The Importance of Impactors in Delivering Prebiotic Feedstock Molecules to the Early Earth
Lead supervisor: Richard Anslow, Institute of Astronomy
Co-supervisor: Amy Bonsor, Institute of Astronomy
Research proposal
If we are to determine how life originated on Earth, it is key to assess the viability of various pathways to life. The history of early Earth was dominated by a period of intense bombardment. Many of these impactors are expected to contain many key feedstock molecules required for prebiotic chemistry. This project focuses on the ability of these impactors to deliver key precursor molecules for origins of life scenarios.
McDonald et al., 2025, in prep present simulations of cometary impactors onto a solid, rocky surface, mapping comets’ internal pressure and temperature distributions during hypervelocity impact. McDonald et al., 2025 consider specifically the survival of hydrogen cyanide (HCN), a key feedstock molecule for the cyanosulfidic pathway to life. Anslow et al., 2025 in prep investigate the propensity of HCN to survive impact across a representative population of comets, considering Earth’s bombardment history and the atmospheric evolution of the comets.
In this project, the student will use existing simulations to investigate the effects of both impactor and target composition on the survival of a range of precursor molecules. These results are of relevance not just to Earth, but to other Solar System bodies such as Mars and Ceres. The student will gain experience in both post-processing shock physics simulations, and modelling the survival of key precursor molecules.
Relevant expertise
Richard Anslow and Amy Bonsor have expertise in the impacts of small bodies and the delivery of prebiotic feedstock molecules.