HORROW: We all know that about 70% of the earth’s surface is covered with water, but how water on the planet originated? The question has been baffling scientists from a long time. Some predict water was present at the formation of earth, while others think it was carried by some meteorites and comets. Now, Hawaiian researchers have claimed that they have solved the long-standing mystery.
The researchers at the University of Hawaii found that Baffin Island rocks contain proofs suggesting that water was present on earth from the beginning. They used advanced ion-microprobe instrumentation to find the evidence. Journal Science has published the research ‘Evidence for primordial water in Earth’s deep mantle’ on November 13.
Cosmochemist Lydia Hallis, Marie Curie Research Fellow at the University of Glasgow, conducted the research with co-authors Kazuhide Nagashima, Gary Huss, Mike Mottl, G. Jeffrey Taylor and Karen Meech.
The researchers used the advanced instrumentation to examine minute pockets of glass inside rocks in Baffin Island in Canada. They detected small amount of water within the rocks. They calculated the ratio of hydrogen to deuterium in the water and found some valuable clues about origin of earth’s water.
The rocks were collected about three decades ago, and researchers were analyzing them since then. Lead researcher Hallis said, “Essentially, they are some of the most primitive rocks we’ve ever found on Earth’s surface, and so the water they contain gives us an invaluable insight into Earth’s early history and where its water came from”.
