Posted on 10/25/2010 6:37:55 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
Evidence that water came to Earth during its formation from cosmic dust, rather than following later in asteroids, has been shown by a group of international scientists.
The origin of the abundant levels of water on Earth has long been debated with the main differences in the theories being the nature of the material that carries the water, and whether the water came during or after planet formation.
Now, Nora de Leeuw at University College London, UK, and colleagues have used molecular-level calculations to prove that dissociative chemisorption of water onto the surface of olivine rich minerals, such as forsterite, is highly exothermic. And so when these mineral dust particles came together during Earth formation, gas-solid interactions could have resulted in water being adsorbed onto the surface of the dust particles. This means that water could have been part of the Earth from the very beginning.
Water could have been adsorbed onto minerals that created the Earth
'Our calculations indicate that it is viable for water to become adsorbed at the surfaces of dust particles in the interstellar medium, where planets are formed. The water is thus trapped and becomes incorporated into the Earth,' says de Leeuw.
De Leeuw's work challenges the common assumption made by astronomers that the Earth's water originated from bodies in the asteroid belt. 'The work will be of tremendous interest to those modelling the geology and habitability of extrasolar terrestrial planets,' comments Philip Armitage, an expert in astrophysical and planetary sciences at the University of Colorado, Boulder, US.
(Excerpt) Read more at rsc.org ...
LOL nice
Genesis 1 has the answer I believe...
We are in an Ice Age and have been for just over 2 million years. Ice age conditions are drought conditions ~ sometimes really bad, and sometimes horrid!
:’)
Danged Protons, always hangin’ around...
Maybe it's his mommy...
G’night all!
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/2044222/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1798620/posts
Simple Life Form May Have Existed
700 Million Years Earlier Than Previously Thought
Science Daily | July 8, 2008 | Curtin University
Posted on 07/11/2008 5:26:55 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/2044222/posts
Diamonds Tell Story Of Earth’s Beginning
The Telegraph (UK) | 8-22-2007 | Roger Highfield
Posted on 08/22/2007 6:48:58 PM PDT by blam
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1885157/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/1725156/posts?page=42#42
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/1725156/posts?page=68#68
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/1725156/posts?page=98#98
Do nuclear decay rates depend on our distance from the sun?
the physics arXiv blog | 8/29/08
Posted on 08/29/2008 9:29:09 AM PDT by LibWhacker
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/2070597/posts
Geologists push back date basins formed,
supporting frozen Earth theory (basins in India)
University of Florida | Jul 3, 2008 | Unknown
Posted on 07/03/2008 11:08:44 AM PDT by decimon
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/2040344/posts
A potential fallacy in ice core studies?
Posted on 08/05/2008 2:33:04 AM PDT by y2gordo
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2056679/posts
Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide Greater 1.4 Billion Years Ago
Science Daily News | September 19, 2003 | Staff via Virginia Tech Release
Posted on 09/20/2003 9:43:49 PM PDT by PeaceBeWithYou
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/986454/posts
Well, it wasn't exactly water he was referring to.
Where did life on earth come from?
From underground. “Let the firmament (ground) divide the waters from the waters.” Flood: “And the fountains of the deep broke open...”
Did you have a mom? did she have boobs?
I am listening to jackie Martling.
I keep reading your reply, and Jackie the Jokeman gets funnier.
An inch of water, every 20,000 yrs, at current era rates But what I was really looking for and could not find was a reference/links to mention of the earth being constantly bombarded with water molecules.
The discovery was made somewhat accidentally, in that the observations came from satellites designed for other causes (was it studying earth's albedo? ...I cannot clearly recall). As I do recall, it was the gear on the second satellite which confirmed the finding. The original signals from the first were thought to be instrument noise of some sort. With the second, they were able to isolate the wavelength of that part of the returns spectrum, confirming "water molecules".
So, is there a direct connection between this high-altitude, coming from-from-space molecular water bombardment, and the "house size" carbon shelled snowballs of Franks's observations/and explanation, I wonder?
A rolling stone might not gather much moss, but this planet we are on seems to be collecting more than just the constant left-overs/physical residue of sunlight.
We're moving along at a pretty good clip, too, as we move along with our nearby star, shadowing it's movements even as we circle it, every uh, year or so...
I'm somewhat amazed we don't run into more rocks than we seem to have, recently.
All in the Lord's own time, I suppose. Prophetic warnings of large stones falling from the sky really are not that far-fetched. All that would need occur is for our planet to enter a zone more littered with rocky debris than we typically do, while following along with our star's direction, and velocity.
The book “Comet” by Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan says that comets were a significant source of water on early earth. There were many times the number of comets then than there are now. Also, volcanic eruptions also bring water to the surface. The escape velocity from earth is significantly higher than for mars which is why most of the volatiles water vapor, etc.) have escaped from Mars, but not from earth.
One possible source could be the million years of rain that fell during Earth's formation.
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