Privileged Planet: why does Earth have so much water? (Introduction)

by David Turell , Wednesday, November 07, 2018, 19:43 (2002 days ago) @ David Turell

Another article on the point:

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/11/181107130306.htm

"In the new study, researchers developed a new theoretical model of Earth's formation to explain these differences between hydrogen in Earth's oceans and at the core-mantle boundary as well as the presence of noble gases deep inside the planet.

"According to their new model, several billion years ago, large waterlogged asteroids began developing into planets while the solar nebula still swirled around the Sun. These asteroids, known as planetary embryos, collided and grew rapidly. Eventually, a collision introduced enough energy to melt the surface of the largest embryo into an ocean of magma. This largest embryo would eventually become Earth.

"Gases from the solar nebula, including hydrogen and noble gases, were drawn in by the large, magma-covered embryo to form an early atmosphere. Nebular hydrogen, which contains less deuterium and is lighter than asteroidal hydrogen, dissolved into the molten iron of the magma ocean.

"Through a process called isotopic fractionation, hydrogen was pulled towards the young Earth's center. Hydrogen, which is attracted to iron, was delivered to the core by the metal, while much of the heavier isotope, deuterium, remained in the magma which eventually cooled and became the mantle, according to the study's authors. Impacts from smaller embryos and other objects then continued to add water and overall mass until Earth reached its final size.

"This new model would leave Earth with noble gases deep inside its mantle and a lower deuterium-to-hydrogen ratio in its core than in its mantle and oceans.
The authors used the model to estimate how much hydrogen came from each source. They concluded most was asteroidal in origin, but some of Earth's water did come from the solar nebula.

"For every 100 molecules of Earth's water, there are one or two coming from solar nebula," said Jun Wu, assistant research professor in the School of Molecular Sciences and School of Earth and Space Exploration at Arizona State University and lead author of the study."

Comment: This made the Earth an ideal planet for the development of life. Certainly good planning.