Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 19, 2026

Experimental Methods of Dust Charging and Mobilization on Surfaces with Exposure to Ultraviolet Radiation or Plasmas
Published on: April 3, 2018
Irradiated interplanetary dust particles as a possible solution for the deuterium/hydrogen paradox of Earth's oceans
A A Pavlov1, A K Pavlov, J F Kasting
1Department of Geosciences, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, USA.
Abstract:
Determining the source of Earth's oceans is a longstanding problem in planetary science. Possible sources of water include water ice or water of hydration of silicate minerals in the original material from which the bulk Earth accreted and water brought in by late-arriving planetesimals during the heavy bombardment period (4.5-3.8 Gyr ago) [Chyba, 1989, 1991]. Comets are an attractive source of water because their origin in the outer solar system is consistent with the long timescale for heavy bombardment. However, the high deuterium/hydrogen (D/H) ratio of the three comets that have been studied, Halley, Hyakutake, and Hale-Bopp, indicates that Earth must have had a source with a low-D/H ratio as well. Here we suggest that solar wind-implanted hydrogen on interplanetary dust particles (IDPs) provided the necessary low-D/H component of Earth's water inventory.
Related Concept Videos
States of Water
Water freezes when the intermolecular forces are greater than the kinetic energy. Unlike most other substances, water is less dense in its solid state than in its liquid state. This is because each water molecule can form...
The Water Cycle
¹H NMR of Labile Protons: Deuterium (²H) Substitution
Radiation: Applications
The average...
Momentum And Radiation Pressure
Radiation Pressure: Problem Solving
The average value of the rate of momentum transfer divided by the absorbing area represents the average force per...

