Earth’s water did not come from melted meteorites – study

Researchers analysed melted meteorites that had been floating around in space since the solar system formed some 4.5 billion years ago.

The dashed white line in this illustration shows the boundary between the inner solar system and outer solar system (Jack Cook/Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

Earth’s water did not come from melted meteorites as previous theories had suggested, researchers say.

Water makes up 71% of Earth’s surface, but it is not yet known how or when such massive quantities of water arrived on the planet.