Origin of Earth's Water Revealed by British Scientists
Watercoversmorethan70%oftheEarth'ssurface, buthaveyoueverwonderedwhereitallcamefrom?
水覆蓋了地球表面 70% 以上的面積，但您是否想過水是從哪裡來的？
OnepopularideaisthatwateremergedonEarthduetoasteroidsbombardingourplanetbillionsofyearsago.
一個流行的觀點是，地球上的水是由於數十億年前小行星轟擊地球而出現的。
Now, scientistsintheUKsaytheyhavediscoveredimportantevidenceregardingtheoriginofwateronourplanet.
現在，英國科學家表示，他們發現了有關地球水起源的重要證據。
Researchersnowthinkthattherockymaterialwhichbuiltourplanethadalltheelementsitneededtomakewaterwithoutanyhelp.
研究人員現在認為，構成我們星球的岩石物質擁有製造水所需的所有元素，無需任何幫助。
HowwateroriginatedonEarthhasbeenaquestionthathasfascinatedscientistsformanyyears.
地球上的水是如何起源的，多年來一直是科學家著迷的問題。
ExpertsattheUniversityofOxforddecidedtotakeacloserlookatthemystery.
牛津大學的專家決定進一步研究這個謎團。
Fortheirstudy, theyexaminedararetypeofmeteorite, knownasanenstatitechondrite, whichwassimilartotherockymaterialwhichmadeupearlyEartharound 4.5 billion years ago.
在他們的研究中，他們檢查了一種罕見的隕石，稱為頑火輝石球粒隕石，它與大約 45 億年前構成早期地球的岩石物質相似。
Theyweresurprisedtodiscoverthatthemeteoritecontainedasubstancecalledhydrogenwhichwouldhavebeencriticalfortheformationofwater.
他們驚訝地發現，隕石中含有一種叫做氫的物質，這種物質對於水的形成至關重要。
YoumayhaveheardofwateralsobeingreferredtoasH₂O.
您可能聽說過水也被稱為 H₂O。
Thisisbecauseeachmoleculeofwaterismadeupoftwohydrogen (H) atomsjoinedtooneoxygen (O) atom.
這是因為每個水分子都是由兩個氫（H）原子和一個氧（O）原子組成的。
TheteamsaythattheirfindingssuggestthatEarthhadthehydrogenitneededtocreatewaterfromwhenitfirstformed.
研究小組表示，他們的發現顯示地球在形成之初就擁有形成水所需的氫。
UniversityofOxfordAssociateProfessorJamesBryson, whoworkedonthestudy, explained:'Wenowthinkthatthematerialthatbuiltourplanet–whichwecanstudyusingtheseraremeteorites–wasfarricherinhydrogenthanwethoughtpreviously.'
參與這項研究的牛津大學副教授詹姆斯·布賴森解釋說：“我們現在認為，構成我們星球的物質——我們可以利用這些稀有隕石進行研究——比我們之前認為的氫含量要豐富得多。”
Headded:'ThisfindingsupportstheideathattheformationofwateronEarthwasanaturalprocess, ratherthanaflukeofhydratedasteroidsbombardingourplanetafteritformed.'
他補充說：“這一發現支持了這樣一種觀點，即地球上水的形成是一個自然過程，而不是地球形成後含水小行星偶然轟擊地球造成的。”
Water covers more than 70% of the Earth's surface, but have you ever wondered where it all came from?
One popular idea is that water emerged on Earth due to asteroids bombarding our planet billions of years ago.
Now, scientists in the UK say they have discovered important evidence regarding the origin of water on our planet.
Researchers now think that the rocky material which built our planet had all the elements it needed to make water without any help.
How water originated on Earth has been a question that has fascinated scientists for many years.
Experts at the University of Oxford decided to take a closer look at the mystery.
For their study, they examined a rare type of meteorite, known as an enstatite chondrite, which was similar to the rocky material which made up early Earth around 4.5 billion years ago.
They were surprised to discover that the meteorite contained a substance called hydrogen which would have been critical for the formation of water.
You may have heard of water also being referred to as H₂O.
This is because each molecule of water is made up of two hydrogen (H) atoms joined to one oxygen (O) atom.
The team say that their findings suggest that Earth had the hydrogen it needed to create water from when it first formed.
University of Oxford Associate Professor James Bryson, who worked on the study, explained: 'We now think that the material that built our planet – which we can study using these rare meteorites – was far richer in hydrogen than we thought previously.'
He added: 'This finding supports the idea that the formation of water on Earth was a natural process, rather than a fluke of hydrated asteroids bombarding our planet after it formed.'
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