Scribd Logo
Carica

Benvenuto in Scribd!

  • Earth's Water May Be As Old As The Earth Itself - Science - Smithsonian

    Caricato da

    John David Dela Cruz
    13 visualizzazioni3 pagine
    Earth’s Water May Be as Old as the Earth Itself _ Science _ Smithsonian.pdf

    Titolo originale

    Earth’s Water May Be as Old as the Earth Itself _ Science _ Smithsonian

    Copyright

    © © All Rights Reserved

    Formati disponibili

    PDF, TXT o leggi online da Scribd

    Hai trovato utile questo documento?

    Questo contenuto è inappropriato?

    Segnala questo documento
    Earth’s Water May Be as Old as the Earth Itself _ Science _ Smithsonian.pdf

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Scarica in formato PDF, TXT o leggi online su Scribd
    Segnala contenuti inappropriati
    13 visualizzazioni3 pagine

    Earth's Water May Be As Old As The Earth Itself - Science - Smithsonian

    Caricato da

    John David Dela Cruz
    Earth’s Water May Be as Old as the Earth Itself _ Science _ Smithsonian.pdf

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Scarica in formato PDF, TXT o leggi online su Scribd
    Segnala contenuti inappropriati
    di 3

    5/13/2017 EarthsWaterMayBeasOldastheEarthItself|Science|Smithsonian

    Smithsonian.com
    EarthsWaterMayBeasOldastheEarthItself
    Ancientvolcanicrocksmayhavepreservedtinysamplesoftheplanetsoriginalmoisture

    Thevolcanicplumeresponsibleforthe2010eruptionoftheEyjafjallajokullVolcanoinIcelandhasalsobroughtupbitsofEarth'sancientmantlefromdeep
    insidetheplanet.(ArcticImages/Corbis)

    BySarahZielinski
    smithsonian.com
    November12,2015

    Liquidwatercoverssome70percentofEarthssurface,makingtheplanetuniqueinthesolarsystem.Butwherethatwatercamefromhasbeenabitofapuzzle.

    Earlyinitshistory,Earthssurfacewassohotthatanywaterwouldhaveevaporatedintospace.Anythingthatisheretoday,scientistshavethought,musthavecomefrom
    asteroidsorcometsthatlaterstruckthecoolingworld.

    Butmaybenot.AnewanalysisinSciencesuggeststhatatleastsomeofEarthscurrentmoisturederivesfromwatersoakeddustparticlestrappeddeepinsideduringthe
    planet'sformation.

    TofigureoutwhereEarthswatercamefrom,scientistslookattheratioofdeuteriumtohydrogenfoundintheH2Omolecules.Deuteriumisanisotopeofhydrogenthat
    containsaprotonandaneutroninitscore,whileanatomofhydrogenhasonlytheproton.

    TheratioofdeuteriumtohydrogenintheuniversewasfixedshortlyaftertheBigBang.Butvariousprocessescanalterthatratioincertainlocations.OnEarth,hydrogen
    canbestrippedoutoftheatmospherebythesolarwind,anddeuteriumcanbeaddedthroughcometaryimpacts.

    WeknowthattheEarthhasbeenhitbysomeprettybigthingsinthepastyouonlyhavetolookattheamountofcratersonthemoontoimaginewhattheEarthhas
    beenthrough.Someoftheimpactingbodiesmayhavecontaineddeuteriumrichwater,notesLydiaHallisoftheUniversityofGlasgow.

    AnywaterthatmayhavebeentrappeddeeperwithintheEarth,however,wouldnthavegonethroughtheseprocesses.Thetrickypartisfindingitduetoourrigorous
    tectonicactivity,mostoftheplanet'ssurfacehasbeenrecycledatsomepointinits4.5billionyearhistory,gettingmixedupwithalteredmaterialsonthesurface.

    Now,HallisandcolleagueshavefoundpossibletracesofancientwaterinvolcanicrocksfromBaffinIsland,Canada,andIceland.Bothsiteshavelavathatoriginatedin
    thesamevolcanicplume,andisotopesofheliumandleadindicatethattheserocksareremnantsofancientEarth'smantle.

    Iftheserockstrulyhavenotundergonegeologicalrecycling,thenanywatertrappedinsideprobablypreservestheplanet'soriginalratioofdeuteriumtohydrogen.After
    analyzingbasalticrockslacedwitholivine,theteamfoundthattheirratiosweresomeofthelowesteverrecorded.

    http://www.smithsonianmag.com/sciencenature/earthswatermaybeoldearthitself180957262/ 1/3
    5/13/2017 EarthsWaterMayBeasOldastheEarthItself|Science|Smithsonian

    http://www.smithsonianmag.com/sciencenature/earthswatermaybeoldearthitself180957262/ 2/3
    5/13/2017 EarthsWaterMayBeasOldastheEarthItself|Science|Smithsonian

    AnillustrationshowsarockyplanetlikeEarthforminginthediskofleftoverdebrisfromastar'sbirth.Suchplanetstakeshapeasdustandgascoalesceinthedisk,andthroug

    Todate,nocometshavebeenmeasuredwitharatiothislow,Hallissays.Similarratios,though,havebeenfoundinsomechondriticmeteorites,rocksleftoverfrom
    planetformation.Andscientistsknowfrommeasurementsofthesunthattheoriginalratiowasalsolowintheswirlingdiskofdustandgasthatcoalescedtoformthe
    planets.

    ItseemsEarthinheriteditswaterdirectlyfromdustinthedisk,Hallissays.Therefore,Earthswaterwasaccretedduringtheplanetsformation,ratherthanbeing
    addedlaterbyimpactingwaterrichmaterial.

    SomeMartianmeteoritespiecesoftheredplanetsmantlemayalsohavelowdeuteriumtohydrogenratios.Ifso,directaccretionofwaterontoprotosolardust
    grainscouldbeanimportantmechanismforwater'sretentioninplanetarybodies,shesays.

    LearnaboutthisresearchandmoreattheDeepCarbonObservatory.

    AboutSarahZielinski

    SarahZielinskiisanawardwinningsciencewriterandeditor.SheisacontributingwriterinscienceforSmithsonian.comandblogsatWildThings,whichappearson
    ScienceNews.

    http://www.smithsonianmag.com/sciencenature/earthswatermaybeoldearthitself180957262/ 3/3

    Potrebbero piacerti anche