IN THE beginning, there was water. Earth's life-sustaining liquid came from the dust from which the planet was born, a new look at these particles suggests, and not simply from collisions with objects that later crashed into the planet from space.
The origin of the oceans has long been a mystery. Earth's birthplace in the dusty nebula around the young sun should have been hot enough to keep any water vaporised. So it seemed clear that the dust that coalesced to create Earth was bone dry, and that water somehow arrived later.
Ice-rich comets or asteroids from farther out in the solar system could have supplied it, but that raises a further problem. Comets are richer in deuterium, a stable heavy isotope of hydrogen, than Earth's oceans. And asteroids should have brought more platinum and other rare elements than have been found. These mismatches are difficult to explain if most of Earth's water came from impacts.
Now, it seems that water may after all have been present in Earth's building blocks. Simulations by Nora de Leeuw of University College London and colleagues suggest that the dust grains from which Earth formed had such a tenacious grip on water that they could have held onto the molecules despite the high temperatures.
Earth may have had water from day one - space - 05 November 2010 - New Scientist
Subscribe to:
Post Comments
(
Atom
)
Popular Posts Last Week
-
Het samenwerkingsverband Emissieloze Kas stelt in een challenge 45.000 euro beschikbaar voor innovatieve, praktische oplossing(en) voor het ...
-
Fisherman files restraining order against BP - CNN.com
-
Johann Hari: This Is the Hottest Year Ever, and the Climate Catastrophe Has Begun#sb=1162669,b=facebook#sb=1162669,b=facebook
-
Vijf milieuorganisaties hebben Unilever-topman Paul Polman aangewezen als ‘groenste ceo’ van Nederland. BNR vroeg WNF, Natuur en Milieu, Na...
-
A shocking look behind the scenes of camel racing in the United Arab Emirates, where Asian children are enslaved as jockeys. Camel racing, o...
-
Het Nederlandse waterbeheer staat voor enorme uitdagingen. Als jonge waterbeheerder sta je natuurlijk te trappelen om deze aan te gaan. Maar...
-
Zo, we hebben er weer een nieuw keurmerk bij: Taste of Amazon. Een keurmerk voor Eerlijk Fruit dat staat voor de bescherming van de bedreigd...
-
National Wildlife Federation Naturalist David Mizejewski explores the relationship between sea ice and polar bears. As continued global warm...
Popular Posts This Month
-
National Wildlife Federation Naturalist David Mizejewski explores the relationship between sea ice and polar bears. As continued global warm...
-
New York City's current and former mayors highlight the revitalization of lower Manhattan in the days leading up to the 10th anniversary...
-
In New Orleans: Recovering From a Post-Katrina 'Brain Drain' : News : Breaking : Climate Central
-
Some 15 million people are affected by the crisis in the Sahel region, and one million of these are children that could die within months wi...
-
Johann Hari: This Is the Hottest Year Ever, and the Climate Catastrophe Has Begun#sb=1162669,b=facebook#sb=1162669,b=facebook
-
Fisherman files restraining order against BP - CNN.com
-
A 403 kW solar array will be installed on the roof of Pituaçu Stadium in Salvador da Bahia, the third largest city in Brazil. Gehrlicher Eco...
-
Water Is Life: Women Waterbearers of Life
-
This video is a recording of a panel on "Financing a Green Energy Future in North America," which took place at the 2011 UNEP FI G...
Popular Posts All Time
-
National Wildlife Federation Naturalist David Mizejewski explores the relationship between sea ice and polar bears. As continued global warm...
-
New York City's current and former mayors highlight the revitalization of lower Manhattan in the days leading up to the 10th anniversary...
-
Leuk idee om de aandacht op een bedrijf te vestigen. Wire & Twine maakte een op zich mooi overzicht van 50 manieren waarmee ze u willen ...
-
In New Orleans: Recovering From a Post-Katrina 'Brain Drain' : News : Breaking : Climate Central
-
NS en Greenwheels lanceren samen de eerste twee Volkswagen e-Golfs. De elektrische deelauto’s zijn vanaf donderdag 13 september te vinden bi...
-
Hundreds of young people converged on the United Nations in New York today as the General Assembly kicked off a high-level meeting devoted t...
-
At IBM's THINK Forum in NYC, Joshua Cooper Ramo, Managing Director, Kissinger Associates comments on not letting the risks of a networke...
-
Persons with disabilities must enjoy full human rights and fundamental freedoms and enabling them to do so benefits society as a whole, Depu...
-
Bridget van Kralingen, General Manager, IBM North America discusses Making the World Work Better at the IBM THINK Forum
-
Never before has a time in history been so significant to so many cultures, religions, scientists and governments. Beyond 2012 looks past th...
No comments :
Post a Comment