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Volatiles are elements or compounds that change from solid or liquid state into vapour at relatively low temperatures. The most common volatiles — carbon dioxide, nitrogen, ammonia, hydrogen, methane, sulphur dioxide and water—are abundant in nature and necessary to living organisms.
It was thought that the materials that made up the Earth almost entirely originated in the inner Solar System, meaning the distance until the orbit of Jupiter. However new research suggests that some of the well-known volatiles may have come from beyond.
For instance, around half the Earth’s inventory of zinc, a volatile, is now known to have come from asteroids originating in the outer Solar System — the part beyond the asteroid belt that includes the planets Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus.
Without the contribution of outer Solar System material, the Earth would have had fewer concentrations of volatiles, making the planet drier and potentially unable to nourish and sustain life. Material with a high concentration of zinc and other volatile constituents is also likely to be rich in water, giving clues about the origin of Earth’s water.
In a recent study, the researchers examined 18 meteorites — eleven from the inner Solar System, known as non-carbonaceous meteorites, and seven from the outer Solar System, known as carbonaceous meteorites.
For each meteorite they measured the relative abundances of the five different forms — or isotopes — of zinc. They then compared each isotopic fingerprint with Earth samples to estimate how much each of these materials contributed to the Earth’s zinc inventory. The results suggest that while the Earth only incorporated about ten per cent of its mass from carbonaceous bodies, this material supplied about half of Earth’s zinc.
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Published - February 15, 2023 01:46 pm IST