Scientists confirm that meteorites have contributed to the emergence of life on Earth

The chemicals buried in the rocks at the beginning of our planet's history provide more evidence that the "meteor strikes" have contributed to the emergence of life on Earth, experts say.

The researchers studied isotopes of selenium, the atoms of an element containing the same number of protons and electrons, but with a different number of neutrons. Similar isotopic traces were found in the rocks studied and some types of meteorites.

This suggests that selenium, as well as large amounts of water and other constituents of life, are born out of our world.

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The researchers go even further by proposing Panspermia, which suggests that life itself is spreading in the universe as a "bacteria" in comets or meteorites.

Researchers from the geochemistry group at the University of Tübingen in Germany have used a new technique to detect selenium isotopes.

The research team took samples of mantle rocks, which were transported to the surface by tectonic operations and have remained the same since the formation of the Earth. They measured the impact of selenium isotopes on these rocks and found that they corresponded to meteorites from the edge of the solar system.

Meteorite volatiles have also contributed to the formation of the protective atmosphere of the Earth. The concentration of selenium in rocks at high temperatures – such as those formed in the mantle – has proved very low.

The team's new technology makes it possible to measure selenium isotopes in these rocks at high temperatures.

The complete results of the study were published in the journal Nature Geoscience.

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