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Bashing holes in the tale of Earth’s troubled youth

New analyses undermine a popular theory about an intense asteroid storm 4 billion years ago.
  1. Adam Mann

    1. Adam Mann is a freelance journalist based in Oakland, California.

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An artist's concept of the young Earth being bombarded by asteroids.

An artist’s impression of the early Earth, bombarded by Solar System debris. Credit: NASA/Goddard Image Lab

Early in Earth’s history, roughly half a billion years after the planet formed, all hell broke loose in the inner Solar System. A barrage of asteroids — some the size of Hong Kong — pummelled the globe intensely enough to melt large parts of its surface. This incendiary spree around 4 billion years ago vaporized most of Earth’s water and perhaps even sterilized its exterior, killing off any life that might have started to emerge. Only after this storm of impacts passed did the planet become safe enough for hardy organisms to take firm root and eventually give rise to all later life.

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Nature 553, 393-395 (2018)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-018-01074-6

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