Confused Over Water’s Origins? Scientists Come Up With New Theory

A new study published in the ‘Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets’ has challenged the idea that water on earth may have originated from asteroids, Cosmos has reported.

The study was published by Steven Desch of Arizona State University. The study claims that the planet’s water partly came from the solar nebula. Solar nebula is the cloud of dust and gas left over after the formation of the Sun.

The current belief that earth’s water has its origins in asteroids is based on the fact that the ratio of deuterium (a heavier hydrogen isotope) to normal hydrogen in oceans is same as that of asteroids.

The new study proposes a theory which suggests that large waterlogged asteroids developed into planets in the presence of solar nebula. These asteroids were known as ‘planetary embryos’. They grew up rapidly, collided and the largest chunk became earth. The hydrogen which is currently on earth has accumulated on the planet through the process of ‘isotropic fractionation’ according to the theory.