Extraterrestrial Flux of Potentially Prebiotic C, N, and P to the Early Earth |
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Authors: | Matthew Pasek Dante Lauretta |
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Institution: | (1) NAI LaPlace, University of Arizona, 1629 E. University Blvd, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA;(2) Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA |
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Abstract: | With growing evidence for a heavy bombardment period ending 4–3.8 billion years ago, meteorites and comets may have been an
important source of prebiotic carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus on the early Earth. Life may have originated shortly after
the late-heavy bombardment, when concentrations of organic compounds and reactive phosphorus were enough to “kick life into
gear”. This work quantifies the sources of potentially prebiotic, extraterrestrial C, N, and P and correlates these fluxes
with a comparison to total Ir fluxes, and estimates the effect of atmosphere on the survival of material. We find (1) that
carbonaceous chondrites were not a good source of organic compounds, but interplanetary dust particles provided a constant,
steady flux of organic compounds to the surface of the Earth, (2) extraterrestrial metallic material was much more abundant
on the early Earth, and delivered reactive P in the form of phosphide minerals to the Earth’s surface, and (3) large impacts
provided substantial local enrichments of potentially prebiotic reagents. These results help elucidate the potential role
of extraterrestrial matter in the origin of life. |
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Keywords: | Meteorite flux Prebiotic material Cohenite Schreibersite Ammonia |
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