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Science 18 July 1997:
Vol. 277. no. 5324, p. 318
DOI: 10.1126/science.277.5324.318
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Research News

PLANETARY SCIENCE:
Comet Origin of Oceans All Wet?

Donald Goldsmith

BLOIS, FRANCE—Many planetary scientists have surmised that most of the water on Earth's surface could have originated in comets. But a close look at the water in two recent comets challenges that conclusion. Measurements of the ratio of ordinary water molecules to molecules containing deuterium in comets Hale-Bopp and Hyakutake, reported at a planetary science meeting here last month, showed a sharp departure from the ratio found in seawater.

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)