A brief note on the phenomenon by Thomas Lambe Phipson [fr] (1833–1908) appeared in The Chemical News on 17 April 1891[2] and was re-published in its entirety, a month later, in The Scientific American,[3] in which he wrote, "This subject, with which I was occupied more than twenty-five years ago, appears from a paragraph in the last number of the Chemical News[2] to have recently attracted the attention of Professor Berthelot and [Monsieur G.] Andre."
Phipson was referring to a short paper read by Berthelot and André at the meeting of the French Académie des Sciences on 23 April 1891, and printed in Volume 112 (1891) of Comptes Rendus, entitled "Sur l'odeur propre de la terre" ("On the earth's own smell").[4][5]
Phipson continues, "I find, on referring to my old notes, which are dated 1865, that it is doubtful whether I ever published the results of these observations; and as the distinguished chemists I have just named have not quite solved the problem, I hasten to give the results I obtained so long ago." He then theorizes that the odour "... was due to the presence of organic substances closely related to the essential oils of plants ..." and that these substances consist of "... the fragrance emitted by thousands of flowers ..." absorbed into the pores of the soil, and only released when displaced by rain. After attempts to isolate it, he found that it "... appeared to be very similar to, if not identical with, bromo-cedren derived from essence of cedar."
The phenomenon was first scientifically described in a March 1964 paper by Australian researchers Isabel Bear and Dick Thomas, published in the journal Nature.[6][7][8][9] Thomas coined the term "petrichor" to refer to what had previously been known as "argillaceous odour".[10] In the article, the authors describe how the smell derives from an oil exuded by certain plants during dry periods, whereupon it is absorbed by clay-based soils and rocks. During rain, the oil is released into the air along with another compound, geosmin, a metabolic by-product of certain actinobacteria, such as Streptomyces,[11] which is emitted by wet soil, producing the distinctive scent; ozone may also be present if there is lightning.[12] In a follow-up paper, Bear and Thomas (1965) showed that the oil slows seed germination and early plant growth.[13]
Mechanism
A leaf with droplets on damp soil
When a raindrop lands on a porous surface, air from the pores forms small bubbles, which float to the surface and release aerosols.[14] Such aerosols carry the scent, as well as bacteria and viruses from the soil.[14] Raindrops that move slower tend to produce more aerosols; this explains why petrichor is more common after light rains. Members of the Actinomycetes, gram-positive bacteria, are responsible for producing these aerosols.[14][11]
The human nose is sensitive to geosmin and can detect it at concentrations as low as 0.4 parts per billion.[15] Some scientists believe that humans appreciate the rain scent because ancestors may have relied on rainy weather for survival.[16]Camels in the desert also rely on petrichor to locate sources of water such as oases.[17]
See also
Dimethyl sulfide – One of the molecules responsible for the odour of the sea
Mitti attar – a perfume that recreates the loamy smell of a first rain
Geosmin – Chemical compound responsible for the characteristic odour of earth
^Logan, Tim (August 27, 2018). "Why You Can Smell Rain". The Conversation. Retrieved July 14, 2020. A weather expert explains petrichor – that pleasant, earthy scent that accompanies a storm's first raindrops.
^
Bear, Isabel Joy; Thomas, Richard G. (March 1964). "Nature of argillaceous odour". Nature. 201 (4923): 993–995. Bibcode:1964Natur.201..993B. doi:10.1038/201993a0. S2CID4189441. The diverse nature of the host materials has led us to propose the name 'petrichor' for this apparently unique odour which can be regarded as an 'ichor' or 'tenuous essence' derived from rock or stone […] it does not imply that petrichor is necessarily a fixed chemical entity but rather it denotes an integral odour, variable within a certain easily recognizable osmic latitude.
^
"The Smell of Rain". Weatherwise. 33 (2): 91. 1980. doi:10.1080/00431672.1980.9931898. Apparently, the printed text is a copy from CSIRO journal Ecos, issue February 1976, p. 32.
