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44. Earth: The Water Planet
The amount of water on Earth greatly exceeds that known on or within any other planet in the solar system. Liquid water, which is essential for life to survive, has unique and amazing properties; it covers 70% of Earth’s surface. Where did all Earth’s water come from?
If the Earth and solar system evolved from a swirling cloud of dust and gas, practically no water would reside near Earth’s present orbit. Any water (liquid or ice) that close to the Sun would vaporize and be blown by the solar wind to the outer reaches of the solar system,a as we see happening with water vapor in the tails of comets.
Did comets or meteorites deliver Earth’s water? Although comets contain considerable water,b they could not have brought much water to Earth, because comets contain too much heavy hydrogen, relatively rare in Earth’s oceans. Comets also contain too much argon. If comets were the source of only 1% of Earth’s water, then, using evolutionists’ assumptions, our atmosphere would contain 400 times more argon than it does.c The few types of meteorites that contain considerable water also have too much heavy hydrogen.d [Pages 260–309 explain why comets and some types of meteorites contain so much water and heavy hydrogen. Heavy hydrogen is described on page 268.]
These observations have caused some to conclude that water was transported from the outer solar system to Earth by objects that no longer exist.e If so, many of these “water tankers” should have collided with the other inner planets (Mercury, Venus, and Mars), producing water characteristics similar to those of Earth. In fact, their water characteristics are not like those of Earth.f Instead of imagining “water tankers” that all disappeared, perhaps we should ask if the Earth was created with its water already present.