Where Does Earth's Water Come From?

to cover our planet. It's a medium for pretty much all life as we know it. A water's unique properties, such as its ability to dissolve many substances and its solid state being less dense than its liquid state, which is why ice expands as it freezes and floats in liquid water, make it invaluable. A water acts as a solvent, a temperature regulator, and a means of transportation for new tents and waste. And devoid of the water cycle, the complex chain of life on Earth from microbes to mammals

would cease to exist. But let's go back, like way back. Shortly after the Big Bang, neutrons and electrons swarmed in ten billion degree heat within minutes, hydrogen and then helium unknown as the lighter elements had taken shape from these

atomic building blocks in a process called nucleosynthesis. Lithium made a cameo as well, but generally the heavier elements didn't appear until much later, when the lighter elements underwent fusion inside of stars and during supernova Over time, stars sent wave after wave of these heavier elements, including oxygen, out into space, where they mixed with the lighter elements. Of course, the mixing of hydrogen and oxygen atoms and the subsequent

formation of water are two different things. That's because even when hydrogen and oxygen atoms get together, they still need a spark of energy to form water. The process is a violent one, and so far nobody has found a way to safely create water on Earth. So how did our planet come to be covered with the stuff. The simple answer is we still don't know, but we have

a few ideas. One theory states that nearly four billion years ago, the early Solar System was overrun by millions of asteroids and comets, which slammed into the surface of our relatively young planet. A quick glance at the Moon's crater pocked surface gives us an idea of what conditions of early Earth might have been. The theory goes that these crash landing celestial bodies weren't solid rock, but rather the equivalent of cosmic sponges, loaded with water that was

released on impact. While astronomers have confirmed that water rich asteroids and comets exist, some scientists think that the theory doesn't hold water huh. They question whether enough collisions could have taken place to account for all of Earth's water. Also, a researchers from the California Institute of Technology found that water from the comet hail Bop is different from normal Earth water. Ours has the chemical formula H two OH.

It's one atom of oxygen linked together with two atoms of the common hydrogen one isotope, which has in its nucleus only one proton a butt. Most of the water on the hail Bop is what's called semi heavy water, a form of water in which there's still one atom of oxygen, but one of the atoms of hydrogen is a different isotope called hydrogen two or deuterium. It has a proton and a neutron in its nucleus. The semi heavy water's chemical formula is h DO, and its higher

mass gives it slightly different chemical and physical properties. So either the comets asteroids that hit Earth were very different from the hail BOP or Earth got its H two oh some other way. More recently, astronomers may have revealed that the former may actually be true. Using observations from the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy or SOPHIA, which is a converted seven to forty seven aircraft that flies at high altitude with an infrared telescope sticking out of the

tail section. A researchers found that when the comet Wordinin made its closest approach with Earth in December of twenty eighteen, it was venting very ocean like water vapor into space. Wordenin belongs to a specific family of comets called hyperactive comets that vent more water vapor into space than others. The researchers deduced that its water is ocean like by comparing the ratio of observed H two O and HDO in that water vapor. Earth's oceans have a very specific

ratio of those two hydrogen isotopes. And here's that wordinan shares that same ratio as Observing infrared wavelengths from the ground is impossible because Earth's atmosphere blocks these wavelengths. Only space telescopes and Sophia, which flies above most of the atmosphere,

can make reliable observations of comets. Another theory states that a young Earth was bombarded by oxygen and other heavy elements produced within the Sun. The idea is that the oxygen combined with hydrogen and other gases released from the Earth itself in a process known as degassing, thus forming

Earth's oceans and atmosphere along the way. And a team of scientists from Japan's Tokyo Institute of Technology has devised yet another theory, which states that a thick layer of hydrogen may have once covered Earth's surface, eventually interacting with oxides in the crust to form our planet's oceans. Finally, computer simulations reported on in twenty seventeen suggested a closer

origin or at least some water on our planet. This theory states that water could develop deep inside Earth's mantle and eventually escape via earthquakes or other geological processes. Water is so essential to life on Earth that a lot of research is devoted to finding it on other planets and moons, because where we find it, we may find alien life. However, here on our planet, a water's availability

and quality are under threat. Pollution, over extraction, and climate change are just some of the challenges facing our planet's water resources. Addressing these issues is not only a scientific endeavor, but also a societal one. After all, while we can't say with certainty how water came to Earth, we are fortunate it did. Today's episode is based on the article where does water come From? On howstiffworks dot com, written

by job An Adabury and Ian O'Neil. Brain Stuff is production of iHeartRadio in partnership with ho stuffworks dot Com and was produced by Tyler Klang. For four more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.