A surprising new discovery rewrites the origin of Earth

Ancient Earth

doi.org/10.1038/s41550-026-02824-7
Credibility: 989
#Earth

Scientists in Zurich, Switzerland, have made a discovery that has truly astonished everyone

A detailed analysis of isotopes in meteorites is completely changing what was thought about how our planet formed.

For a long time, researchers believed that Earth formed from a mixture of materials from different regions of the Solar System.

It was estimated that between 6% and 40% of the material that makes up our planet came from areas beyond Jupiter, in the outer part of the Solar System.

This contribution would be responsible for bringing volatile elements, such as water, which are essential for life.

However, new research conducted by Paolo Sossi and Dan Bower of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich) reaches a very different conclusion.

Using advanced statistical methods and analyzing ten different isotopic systems in meteorites-far more than previous studies, which generally looked at only two-scientists have discovered that Earth formed almost entirely from material from the inner Solar System, close to the Sun.

Calculations show that the contribution of material from the outer region was minimal, likely less than 2%, or even nonexistent.

“Our calculations make it clear: Earth’s building material comes from a single reservoir of material,” explained Paolo Sossi.

Dan Bower added: “We were truly astonished to discover that Earth is composed entirely of material from the inner Solar System, unlike any known combination of existing meteorites.”

This discovery suggests that there was no extensive mixing between materials from the inner and outer Solar System during Earth’s formation.

Jupiter, with its enormous gravity, likely acted as a natural barrier, preventing most of the more distant material from reaching the region where our planet developed.

Thus, Earth grew gradually, accumulating rocks and dust that were near it in a relatively stable environment.

One important point is that this changes how we think about the origin of water on our planet.

Previously, it was thought that water had been “brought” by asteroids or comets from afar.

Now, the data indicates that volatiles, including water, were already present in the material of the inner Solar System from the beginning.

Researchers observed that Earth’s composition is very similar to that of Mars and the asteroid Vesta, suggesting that other rocky planets, such as Venus and Mercury, may have formed in a similar way (although we don’t yet have rock samples from these planets to confirm this).

This research, published in the journal “Nature Astronomy,” was conducted by treating the data as a “data science experiment.” Scientists used robust statistical calculations, based solely on isotope information, without relying on physical assumptions that are not yet fully understood.

Although heated debates continue among experts regarding the exact details of the formation of rocky planets, this discovery offers a simpler and clearer perspective: Earth and its neighbors formed primarily from local materials in a protoplanetary disk where the inner and outer regions remained quite separate.

This new story of Earth’s origin helps us better understand not only our own planet, but also how other rocky worlds form in different star systems.

And, as the researchers themselves admit, discussions on the subject are far from over-which makes science even more exciting.

Published in 04/04/2026 01h39

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