Shadow
07-15-2012, 09:22 AM
Asteroids from the the inner solar system are the most likely source of the majority of Earth's water, a new study suggests.
The results contradict prevailing theories, which hold that most of our planet's water originated in the outer solar system and was delivered by comets (http://www.space.com/13185-comets-water-earth-oceans-source.html)http://global.fncstatic.com/static/all/img/external-link.png or asteroids that coalesced beyond Jupiter's orbit, then migrated inward.
"Our results provide important new constraints for the origin of volatiles in the inner solar system (http://www.space.com/56-our-solar-system-facts-formation-and-discovery.html)http://global.fncstatic.com/static/all/img/external-link.png, including the Earth," lead author Conel Alexander, of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, said in a statement. "And they have important implications for the current models of the formation and orbital evolution of the planets and smaller objects in our solar system."
Alexander and his colleagues analyzed samples from 86 carbonaceous chondrites. These primitive meteorites are thought to be key sources of the early Earth's volatile elements, such as hydrogen and nitrogen
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2012/07/14/asteroid-crashes-likely-gave-earth-its-water/#ixzz20hX5fZDC
The results contradict prevailing theories, which hold that most of our planet's water originated in the outer solar system and was delivered by comets (http://www.space.com/13185-comets-water-earth-oceans-source.html)http://global.fncstatic.com/static/all/img/external-link.png or asteroids that coalesced beyond Jupiter's orbit, then migrated inward.
"Our results provide important new constraints for the origin of volatiles in the inner solar system (http://www.space.com/56-our-solar-system-facts-formation-and-discovery.html)http://global.fncstatic.com/static/all/img/external-link.png, including the Earth," lead author Conel Alexander, of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, said in a statement. "And they have important implications for the current models of the formation and orbital evolution of the planets and smaller objects in our solar system."
Alexander and his colleagues analyzed samples from 86 carbonaceous chondrites. These primitive meteorites are thought to be key sources of the early Earth's volatile elements, such as hydrogen and nitrogen
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2012/07/14/asteroid-crashes-likely-gave-earth-its-water/#ixzz20hX5fZDC