Researchers say they discovered evidence that early Earth was home to more hydrogen than previously thought, calling into question widely held beliefs about the origins of water and the planet’s evolution.

Scientists have long questioned whether an early Earth could have contained the appropriate hydrogen and oxygen on its own to create the water on our planet.

A team of researchers at the University of Oxford have uncovered crucial evidence for the origin of water on Earth. Using a rare type of meteorite, known as an enstatite chondrite, which has a composition analogous to that of the early Earth (4.