Crater yields evidence that life began off Earth

April 12, 1996
Web posted at: 10:45 p.m. EDT

From Correspondent Marcia Walton

SUDBURY, Ontario (CNN) -- A giant crater in Canada is full of star dust -- and scientists say samples of the dust prove that the basic chemicals needed to make life on Earth didn't form here. (1.1M QuickTime movie)

When the Earth formed about four and a half billion years ago, it had an atmosphere filled with carbon dioxide and nitrogen ... and scientists say these are not the building blocks of life.

"The idea has been ... that the Earth was seeded with the necessary organics from the bombardment by comets and asteroids," says Jeffrey Bada of the Scripps Institute of Oceanography.

And now, there is rock-solid proof of this idea from a team of scientists who studied the unique carbon material from a giant impact crater in Sudbury, a mining town with a barren landscape.

Their report, published in Science Magazine, says the object that hit there 2 billion years ago was the size of Mount Everest and came from outer space. And Sudbury's landfall was far from the only one.

"These events were perhaps taking place on a monthly basis," Bada says.

Scientists say the Sudbury crater yielded actual star dust in the form of hollow, soccer ball-shaped molecules with helium trapped inside. They think it was formed in the stars and later taken up in large comets or asteroids that eventually delivered their precious cargo to Earth.

Related sites:

• Science Magazine
• NASA Home Page
• Scripps Institute of Oceanography

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