New constraints on the delivery of cometary water and nitrogen to Earth from the 15N/14N isotopic ratio

Details New constraints on the delivery of cometary water and nitrogen to Earth from the 15N/14N isotopic ratio New constraints on the delivery of cometary water and nitrogen to Earth from the 15N/14N isotopic ratio

2009-06-29

arxiv.org/abs/0906.5221v1

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics

Accepted for publication in ICARUS

Scientific paper

New independent constraints on the amount of water delivered to Earth by comets are derived using the 15N/14N isotopic ratio, measured to be roughly twice as high in cometary CN and HCN as in the present Earth. Under reasonable assumptions, we find that no more than a few percent of Earth's water can be attributed to comets, in agreement with the constraints derived from D/H. Our results also suggest that a significant part of Earth's atmospheric nitrogen might come from comets. Since the 15N/14N isotopic ratio is not different in Oort-cloud and Kuiper-belt comets, our estimates apply to the contribution of both types of objects.

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