Life on Earth began from the great balls of fire coming from the outer regions of the solar system, according to a study.
Meteorites Brought The Building Blocks of Life to Earth
Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Imperial College London discovered that ancient meteorites contained carbonaceous chondrite - which consisted of potassium and zinc.
The two elements are vital in the development of life on Earth. Potassium helps produce a cell's fluids. Meanwhile, zinc plays a significant role in creating DNA, Daily Mail reported.
The team found that the space rocks made up 10% of the meteorites that hit the planet during its birth. The other 90% came from the inner solar system's non-carbonaceous (NC) material.
According to Science.org, carbonaceous chondritic meteorites are fragments of space rocks that orbit the outer Solar System. They remained largely unaltered since their formation. These meteorites offer evidence of reactions in liquid water thought to have been lost or completely frozen billions of years ago. Non-carbonaceous are materials from the inner Solar System.
For the study, the team analyzed 18 meteorites, 11 from the inner region of the solar system and the rest from the outer areas. They measured the relative abundances of zinc's five different forms or isotopes and compared each isotopic fingerprint with Earth samples to estimate how much those materials contributed to the Earth's zinc inventory. They learned that the planet only had 10% of its mass from carbonaceous bodies.
Meanwhile, the researchers also discovered that the materials with high zinc concentration and other volatile constituents are likely to be abundant in water, which clues to the origin of water on Earth.
Study lead author Dr. Nicole Nie told SWS (via Daily Mail) that their studies confirmed and supported each other's results in multiple ways. Among the moderately volatile elements, potassium is the least volatile, while zinc is the most volatile.
Volatile elements or compounds change from a solid or liquid state into vapor at relatively low temperatures.
Outer Solar System Has Huge Contribution on Earth's Volatiles
The outlet added that meteorites provided 20% of Earth's potassium and 50% of its zinc.
Senior author, Professor Mark Rehkämper of Imperial College London's Department of Earth Science and Engineering, said in a statement obtained by Astrobiology that their data showed half of Earth's zinc was from materials from the outer Solar System, beyond Jupiter's orbit. He added that it was completely unexpected, considering the current early solar system development model.
Previous studies suggested that the Earth formed exclusively from inner Solar System materials. However, the new findings suggest that the outer Solar System played a bigger role than expected.
Rehkämper said the outer Solar System has a huge contribution to the Earth's inventory of volatile chemicals. Their study suggests that without the materials from the outer Solar System, the planet would have a much lower amount of volatiles, making it drier and unable to support life.
The study is published in the journal Science.
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