Secular Science Struggles to Explain Origin of Earth’s Water | The Institute for Creation Research

Secular Science Struggles to Explain Origin of Earth’s Water

Tim Clarey, Ph.D., and Jake Hebert, Ph.D.

Secular scientists continue to struggle to explain the origin of Earth’s water. And a new study published in Science calls into question their previous assumptions and earlier expectations.1

By comparing the chemistry of a rare kind of meteorite to the chemistry of Earth’s rocks, the researchers concluded that Earth apparently had abundant water right from the start—in fact, possibly enough to fill the oceans three times over.1,2 That primordial Earth had water should not come as a surprise to Bible-believing Christians who know that God created a watery Earth at the beginning of creation week. But it apparently wasn’t what these scientists were expecting.

Lead author Laurette Piani from the University of Lorraine, France, and her colleagues explained the reason for their study: “The origin of Earth’s water remains unknown. Enstatite chondrite (EC) meteorites have similar isotopic composition to terrestrial rocks and thus may be representative of the material that formed Earth.”1

Enstatite is a fairly common mineral found in igneous and metamorphic rocks on Earth. Enstatite chondrite meteorites are fairly rare, comprising about two percent of all chondritic (or stony) meteorites. Secular scientists assumed that these meteorites contained no water as the nebular hypothesis predicted they formed in the hottest part of the inner solar system.1

The authors of the new paper studied 13 enstatite chondrite meteorites and found they contained far more hydrogen than what has generally been assumed. Moreover, the hydrogen-stable isotope ratios were a close match to the rocks in Earth’s mantle, which comprises about 80 percent of Earth’s volume.1 Hydrogen, of course, is one of the two chemical elements in water. Piani stated that, “These meteorites are one of the best analogues we have for Earth’s building blocks, and they are not as dry as we thought. This water was probably in the building blocks over the whole formation process of Earth.”2

Uniformitarian scientists have long assumed that Earth’s water came from the slow addition of carbonaceous chondrite meteorites containing hydrated minerals that came from the outer, cooler part of the developing solar system, where water was believed more abundant.1 This proposal from Piani and her team contradicts that scenario, implying that water began to accumulate on Earth right from the beginning of Earth’s formation. In the secular story, Earth started out in a hot, molten state. Wouldn’t these high temperatures, as well as the heat from these supposed meteorite impacts, vaporize much of this primordial water, contradicting these new findings?

Secular scientists have proposed different mechanisms over the years to explain the origin of Earth’s water (arrival via carbonaceous meteorites, arrival via comets, or even resulting from the collision that supposedly formed our moon). That they are still proposing new mechanisms today shows that none of these explanations are very convincing.

Despite their erroneous reasoning, Piani’s team seems to have stumbled on a truth that most Bible-believing folks already knew: the early Earth was full of water.

In Genesis, God tells us exactly how he created the Earth. He used water and divided the water and separated the water as He formed the Earth for habitation on Days One through Three of creation week. Although God didn’t use meteorites to create the Earth’s original watery substance, He did make ample use of water during creation week.

Stage image: Illustration of "Earth-forming" rocks in space.
Stage image credit: Mark Garlick/Science Photo Library. Copyright © 2020. Adapted for use in accordance with federal copyright (fair use doctrine) law. Usage by ICR does not imply endorsement of copyright holders.


References
1. Piani, L. et al. 2020. Earth’s water may have been inherited from material similar to enstatite chondrite meteorites. Science. 369 (6507): 1110–1113.
2. Crane, L. Earth may have formed with enough water to fill the oceans three times. NewScientist. Posted on NewScientist.com August 27, 2020, accessed September 3, 2020.

*
Dr. Clarey is Research Associate at the Institute for Creation Research and earned his doctorate in geology from Western Michigan University. Dr. Hebert is Research Associate at the Institute for Creation Research and earned his doctorate in physics at the University of Texas at Dallas.

The Latest
CREATION PODCAST
Dr. Jeff Tomkins | A Scientist's Journey to Creationism | The...
ICR’s science staff have spent more than 50 years researching scientific evidence that refutes evolutionary philosophy...

NEWS
Early Fish Evolution?
The discovery of a new species of a plant or animal would probably not spark much excitement to the non-scientist. But in this case, the conditions...

NEWS
Make Plans to Attend Our Estate Planning Workshop at the Discovery...
Did you know that up to 75% of Americans over 18 have no retirement or estate plans? Don’t wait to prepare for the future. Join us on Saturday, October...

NEWS
Fossil Confusion in Ethiopia: Are Evolutionary Trees Built on...
A new study published in Nature describes the discovery of 13 fossilized teeth from the Ledi-Geraru site in Ethiopia. They have been dated to between...

NEWS
The Only Mesozoic Dragonfly in Canada—Is a Dragonfly
In 2023, an undergraduate student from McGill University discovered a new dragonfly species in Alberta, Canada. In fact, “This is the first ever...

CREATION PODCAST
Dr. Jake Hebert | Journey to ICR | The Creation Podcast: Episode...
ICR’s science staff have spent more than 50 years researching scientific evidence that refutes evolutionary philosophy...

NEWS
Oldest Evidence of Butterflies
Insects such as the ubiquitous butterfly belong to the huge phylum Arthropoda (creatures having paired, jointed appendages and a chitinous exoskeleton)....

NEWS
Another Big Mistake in Evolution
The strange and wonderful coelacanth1 has long been a challenge to evolutionists. The coelacanth has long been hailed as an ancestor...

ACTS & FACTS
ICR 2025 Resource Catalog
At the Institute for Creation Research, our mission is not only to conduct research demonstrating how science confirms Scripture but also to share this...

NEWS
Show Your Love for the ICR Discovery Center on North Texas Giving...
Thursday, September 18, is North Texas Giving Day! We invite you to join others in supporting ICR’s unique ministry as well as our creation museum...