“A meteorite that landed on a frozen lake in 2018 contains thousands of organic compounds that formed billions of years ago and could hold clues about the origins of life on Earth.’

 

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“A meteorite that landed on a frozen lake in 2018 contains thousands of organic compounds that formed billions of years ago and could hold clues about the origins of life on Earth.’

Weather radar tracked the flaming space rock's descent and breakup, helping meteorite hunters to quickly locate fallen fragments on Strawberry Lake in Hamburg, Michigan. An international team of researchers then examined a walnut-size piece of the meteorite "while it was still fresh," scientists reported in a new study. 

Their analysis revealed more than 2,000 organic molecules dating to when our Solar System was young; similar compounds may have seeded the emergence of microbial life on our planet, the study authors reported. meteorite found on michigan lake A meteorite found on a frozen Michigan lake. 

Swift recovery of the meteorite from the lake's frozen surface prevented liquid water from seeping into cracks and contaminating the sample with terrestrial spores and microbes. This maintained the space rock's pristine state, enabling experts to more easily evaluate its composition. 

Because the meteorite was altered so little after its initial heating billions of years ago, it was classified as H4: "H" indicates that it's a rocky meteorite that's high in iron, while type 4 meteorites have undergone thermal metamorphism sufficient to change their original composition. 

Only about 4 percent of the meteorites that fall to Earth today land in the H4 category. "When we're looking at these meteorites, we're looking at something that's close to the material when it formed early in the Solar System's history," Greer said. 

The meteorite held 2,600 organic, or carbon-containing compounds, the researchers reported in the study. Because the meteorite was mostly unchanged since 4.5 billion years ago, these compounds likely are similar to the ones that other meteorites brought to a young Earth, some of which "might have been incorporated into life," Heck said. 

The transformation from extraterrestrial organic compounds into the first microbial life on Earth is "a big step" that is still shrouded in mystery, but evidence suggests that organics are common in meteorites – even in thermally metamorphosed meteorites such as the one that landed in Michigan, he added. 

Meteor bombardment was also more frequent for a young Earth than it is today, "so we are pretty certain that the input from meteorites into the organic inventory on Earth was important," for seeding life, Heck said.

They are certain.