Space dust may be the source of phosphorus, important for the appearance of life on Earth. The role of the smallest particles falling into the atmosphere of the planet, disclosed scientists of the University of Leeds (United Kingdom), who published the results of the study in the journal Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics.
4.5 billion years ago, the entire phosphorus, which participated in the formation of the Earth, was supposed to fall to the molten core, so the phosphorus available for living organisms should be a third-party source. It was believed that they could potentially be meteorites, but new data suggest that phosphorus was associated with the smallest particles of cosmic dust. Chemical reactions flowing in the planet’s atmosphere have generated phosphites and phosphates that can absorb living organisms.
At the entrance to the atmosphere of dust particles, air friction causes the process of melting and evaporation, known as ablation. Scientists simulated a network of chemical reactions, due to which, with ablation, the molecules of the biologically accessible phosphorus occur. For this, it was necessary to combine the results of laboratory studies with theoretical predictions for reactions that were not yet studied in the laboratory. The researchers then included a network of reactions into a global climate model, taking into account the transfer of substances in the atmosphere.
Scientists predicted that the Northern Rockies, Himalayas and South Andes are regions that can get the greatest amount of phosphorus per year. In addition, the hypothesis suggests that a thin layer of phosphorus-containing molecules is formed at an altitude of 90 kilometers above the surface. Future research must confirm or refute the existence of this layer.