Abstract
Intense bombardment of the moon and terrestrial planets ˜3.9–4.0 × 109 years ago1,2 could have caused the chemical reprocessing of the Earth's primitive atmosphere3. 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 molecules5–7. 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 ≥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 ˜(3–14) × 1011 mol HCN per year. This is somewhat larger than other predicted sources of HCN8 and H2CO9 on the primitive Earth.
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Fegley, B., Prinn, R., Hartman, H. et al. Chemical effects of large impacts on the Earth's primitive atmosphere. Nature 319, 305–308 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1038/319305a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/319305a0
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