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posted by martyb on Friday September 09 2016, @04:47AM   Printer-friendly
from the a-story-with-impact dept.

All life (as we know it) depends on carbon. But most models of Earth's formation can't explain how the crust has enough carbon to support life. So where did it all come from?

A colossal smashup with a Mercury-like protoplanet some 4.4 billion years ago, suggest researchers from Rice University and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in a new study published in the journal Nature Geoscience.

Most scientists agree that about 4.5 billion years ago, Earth was covered with hot magma, and as it cooled, most of the heavier metals near the surface sank deep into the planet. Iron alloys bonded with carbon and sulfur, pulling both into the Earth's core, and any remaining carbon would have vaporized into space from the extreme heat, argue the scientists. The only way to keep carbon and sulfur near the surface is to bring some from a planet that formed differently, they say.

A different story reported last week that scientists have identified fossilized stromatolites that date to 3.7 billion years ago, or 700 million years after the worst day ever for the young Earth.


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  • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 09 2016, @11:29AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 09 2016, @11:29AM (#399569)

    But most models of Earth's formation can't explain how the crust has enough carbon to support life.

    'most models' have to be wrong, you are hinting. I suspect yours can beat that.

    So where did it all come from?

    From God. As good an explanation as any, if not better. Even the 'widely accepted' Big Bang theory demands a miracle: according to said theory, in the beginning there was nothing, and then it exploded and inflated and turned into quarks and Carbon and planets and Ninjas (and even Kardashians).

    A colossal smashup with a Mercury-like protoplanet

    Oh no no Jack, I see what you are trying to pull here: you want to program me with the idea that creation must be based on destruction. Ain't buying it, nuh-uh. And 'protoplanet' is not even a real word.

    Iron alloys bonded with carbon and sulfur, pulling both into the Earth's core,

    Convenient, eh?

    The only way to keep carbon and sulfur near the surface

    The only way that YOU can think of that does not involve God and is consistent with a spinning ball-Earth model, you mean. Right?

    Life is awesome. You are not unimportant, randomly generated meat sacks.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 09 2016, @12:30PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 09 2016, @12:30PM (#399578)

    The only way that YOU can think of that does not involve God and is consistent with a spinning ball-Earth model, you mean. Right?

    GET OUT OF MY CLASSROOM! After you've apologized to everyone for your rudeness, we MIGHT let you back in!