Scientists discover organic matter from space in rocks 3.3 billion years old

Scientists believe they have located an organic material of extraterrestrial origin in rocks 3.3 billion years old in the Makhonjwa Mountains , in South Africa. This confirms the theory that organic space chemicals arrived on our planet aboard a meteorite and laid the foundation for the first development of life.

Geologists investigated a region of the Makhonjwa Mountains called Josefdal Chert, which contains a large deposit of ancient volcanic rock. The rock formed in layers and below the surface are carbon-filled layers from which the researchers took samples. They badyzed the samples with the help of a technique called Electron Paramagnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (EPR) that studies electron spins to determine the origin of organic matter. The results showed similar signals to those observed in carbon-containing meteorites, suggesting that some of the material comes from outside the Earth.

In fact, it is expected that materials on Earth will be found elsewhere, because meteorites, large or small, have an impact on the Earth. bearing organic carbon molecules. But the challenge for scientists is to find the origin of this ancient organic matter, which is difficult to solve because sediments in which organic matter is buried change over time and become fossilized.

"Many researchers believe that extraterrestrial inputs The beginnings of the Earth may have provided many sources of organic precursors for the urgency of life [approximately 3.5 to 3.8 billion years] wrote the main author of the 39, article Didier Gourier of the Paris Institute of Chemical Research, in a description of the work of the group last year. .

"However, there is as yet no direct evidence of such an extraterrestrial organic input, because the organic matter buried in the solidified sediments of the primitive seas has undergone significant modifications (temperature, pressure, duration) giving Therefore, although the carbonaceous material is easy to detect in very old sedimentary rocks … its origin is much more difficult to determine. "

Evidence has arrived and we have a glimpse of the situation on our planet billions of years ago.

The research is published in the journal Geochimica and Cosmochimica Acta.