Origin of Earth's Oceans and Atmosphere

Details Origin of Earth's Oceans and Atmosphere Origin of Earth's Oceans and Atmosphere

May 2007

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2007aas...21010801m&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society Meeting 210, #108.01; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 39, p.232

Biology

Scientific paper

Great progress has been made in recent years in deciphering the origin of Earth’s oceans and atmosphere, but major points remain controversial. We would like to know what the crucial materials were, where they came from, how and when they got here, and what happened to them after they arrived. The distinctive bulk chemistry of Earth, especially its major element composition, strongly suggests that most of Earth accreted from local materials that are not represented in our collections of meteorites and other extraterrestrial materials. The pattern of refractory element enrichment and volatile element depletion suggests that most of Earth accreted dry; in any case, it is not clear how much of early deposited volatiles would have survived later impacts, especially that which formed the Moon. Although there is clear evidence for a solar component that may have dissolved from the solar nebula into a magma ocean, it appears that most of Earth’s volatiles were added late, perhaps along with the late veneer of Pt-group elements identified as excess in the mantle. It is, however, difficult to construct a comprehensive budget for this late addition from known materials. This is perhaps not surprising, given that the main Earth-forming material has not been identified and sampled either. This work has been supported by the NASA Astrobiology Institute.

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