained hydrogen sulfide – not only where we expected!” Barrett said in a statement. “Since the possibility that the hydrogen sulfide that arises from Earth pollution is very low, this research provides vital evidence to support the theory that water on Earth is the natural result of what our planet makes.”
The role of an asteroid and the effects of the comet
After that, Barrett plans to analyze more meteorites in an attempt to ensure the amount of hydrogen he would have caused to the ground, and how much it was delivered from external sources.
Working on how the Earth appears to appear as they do today is an essential issue for planetary scientists.
He said: “We now believe that the materials that were built our planet – which we can study using this rare meteorite – are richer in hydrogen than we thought previously.”
“This discovery supports the idea that the formation of water on Earth was a natural process, rather than a waterproofing asteroid bombing our planet after its formation.”
Matt Jing, the planetary scientist at Imperial College London, who did not participate in the study, told the CNN that although the study was “an interesting result”, the evidence is not enough to cancel the long theory of water origins.
He said that the meteors concerned were probably in Antarctica for hundreds of thousands of years, and it is impossible to exclude the opportunity that the hydrogen had been formed during that time.
“The fact that there is a possibility that makes the argument less powerful,” said Jing.
Praison acknowledged that the meteorite was more likely on the ground for many years before collecting it, but standing next to the results of the study.
“We believe that we have made every effort in our analysis functioning to alleviate the impact of earthly water on our results, and we believe that some of the total H (hydrogen) in a meteorite is due to the land of the Earth (perhaps about 15 %),” Praison said via e -mail in response to Jing’s statement.
“We also believe that some H (hydrogen) is still being delivered from asteroids and comets, yet we now believe that this is a small percentage of the total H (hydrogen) that is across our planet. So the evaluation of this meteorite is justified, but we sought to reduce its anxiety.”
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