TOPIC OUTLINE: WHERE DOES THE EARTH’S WATER CAME FROM?

The majority of astronomers believe asteroids brought water to the early Earth.
However, new research suggests that it may have originated even closer to home.

The most popular theory is that Earth's water is alien, having crashed down in meteors long
ago when the Earth was much younger. The early solar system was chaotic, with objects
being thrown around as planets formed. Some scientists believe that the majority of Earth's
water came from meteoroids (asteroids that collide with planets) that struck the planet.
Countless meteors rained down on Earth and the Moon nearly 4 billion years ago, during the
Late Heavy Bombardment. These icy asteroids and comets delivered oceans to Earth over
time, depositing water directly on the surface. Our planet's magnetic iron core and gravity
have kept its water from being blown away by the Sun.

The other, more recent hypothesis proposes that most of Earth's water was already present
inside the planet and gradually rose to the surface. Hydrous materials in the Earth's Mantle,
such as Ringwoodite and Wadsleyite, store the elements required to create water (hydrogen
and oxygen). Ringwoodite is found in the Transition Zone, a layer of the Earth between the
Upper and Lower Mantles. The pressures then crush the hydrous materials, wringing them
like a sponge as hot magma rises and cooler magma sinks into the planet. Water rises to
the surface via volcanoes and underwater vents during this process.

The Earth is the only planet known to have liquid water on its surface, which is critical in
explaining the origin of life. Was this water, however, always present in the rocks that made
up our planet? Was it later delivered by asteroids and comets that bombarded the Earth? Or
did the Earth's water come from a combination of the two?
Our planet's oceans and lakes are vast; water covers 71% of its surface. Water can also be
found on other celestial bodies in our solar system, such as the planets Neptune and
Uranus. Then there's Enceladus and Europa, the famous ice moons. Our planet is unique in
that we orbit the Sun in the Solar System's Habitable Zone, which means that we are close
enough to our star to be warmed by it without being scorched, but not so close that we
freeze.
Scientists from Nancy's Centre de Recherches Pétrographiques et Géochimiques
(CNRS/Université de Lorraine) contribute to this debate in the journal Science by
demonstrating that most of the water on Earth today was most likely present from the
beginning. Despite this, the Earth formed in a region of the Solar System where
temperatures were too high for water to condense and clump together with other solids as
ice, lending credence to the theory of a late addition of water.

The source of Earth’s water has been a long-standing mystery; many researchers has been
It has taken at least 20 years to solve. The majority of that effort has gone into sorting out
the various hydrogen isotopes that go into making water — or "the flavor of water." One of
those "flavors" is heavy water, a type of water that contains deuterium, an isotope of
hydrogen whose nucleus contains one proton and one neutron. Because ordinary hydrogen
lacks a neutron, water containing deuterium weighs more than ordinary water.

Researchers can calculate the ratio of heavy water to ordinary water when the planets
formed by simulating conditions in the early solar system. The observed ratio on Earth is
greater than it would have been in the early solar system, leading many astronomers to
suspect that the water was imported because the ratio should have remained constant over
time. Most scientists now believe asteroids brought water to the young, dry Earth.

Most scientists were skeptical of this theory because measurements of the Earth's
deuterium-to-hydrogen (D/H) ratio, which is related to the ratio of heavy water to normal
water, are typically based on the composition of today's oceans. Heavy water reservoirs
have a high D/H ratio, whereas deuterium-poor reservoirs have a lower ratio.

However, the Earth's ratio should have shifted over time. Earth, like most planets, probably
lost some of its atmosphere to space, and lighter hydrogen would be easier to extract from
the planet than heavier hydrogen. Geological processes, such as evaporation of water from
reservoirs such as lakes and oceans, can also alter the ratio, as can biological reactions,
because lighter isotopes are used differently in metabolic processes than heavier ones. All of
these processes would result in the modern Earth having a higher D/H ratio than when the
planet was first formed.

The Earth and the other planets formed inside a nest of gas left over from the Sun's birth.
The solar nebula contained all of the elements that made up the planets, and the
compositions varied with distance from the Sun. The region around the star was too hot for
some material to form ices, so they formed in the solar system's outer reaches. Hydrogen
and other elements could only exist as a gas on Earth. Because the nebula was brief, most
scientists believe Earth did not have enough time to collect the gases before they escaped
into space. This notion, combined with the planet's high D/H ratio, led many to believe that
Earth's water must have cooled.

When the European Giotto spacecraft visited Halley's Comet in 1986, researchers discovered
that its heavy water content was greater than that of the gas in Earth's early solar system.
A new theory has emerged: Comets may have brought water to the early Earth. Following
the formation of the planets, the massive bodies would continue to stir things up, with giant
planets like Jupiter hurling material toward the inner solar system. Icy objects formed in the
outer solar system may have been thrown at Earth, raining down as massive water-laden
impacts.

However, as other missions probed more comets, it became clear that the amount of heavy
water in them varied. In fact, the heavy water ratios of most comets were far too high to be
responsible for water falling on Earth. Someone else must be to blame. The gas giants
weren't the only ones who tossed around comets. Early in our solar system's history, Jupiter
plowed through the asteroid belt, scattering rocky debris in all directions. Some of the
material fell to Earth like comets. Asteroids, unlike comets, do not freeze water. Instead,
they trap its constituents, hydrogen and oxygen, within minerals. Furthermore, asteroids'
heavy water content is much closer to Earth's current ratio. As a result, asteroids are the
leading candidate for the source of our planet's water.

The hydrogen that surrounded the growing planet was captured in its rocks and minerals
when it formed. When hydrogen- and oxygen-rich minerals melt due to the heat of the
mantle, water can spew from the planet's crust. The majority of the mantle is rocky, and
massive amounts of hydrogen and oxygen could be trapped inside. According to
researchers, the mantle could contain up to ten oceans of water.

Volcanoes usually bring magma from the upper part of the Earth's mantle, which is closer to
the surface. This material is more likely to be contaminated by hydrogen from the crust,
which has higher D/H ratios than the oceans today. More pure samples can be found much
deeper in the mantle. Despite the heat, less than 20% of the mantle rock has melted.

If the hydrogen-rich olivine crystals were captured early enough during Earth's formation
and remained undisturbed for the planet's 4.5 billion-year lifespan, they could reveal how
much, if at all, the ancient ratios of heavy and normal water shifted. The tiny time capsules
may provide answers to long-standing questions about the origins of Earth's water. But
first, they had to be discovered.

My claim is that the origin of water on Earth is most likely a combination of the hypotheses
listed above. The water on Earth came from both space and the primordial rock that was
already present. Because the "molecular fingerprint" of water in the ocean matches the
water detected in asteroids, there is evidence to support the hypothesis that our water
came from asteroids. However, the recent discovery of hydrous materials within the Earth
suggests that there may be even more water beneath the surface than the oceans above. 
There is much more to learn about the history and formation of our planet. However Earth
got its water, I am glad that it is here! 

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