New research: The origin of water and vital substances of the Earth is outside the solar system

By studying zinc isotopes in meteorites, scientists from the University of Cambridge and Imperial College London have concluded that a significant part of the water and vital substances of the Earth came from outside the solar system. These findings show that the necessary conditions for the formation of life on earth do not depend only on the right distance from the sun, and the existence of vital substances on the planet is also very important.

According to Tekna Technology Media Astronomy News Service, one of the fundamental questions about the origin of life is where the materials needed for the evolution of life come from. In this study, scientists looked for the answer to this question by examining zinc isotopes in meteorites. Zinc is a chemical element that, when formed in meteorites, has a unique composition that can be used to identify the origin of volatiles.

Volatile substances are elements or compounds that turn into vapor at a relatively low temperature. These substances are very important to living things because they contain six common chemicals vital to living things, including water. The research team analyzed zinc isotopes in a large sample of meteorites that originated from different asteroids. They then tracked the arrival of different types of zinc over the tens of millions of years that our planet was accreting material.

They found that molten asteroids make up about 70% of our planet’s total mass, but have delivered only about 10% of its zinc content. This means that 90% on Earth came from “unmelted” asteroids with higher amounts of intact volatiles. It follows that these unmelted space rocks must also have delivered large amounts of volatiles to the forming Earth. Martinez added: “We know that the distance between a planet and its star is a determining factor in creating the necessary conditions for that planet to maintain liquid water on its surface. “But our results show that there is no guarantee that planets have enough material to host water and other volatiles in the first place – regardless of their physical state.”

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