Origin of water in the terrestrial planets

Introduction

We consider water to be a given. There is water on Earth. In both of Mars' hemispheres,

NASA has discovered elevated hydrogen abundances using the Gamma Ray and
Neutron Spectrometer (GRS) instrument on board the Mars Odyssey spacecraft. These
elevated hydrogen abundances are most likely explained by vast water ice sheets that
are at least one metre thick and covered in a thin layer of dust poleward of about 60° of
latitude. Venus' seas have a deuterium to hydrogen ratio that is around 100 times higher
than that of Earth. Asteroids appear to be both hydrous and anhydrous bodies, with a
concentration of the hydrous ones in the Main Belt's outermost region.

Regarding the genesis of water on terrestrial planets, there is disagreement. Comets,

hydrous asteroids, phyllosilicates that migrate from the asteroid belt, and hydrous
minerals that develop in the inner solar system and accrete straight to the terrestrial
planets are some of the suggested sources. Below, we look at each of these theories.
With each of these sources, there may be issues. We suggest that part or all the water
present in Venus, Earth, and Mars 4.5 Ga ago may have come through the direct
adsorption of water molecules from the gas in the accretion disc onto grains prior to their
accretion into planetesimals and, eventually, planets.

Picture depicting abundance of water on Earth Picture depicting abundance of water on Mars

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Sources of water
The nature of the terrestrial planets' "building blocks" is closely related to how water first
appeared on those worlds. There are two potential end-member options. One explanation
is that the terrestrial planets formed "dry" because the temperatures in the inner solar
system were too high for hydrous phases to form in the accretion disc. After the terrestrial
planets had formed, external sources (such comets and meteorites) brought water and
likely organics. In this approach, unless the delivery mechanism was stochastic and
dominated by one or a few major impacts of hydrous objects, all terrestrial planets should
have shared the same source of water.

The theory that the terrestrial planets formed "wetly," with anhydrous and hydrous silicate
phases among the material that was accreted to the expanding planets, is at the opposite
extreme (Drake and Righter 2002). According to this theory, the water on Earth is naturally
occurring. Unless hydrous phases were stable at orbits closer to the Sun than, say, Mars,
all terrestrial planets in this situation likely shared a common supply of water.

Understanding the amount of water as well as the oxygen and hydrogen isotopic makeup
of water on the terrestrial planets is necessary to distinguish between these endmembers,
and even variations of one. Unfortunately, due to the solar UV water dissociation loss
process, we are unable to determine the initial amount and isotopic composition of water
on Venus. Because Mars lacks plate tectonics and Martian meteorites may merely be
sampling water transported after planetary formation, it is feasible that we do not know
the inherent isotopic composition of the water on Mars. To get answers, we must turn to
Earth, the planet that has been researched the most. Let us first examine the advantages
and disadvantages of the many suggested sources of water.

Comets

For an awfully long time, comets were thought to be the best source of water for the
terrestrial planets. There were two things that made this theory appealing. The inner solar
system is thought to have been too hot for hydrous phases to be thermodynamically
stable, to start. As a result, an external supply of water was required. Second, there had
been one or more magma ocean occurrences on Earth and other terrestrial planets, which

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some writers thought would effectively degas the planets of whatever water that may have
been there.

Other cometary geochemical data can also be used to assess the water delivery from
comets. For example, comets like Hale-Bopp with an approximate solar ratio of Argon to
Water would bring in 2 x 104 more Argon than is currently found in the Earth's atmosphere,
if 50% of Earth's water—the maximum amount permitted by D/H ratios—were derived
from comets. This is for an assumed Argon to water ratio of 1.2 x 107 in the bulk Earth. It
is uncertain whether comet Hale-measurement Bopp's is representative of all comets.
Recent data for the comets LINEAR 2001 A2 and LINEAR 2000 WM1 show that their
respective Argon to Oxygen ratios are 0.10 solar and 0.08 solar, respectively. However,
in order for the real Argon to Oxygen ratios in comets to be compatible with the abundance
of Argon in the Earth's atmosphere, they would need to be at least three orders of
magnitude lower than solar.

