Chemical effects of large impacts on the Earth's primitive atmosphere
Abstract
Intense bombardment of the moon and terrestrial planets approximately 3.9-4.0 x 10(9) years ago could have caused the chemical reprocessing of the Earth's primitive atmosphere. In particular, the shock heating and rapid quenching caused by the impact of large bodies into the atmosphere could produce molecules such as HCN and H2CO4 which are important precursors for the abiotic synthesis of complex organic molecules. Here we model the production of HCN and H2CO by thermochemical equilibrium and chemical kinetic calculations of the composition of shocked air parcels for a wide range of temperatures, pressures and initial compositions. For atmospheres with C/O > or = 1, our results suggest that bolide impacts cause HCN volume mixing ratios of approximately 10(-3) to 10(-5) in the impact region and global average ratios of 10(-5) to 10(-12). The corresponding H2CO mixing ratios in the impact region are 10(-7) to 10(-9); no-global mixing can occur, however, as H2CO is rapidly destroyed or rained out of the atmosphere within days to hours. Rainout to the oceans of 3-15% of the HCN produced can provide approximately (3-14) x 10(11) mol HCN per year. This is somewhat larger than other predicted sources of HCN and H2CO on the primitive Earth.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
HCN is more stable photochemically than NH3.
“Another nitrogen-bearing gas, hydrogen cyanide (HCN) is more stable photochemically than NH3 and made in reducing atmospheres by lightning, impacts (164, 165), or UV-driven photochemistry.”
From The Archean atmosphere (2020) · cites this paper as [164]
HCN is made in reducing atmospheres by lightning, impacts, or UV-driven photochemistry.
“Another nitrogen-bearing gas, hydrogen cyanide (HCN) is more stable photochemically than NH3 and made in reducing atmospheres by lightning, impacts (164, 165), or UV-driven photochemistry.”
From The Archean atmosphere (2020) · cites this paper as [164]
Cites
The Chemical Evolution of the Atmosphere and Oceans
Holland, H. D. (1984) · doi:10.1515/9780691220239 · Cited by 1,836 · see citing works
Evaluated kinetic data for high temperature reactions
Baulch, D. L., Drysdale, D. D., Horne, D. G., & Lloyd, A. C. (1972) · Butterworths eBooks · Cited by 881 · see citing works
Isotopic evidence for a terminal lunar cataclysm
Tera, F., Papanastassiou, D. A., & Wasserburg, G. J. (1974) · Earth and Planetary Science Letters · doi:10.1016/0012-821x(74)90059-4 · Cited by 752 · see citing works
Genetic takeover and the mineral origins of life
Cairns-Smith, A. G. (1982) · Medical Entomology and Zoology · Cited by 433 · see citing works
Synthesis of Purines under Possible Primitive Earth Conditions. I. Adenine from Hydrogen Cyanide
Oró, J., & Kimball, A. P. (1961) · Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics · doi:10.1016/0003-9861(61)90033-9 · Cited by 406 · see citing works
Photochemical Production of Formaldehyde in Earth's Primitive Atmosphere
Pinto, J. P., Gladstone, G. R., & Yung, Y. L. (1980) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.210.4466.183 · Cited by 279 · see citing works
CHEMICAL EVENTS ON THE PRIMITIVE EARTH
Abelson, P. H. (1966) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.55.6.1365 · Cited by 270 · see citing works
Genetic takeover and the mineral origins of life
Fox, S. W., & Matsuno, K. (1983) · Trends in Biochemical Sciences · doi:10.1016/0968-0004(83)90114-7 · Cited by 251 · see citing works
Staudacher, T., & Allègre, C. J. (1982) · Earth and Planetary Science Letters · doi:10.1016/0012-821x(82)90075-9 · Cited by 234 · see citing works
Prinn, R. G., & Jr. Fegley, B. (1981) · The Astrophysical Journal · doi:10.1086/159289 · Cited by 210 · see citing works
