4.6 billion years ago fiery meteors from the outer solar system sparked life on Earth

Great ball of fire from outer region solar system 4.6 billion years ago brought the building blocks of life to Earth, a new study reveals.

These scientists Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Imperial College London This ancient meteorite contains carbonaceous chondrites, which are composed of potassium and zinc.

Potassium helps make cell fluids, while zinc is important in building DNA.

The team found that these space rocks made up ten percent of the space rocks that crashed into the planet during its birth.

The remaining 90 percent comes from non-carbonaceous (NC) material in the inner Solar System.

Life on Earth began 4.6 billion years ago with fireballs colliding with newborn planets

‘Our studies complement and confirm each other’s findings in several ways,’ lead study author Dr Nicole Nee told SWS.

‘Of the moderately volatile elements, potassium is the least volatile and zinc one of the most volatile.’

Meteorites provide 20 percent of Earth’s potassium and half of its zinc.

Both are considered volatiles, which are elements or compounds that change from a solid or liquid state to vapor at relatively low temperatures.

said senior author Professor Mark Rehkamper of Imperial College London’s Department of Earth Science and Engineering statement: ‘Our data show that about half of Earth’s zinc inventory was delivered by material from the outer Solar System, beyond Jupiter’s orbit.

‘Based on current models of early solar system development, this was completely unexpected.’

Previous research has suggested that Earth was formed almost exclusively from material from the inner solar system, which researchers hypothesized was the main source of Earth’s volatile chemicals.

However, the new study provides the first evidence that Earth was partially formed from carbonaceous meteorites from outer main belt asteroids.

“This contribution of material from the outer solar system has played an important role in establishing the inventory of Earth’s volatile chemicals,” says Rehkamper.

‘It appears that without the contribution of material from the outer solar system, Earth would have much less volatile matter than we know today – making it drier and unable to nourish and sustain life.’

The team analyzed 18 meteorites,11 traveled from the interior and the rest from the exterior.

Meteorites contain potassium and zinc and have traveled from regions outside the solar system

And then they The relative abundances of five different forms – or isotopes – of zinc were measured.

They then compared each isotopic fingerprint to Earth samples to estimate how much these elements contribute to Earth’s zinc inventory, showing that Earth incorporates about ten percent of its mass from carbonaceous bodies.

Researchers have found that high concentrations of zinc and other volatile elements can also be relatively abundant in water, providing clues about the origin of Earth’s water.