Water is at the center of one of the lasting questions about how life was first formed by Earthr. Moreover, where were the first water molecules formed and how? In 2020, researchers at the University of France of Laureau announced evidence observed in a meteorite, known as the Sahara 97096, which supported an increasingly popular theory: the original water ingredients on Earth hidden inside the meteorites that have encountered the planet years ago. But a team at the University of Oxford is now counteracting this statement and says Proto-Earth has had all the hydrogen needed to start life. Their conclusions were published on April 16 in the magazine IcarusAnd come after analysis of a similar meteorite restored by Antarctica.
The key to their counter -argument is in a rare type of space rock called Enstatite Chondrite. The composition of meteorite is especially important for planetary scientists as it is comparable to the planet as it was 4.55 billion years ago. While the Sahara 97096 is an enstatite Hondit, very few other specimens are known on Earth. A copy called LAR 12252 offers another example – the University of Oxford’s team recently took Space Rock for a trip to Diamond Light Source synchrot in Haruel, Oxfordshire.
The meteorite used in this study – LAR12252 – when it was discovered in Antarctica in 2012. Credit: Ansmet Program (Antarctic Search for Meteorites), University of Case Western Reserve and University of Utah
There, they used the particle acceleration facility to perform X -ray absorption spectroscopy near the edge (XANES). Xanes works by directing X -rays to a sample whose atoms absorb energy. This allows for certain chemicals to be formed depending on the elementary composition of the site, as well as causing atoms to bind in distinctive ways.
In this case, the researchers were looking for compounds involving sulfur. The previous analysis of Sahara 97096 revealed traces of hydrogen in organic materials and non -crystal meteorite sections. But at that time it was not clear whether the rest of Sahara 97096 identified hydrogen was local on the rock or came from external pollution on Earth.
Photo of a thin section of LAR 12252 in Polarized by the plane light with a 5x magnification. Credit: NASA
Scientists at Oxford University theoretize that the use of Xanes spectroscopy may show hydrogen attached to large amounts of LAR 12252 sulfur. The team first focused on the non -crystal parts of the meteorite, which was previously discovered in Sahara 97096. Sub-micrometer material. But it was this nearby area that contained hydrogen sulfide with five times more hydrogen than non -crystal parts. On the contrary, areas of LAR 12252 with cracks and obvious pollution signs such as rust show very little or zero hydrogen. Therefore, the team believes it is extremely unlikely to obtain a LAR 12252 hydrogen sulfide on Earth.
Although this may at first sound like this maintain The theory that meteorites carry the hydrogen needed for the water on Earth are the authors of the study the opposite.
Remember how much the chondritis is mainly identical to the geological composition of Proto-Earth? The analysis of the native amounts of LAR 12252 hydrogen sulfide may mean that our planet has all the hydrogen needed to form the first water molecules, which ultimately allow life to begin.
Lab Lar 12252 sample. Credit: NASA
“We were incredibly excited when the analysis told us that the sample contained sulfide hydrogen sulfide – just not where we expected,” says study presenter Tom Barrett in a statement. “Because the likelihood of this native sulfide originating from ground pollution is very low, this study provides vital evidence to support the theory that water on Earth is local – that this is a natural result of what our planet is made of.”
According to study co -author James Bryson, the results make a serious case on Earth, providing their own resources for the development of life.
“Now we think the material that builds our planet … is far more in hydrogen than we thought before,” he added. “This finding supports the idea that the formation of water on Earth is a natural process, not a fluette of hydrated asteroids that bombard our planet after it has been formed.”
All that is said, the discoveries cannot confirm the theory of ground life beyond doubt. Hydrogen meteorites are still likely to help us together. However, new evidence is a strong case that ancient land had the ability to form water in itself – no cosmic rocks were needed.