Alaskan Meteorite Rewrites Water Origin

A groundbreaking study of a rare and chemically unusual meteorite discovered in Alaska suggests a radical new understanding of how Earth acquired its vast oceans. Published on January 24, 2026, by timesofindia.indiatimes.com, this research indicates that our planet's water may have been present from its very formation.

This significant finding directly challenges long-held scientific theories that proposed Earth's water was primarily delivered much later by impacts from asteroids and comets. The detailed analysis of the meteorite provides compelling evidence for an alternative scenario.

Researchers from the University of Oxford conducted a meticulous laboratory analysis of small chemical signals within the meteorite. Their work utilized advanced X-ray absorption techniques at the Diamond Light Source in Oxfordshire, as reported by timesofindia.indiatimes.com.

The study found that the planet's initial building blocks likely contained sufficient hydrogen to form water, suggesting it was an inherent component rather than an external addition. Professor James Bryson from Oxford University noted that the material that built our planet was "far richer in hydrogen than we thought previously," according to Connecticut Climate Education Hub on May 13, 2025.

This new perspective implies that water formation on Earth was a natural outcome of its early chemical composition and geological processes. Study lead Tom Barrett stated that the findings "support the theory that water on Earth is native," as reported by Connecticut Climate Education Hub.

The meteorite, identified as an enstatite chondrite, is considered a close match to the materials that formed early Earth approximately 4.5 billion years ago. This type of meteorite, typically thought to be dry, surprisingly held the crucial hydrogen.

The research, published in the journal Icarus, offers a fresh narrative for planetary habitability and the abundance of water in our solar system. It complicates the previously "neat story" of water delivery, according to timesofindia.indiatimes.com.

• The prevailing scientific theory for decades has been that Earth's water was largely delivered by icy asteroids and comets impacting the planet after its formation. This "late delivery" hypothesis suggested that the early Earth was too hot to retain water, necessitating external sources, as explained by Live Science on November 18, 2022, and the Observatoire de Paris on December 3, 2024.

• The meteorite at the center of this new study is a rare enstatite chondrite, a type of space rock believed to be highly similar to the primordial material from which Earth accreted. While these meteorites were historically considered "dry," the Oxford team's analysis revealed hidden hydrogen within them, as detailed by A News on April 17, 2025.

• The specific sample analyzed, known as LAR 12252, was recovered from Antarctica, but its chemical consistency with other enstatite chondrites, including those found in Alaska, makes it a representative sample of early Earth's building blocks. Its age and resistance to alteration provide a pristine record for researchers, timesofindia.indiatimes.com reported.

• The implications of this study are profound, suggesting that Earth's water may be a fundamental component of its formation rather than a chance cosmic delivery. This shifts the emphasis from rare impacts to more ordinary chemistry, potentially making water a more common feature on rocky planets formed from similar materials, according to timesofindia.indiatimes.com.

• Further supporting this evolving view, a separate study published on January 20, 2026, by Universities Space Research Association (USRA) and the University of New Mexico, led by Dr. Tony Gargano, analyzed lunar regolith samples. Their findings, reported by Mirage News on January 22, 2026, indicate that late meteorite delivery could only account for a small fraction of Earth's water, challenging the dominance of the external delivery model.

• The methodology involved advanced analytical techniques, specifically X-ray Absorption Near Edge Structure (XANES) spectroscopy, performed at the Diamond Light Source in Oxfordshire. This allowed researchers to meticulously examine the meteorite's elemental composition and detect previously overlooked chemical signals of hydrogen, as noted by EarthSnap on April 23, 2025.

• This research does not entirely rule out contributions from later asteroid impacts but significantly reduces the necessity for them to be the primary source of Earth's water. It proposes that as the early Earth heated and differentiated, the hydrogen embedded within its building blocks could have combined with oxygen to form water, as explained by timesofindia.indiatimes.com.

• The study's findings contribute to a broader scientific discussion about the origin of water on Earth and other planetary bodies, potentially influencing models of planetary formation and the search for extraterrestrial life. It underscores the complexity of planetary evolution and the continuous refinement of our understanding of cosmic processes, according to the Observatoire de Paris on December 3, 2024.