Organic Matter Could Be The Source Of Terrestrial Water – New Study

Eddie Gonzales Jr. – MessageToEagle.com – Scientists have found the interstellar organic matter could produce an abundant supply of water by heating, suggesting that organic matter could be the source of terrestrial water.

Organic matter in nebula could be the source of terrestrial water. Photo: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)

In the recent study, a group of scientists led by Akira Kouchi at Hokkaido University demonstrates that heating of the interstellar organic matter at high temperatures could yield abundant water and oil.

There remains a number of mysteries on our planet including the elusive origin of water on the earth.

Active studies suggested that terrestrial water had been delivered by icy comets or meteorites containing hydrous silicates that came from outside the “snow line”—the boundary beyond which ice can condense due to the low temperatures. More recent studies, however, have provided observations opposing to cometary origin theory, yet still failing to suggest plausible substitutions for the source of terrestrial water.

“Until now, much less attention has been paid to organic matter, comparing to ices and silicates, even though there is an abundance inside the snow line,” says planetary scientist Akira Kouchi. at Hokkaido University.

Now,  a group of scientists led by Akira Kouchi demonstrates that heating of the interstellar organic matter at high temperatures could yield abundant water and oil. This suggests that water could be produced inside the snow line, without any contribution of comets or meteorites delivered from outside the snow line.

A series of experiments was done to “experimentally demonstrate that abundant water and oil are formed via the heating of a pre-cometary-organic-matter analog under conditions appropriate for the parent bodies of meteorites inside the snow line.

This implies that H₂O ice is not required as the sole source of water on planetary bodies inside the snow line. Further, we can explain the change in the oxidation state of the Earth from an initially reduced state to a final oxidized state.

Our study also suggests that petroleum was present in the asteroids and is present in icy satellites and dwarf planets…” researchers write in their paper.

“Our results show that the interstellar organic matter inside the snow line is a potential source of water on the earth. Moreover, the abiotic oil formation we observed suggests more extensive sources of petroleum for the ancient Earth than previously thought,” says Akira Kouchi.

“Future analyses of organic matter in samples from the asteroid Ryugu, which the Japan’s asteroid explorer Hayabusa2 will bring back later this year, should advance our understanding of the origin of terrestrial water.”

Original story – here

Written by Eddie Gonzales Jr. – MessageToEagle.com Staff