Self-citationFormaldehyde (HCHO) measurements in the nonurban atmosphere
Lowe, D. C., & Schmidt, U. (1983) · Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres · doi:10.1029/jc088ic15p10844 · Cited by 180 · see citing works
40Ar36Ar in MORB glasses: constraints on atmosphere and mantle evolution
Sarda, P., Staudacher, T., & Allègre, C. J. (1985) · Earth and Planetary Science Letters · doi:10.1016/0012-821x(85)90058-5 · Cited by 177 · see citing works
Carbon Monoxide on Jupiter and Implications for Atmospheric Convection
Prinn, R. G., & Barshay, S. S. (1977) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.198.4321.1031 · Cited by 170 · see citing works
Self-citationCarbon Monoxide on Jupiter and Implications for Atmospheric Convection
Prinn, R. G., & Barshay, S. S. (1977) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.198.4321.1031-a · Cited by 168 · see citing works
Self-citationRates of fixation by lightning of carbon and nitrogen in possible primitive atmospheres
Chameides, W. L., & Walker, J. C. G. (1981) · Origins of Life and Evolution of Biospheres · doi:10.1007/bf00931483 · Cited by 136 · see citing works
The rainout parameterization in a photochemical model
Giorgi, F., & Chameides, W. L. (1985) · Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres · doi:10.1029/jd090id05p07872 · Cited by 135 · see citing works
Effect of nuclear explosions on stratospheric nitric oxide and ozone
Johnston, H. S., Whitten, G. Z., & Birks, J. W. (1973) · Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres · doi:10.1029/jc078i027p06107 · Cited by 119 · see citing works
Planets and Their Atmospheres - Origin and Evolution
(1984) · International geophysics/International geophysics series · doi:10.1016/s0074-6142(08)x6039-5 · Cited by 114 · see citing works
Stratospheric NO production from past nuclear explosions
Foley, H. M., & Ruderman, M. A. (1973) · Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres · doi:10.1029/jc078i021p04441 · Cited by 105 · see citing works
Effect of variable energy input on nitrogen fixation in instantaneous linear discharges
Chameides, W. L. (1979) · Nature · doi:10.1038/277123a0 · Cited by 84 · see citing works
Nitrogen Oxides, Nuclear Weapon Testing, Concorde and Stratospheric Ozone
Goldsmith, P., Tuck, A. F., Foot, J. S., SIMMONS, E. L., & Newson, R. L. (1973) · Nature · doi:10.1038/244545a0 · Cited by 75 · see citing works
The C-O-H-S gaseous system; Part I, Composition limits and trends in basaltic cases
Gerlach, T. M., & Nordlie, B. E. (1975) · American Journal of Science · doi:10.2475/ajs.275.4.353 · Cited by 69 · see citing works
Planets and Their Atmospheres: Origin and Evolution
Read, P. L. (1985) · Journal of Arid Environments · doi:10.1016/s0140-1963(18)31276-x · Cited by 49 · see citing works
Long‐range propagation of sound through oceanic mesoscale structures
Mercer, J. A., & Booker, J. R. (1983) · Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres · doi:10.1029/jc088ic01p00689 · Cited by 41 · see citing works
The production of nitrogen oxides by low-altitude nuclear explosions
Gilmore, F. R. (1975) · Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres · doi:10.1029/jc080i033p04553 · Cited by 34 · see citing works
Nitric oxide production by Tunguska meteor
Park, C. (1978) · Acta Astronautica · doi:10.1016/0094-5765(78)90082-6 · Cited by 32 · see citing works
Cyanogen pyrolysis and the CN + NO reaction behind incident shock waves
Colket, M. B. (1984) · International Journal of Chemical Kinetics · doi:10.1002/kin.550160406 · Cited by 27 · see citing works
Kinetic Study of the Pyrolysis of Formaldehyde
Chen, C. J., & McKenney, D. J. (1972) · Canadian Journal of Chemistry · doi:10.1139/v72-156 · Cited by 24 · see citing works
Thermal decomposition of hydrogen cyanide behind incident shock waves
