Biogeochemical cycles and geobiology
Water is essential for the emergence and evolution of life on Earth.
Recent studies on the water content of early-forming planetary systems similar to our own planetary system show that water is an abundant and ubiquitous molecule, initially on the surface of small interstellar dust particles by hydrogenation of frozen oxygen. It shows that it is synthesized.
Water then enters a cycle of sublimation/freezing through a series of stages of planetary system formation: hot corinos and protoplanetary disks, and is finally incorporated into planets, asteroids, and comets. Measured amounts of heavy water on Earth and in early planetary systems suggest that a significant portion of Earth’s water is inherited from the very first stages of solar system formation and is 4.5 billion years old. .
Subject: Earth and Planetary Astrophysics (astro-ph.EP)
Quoted as: arXiv:2212.05441 [astro-ph.EP] (or arXiv:2212.05441v1 [astro-ph.EP] for this version)
Journal reference: Elements, 18, 155, 2022
Related DOIs:
https://doi.org/10.2138/gselements.18.3.155
focus on learning more
Submission history
From: Professor Cecilia Cecarelli
[v1] Sun, Dec 11, 2022 08:09:20 UTC (3,453 KB)
https://arxiv.org/abs/2212.05441
Astrobiology, Cosmochemistry