Cited by 577Astro and Planetary ScienceOrigins and Evolution of LifeSpace Science and Extraterrestrial Life

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Cometary Delivery of Organic Molecules to the Early Earth

Chyba, Christopher F., Thomas, Paul J., Brookshaw, Leigh, Sagan, Carl·1990·Science

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Abstract

It has long been speculated that Earth accreted prebiotic organic molecules important for the origins of life from impacts of carbonaceous asteroids and comets during the period of heavy bombardment 4.5 × 10 9 to 3.8 × 10 9 years ago. A comprehensive treatment of comet-asteroid interaction with the atmosphere, surface impact, and resulting organic pyrolysis demonstrates that organics will not survive impacts at velocities greater than about 10 kilometers per second and that even comets and asteroids as small as 100 meters in radius cannot be aerobraked to below this velocity in 1-bar atmospheres. However, for plausible dense (10-bar carbon dioxide) early atmospheres, we find that 4.5 × 10 9 years ago Earth was accreting intact cometary organics at a rate of at least ∼10 6 to 10 7 kilograms per year, a flux that thereafter declined with a half-life of ∼10 8 years. These results may be put in context by comparison with terrestrial oceanic and total biomasses, ∼3 × 10 12 kilograms and ∼6 × 10 14 kilograms, respectively.

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Authors: Chyba, C. F., Thomas, P. J., Brookshaw, L., & Sagan, C.
Affiliations: Cornell University (US)
Yale University (US)
ORCID: Chyba, Christopher F.
Thomas, Paul J.
Brookshaw, Leigh
Sagan, Carl
Venue: Science
Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Published: 1990-07-27
Volume: 249
Issue: 4967
Pages: 366-373
ISSN: 0036-8075 (ISSN-L)
1095-9203
DOI: 10.1126/science.11538074
OpenAlex: W2076605024
Cited by: 577
References: 84
Citations by year: 2026: 9 · 2025: 21 · 2024: 23 · 2023: 20 · 2022: 18 · 2021: 22 · 2020: 23 · 2019: 16 · 2018: 15 · 2017: 15 · 2016: 13 · 2015: 15 · 2014: 13 · 2013: 22 · 2012: 6
FWCI: 29.12
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: closed
Locations: Science (publishedVersion)
PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics: Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Space and Planetary Science › Astro and Planetary Science
Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Origins and Evolution of Life
Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Space Science and Extraterrestrial Life
Keywords: origin of life, early Earth, heavy bombardment, carbonaceous asteroids, comets, impact velocity, aerobraking
MeSH terms: Origin of Life, Amino Acids, Atmosphere, Carbon Dioxide, Chemistry, Organic, Biological Evolution, Formaldehyde, Hot Temperature, Hydrogen Cyanide, Solar System, Earth, Planet, Minor Planets, Organic Chemistry Phenomena

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Cometary Delivery of Organic Molecules to the Early Earth

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