New Study Finds Earth's Water Originated from Native Hydrogen, Not Asteroids

We might be wrong about how water made it to Earth, research suggests

Water is critical to life on our planet, but the conventional theory of how it ended up being so abundant on Earth might be completely wrong. The most popular theory is that water made its way to Earth from asteroids bombarding the surface of our planet for about 100 million years when it was very young. Many asteroids are known to have water within them, so this seems a viable option. Another alternative is that the ingredients for water – hydr…

How Earth got its water: Meteorite reveals surprising new clues

Scientists discover hydrogen in a rare meteorite, suggesting Earth had the ingredients to make water from the start.

Earth’s Water Origin Unlocked: Meteorite’s Hidden Hydrogen Surprise

Oxford researchers have unearthed a cosmic surprise showing that the hydrogen needed for water was embedded in the very rocks that formed Earth. Researchers at the University of Oxford have challenged the widely held theory that Earth’s water came from asteroid impacts. They studied a rare meteorite that closely resembles the material that formed the [...]

Water properties under nano-scale confinement

Water is the universal solvent and plays a critical role in all known geological and biological processes. Confining water in nano-scale domains, as encountered in sedimentary rocks, in biological, and in engineered systems, leads to the deviations in water’s physicochemical properties relative to those measured for the non-confined phase. In our comprehensive analysis, we demonstrate that nano-scale confinement leads to the decrease in the melt…

New evidence 'challenges theories on the origin of water on Earth'

Researchers say they have uncovered evidence that early Earth was home to more hydrogen than previously thought, calling into question widely held beliefs about the origins of water and the evolution of our planet.Scientists from the University of Oxford analysed a rare type of meteorite known as an enstatite chondrite. The space rock dates to around 4.6 billion years ago and is believed to be similar in composition to early Earth, according to …

New evidence challenges theories on the origin of water on Earth, study suggests

(CNN) — Researchers say they have uncovered evidence that early Earth was home to more hydrogen than previously thought, calling into question widely held beliefs about the origins of water and the evolution of our planet.