Asteroids

Based on dynamical reasoning, asteroids are a likely supplier of water. Late in the Earth's
development, one or more asteroids from the Main Belt might collide, adding up to 15%
of the Earth's mass. However, there are compelling geochemical grounds against a major
input of water from asteroids, excepting the hypothesis that Earth was struck by an
asteroid that was hydrous and different from those now impacting the planet, as
evidenced by meteorites. It is impossible to disprove this theory since it may be based on
a single, exceptional occurrence.

However, one may effectively rule out asteroids as a source of water if the asteroidal
debris that fell to Earth 4.5 billion years ago was the same as that which falls now. the
material that may have supplied the highly siderophile elements (HSEs), which are
present to within 4% of chondritic proportions at roughly 0.003 of chondritic absolute
abundances, has an Osmium isotopic composition known as the "late veneer," which is
the cause.

Note: A veneer is a top covering, but the "late veneer" of HSEs has to be thoroughly incorporated into the
whole silicate mantle, if not the upper mantle of the Earth.

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 187
Os/188Os ratios in carbonaceous, ordinary, and
The D/H ratios in H2O in three comets, meteorites, Earth
enstatite chondrites

Wet accretion of terrestrial planets

A vast, frigid, slowly spinning cloud of gas and dust collapsed into a disc that established
the solar system's plane, giving rise to the solar system. The accretion disc was where
the terrestrial planets grew. The gas, in which the dust was submerged, was mostly
composed of hydrogen, helium, and oxygen. Water vapor was created when some of that
hydrogen and oxygen interacted. What will happen to this water vapour is the question.
If thermodynamic equilibrium had been reached, the accretion disc within 3 AU contained
almost three Earth masses of water vapour. For the sake of debate, let's assume that the
interior of 3 AU was too hot for hydrous materials to develop even when the accretion
disc cooled. Could grains absorb water vapour before the inner solar system's
atmosphere dissipated? Knowing whether the molecules are adsorbing through high
energy chemisorption or low energy physisorption is necessary to answer this question.

Physisorption

A kinetic Monte Carlo study of water adsorption was done by Stimpfl. Its process is out of
scope of this write-up, but the results show that adsorption can bring a substantial amount
of water to planets growing in the inner Solar System.

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Chemisorption

There have not been any calculations of the chemisorption of water onto accretion disc
grains at realistic nebular temperatures. However, Gibbs has carried out certain
simulations in which the Si-O-H clusters' Gibbs free energy is reduced before an H2O
molecule is added. Dynamical visualization demonstrates that strong bonds (>>5 kJ/mol)
may form between the water molecule and the Si-O-H cluster after transitioning through
multiple metastable bonding states and when the minimal Gibbs free energy is reached.
Researchers are actively researching this topic right now.

Conclusions
Quantitative investigations have just recently started, therefore the theory that planetary
water would have been produced through nebular water adsorption onto grains in the
accretion disc and held during planetary accretion is yet untested. Because of its larger
distance from the Sun and the lower energy of impacts during accretion due to its smaller
ultimate mass, Mars is believed to have accreted the most water via adsorption among
Mars, Earth, and Venus. Mars' enrichment in volatile lithophile elements is compatible
with Mars absorbing more water than Earth. Despite the lack of evidence for water at
Mercury's surface today, this mechanism may have allowed for the accretion of some
water. Due to various initial inventories as well as later geologic and atmospheric
processing, the current variations in the apparent water abundances among the terrestrial
planets are most likely the product of both.

Last but not least, the evidence that the Earth and other terrestrial planets became "wet"
has ramifications for how the world's seas initially had liquid water. Intriguing data
suggests that water exists on both Mars and Earth in large quantities. By outgassing the
129
mantles, in conjunction with air stripping in the case of Mars, the separate Xe/132Xe
ratios in various reservoirs on Earth and Mars can be created. As a result, it is probable
that soon after their magma ocean epochs, Venus, Earth, and Mars all had seas filled
with liquid water.

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References:

http://www.u.arizona.edu/~deymier/deymier_group/refs/Icarus.pdf

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1086/343087/pdf

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17774694/

https://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/1506/1506.04805.pdf

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0016703794901260

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0019103500964273

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11598294/

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S001910350800290X

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