Szekely, A., Hanson, R. K., & Bowman, C. T. (1984) · The Journal of Physical Chemistry · doi:10.1021/j150648a009 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
Oxidation of hydrogen cyanide in shock waves. Formation of nitrogen monoxide
Higashihara, T., Saito, K., & Murakami, I. (1983) · The Journal of Physical Chemistry · doi:10.1021/j100242a026 · Cited by 18 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Kasting, J. F. (1993) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.11536547 · Cited by 1,374 · see citing works
Cometary Delivery of Organic Molecules to the Early Earth
Chyba, C. F., Thomas, P. J., Brookshaw, L., & Sagan, C. (1990) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.11538074 · Cited by 577 · see citing works
Catling, D. C., & Zahnle, K. J. (2020) · Science Advances · doi:10.1126/sciadv.aax1420 · Cited by 568 · see citing works
Zahnle, K., Schaefer, L., & Fegley, B. (2010) · Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Biology · doi:10.1101/cshperspect.a004895 · Cited by 298 · see citing works
Self-citationPrebiotic Ribose Synthesis: A Critical Analysis
Shapiro, R. (1988) · Origins of life and evolution of the biosphere · doi:10.1007/bf01808782 · Cited by 276 · see citing works
Impact melting of frozen oceans on the early Earth: Implications for the origin of life
Bada, J. L., Bigham, C., & Miller, S. L. (1994) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.91.4.1248 · Cited by 146 · see citing works
Formation of methane in comet impacts: implications for Earth, Mars, and Titan
Kress, M. E., & McKay, C. P. (2004) · Icarus · doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2003.10.013 · Cited by 103 · see citing works
Lammer, H., Sproß, L., Grenfell, J. L., Scherf, M., Fossati, L., Lendl, M., & Cubillos, P. E. (2019) · Astrobiology · doi:10.1089/ast.2018.1914 · Cited by 67 · see citing works
Nucleobase and amino acid formation through impacts of meteorites on the early ocean
Furukawa, Y., Nakazawa, H., Sekine, T., Kobayashi, T., & Kakegawa, T. (2015) · Earth and Planetary Science Letters · doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2015.07.049 · Cited by 67 · see citing works
Hydrogen Cyanide Production Due to Mid-Size Impacts in a Redox-Neutral N2-Rich Atmosphere
Kurosawa, K., Sugita, S., Ishibashi, K., Hasegawa, S., Sekine, Y., Ogawa, N. O., Kadono, T., Ohno, S., Ohkouchi, N., Nagaoka, Y., et al. (2013) · Origins of Life and Evolution of Biospheres · doi:10.1007/s11084-013-9339-0 · Cited by 41 · see citing works
- Authors
- Fegley, B., Prinn, R. G., Hartman, H., & Watkins, G. H.
- Affiliations
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (US)
- Venue
- Nature
- Published
- 1986-01
- Volume
- 319
- Issue
- 6051
- Pages
- 305-308
- ISSN
- 0028-0836 (ISSN-L)
- 1476-4687
- OpenAlex
- W1975786327
- Cited by
- 152
- References
- 30
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 21 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 6 · 2014: 3 · 2013: 7 · 2012: 3
- FWCI
- 12.11
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
- Locations
- Nature (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Astro and Planetary Science
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Origins and Evolution of Life
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Paleontology › Paleontology and Stratigraphy of Fossils
- Keywords
- Late Heavy Bombardment, bolide impact, early Earth atmosphere, hydrogen cyanide, formaldehyde, shock heating, thermochemical equilibrium, reaction kinetics, rainout, early Earth chemistry
- MeSH terms
- Atmosphere, Bicarbonates, Carbonates, Geology, Hydrogen Cyanide, Models, Chemical, Temperature, Moon, Planets, Earth, Planet, Meteoroids, Evolution, Chemical, Geological Phenomena
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
