2019年经济学人 古气候学—先知水域

古气候学—先知水域

Throughout history, people have viewed springs as mystical.

纵观历史，人们都认为泉水是神秘的。

From the warm pools of Roman Bath, whence sheets of lead inscribed¹ with prayers have been recovered,

从罗马浴场温暖的水池（刻有祈祷文的铅片在那里被发现）

to the gassy waters beneath the Oracle² of Delphi that are thought to have stimulated³ the visions experienced by Apollo's sacred priestesses,

到德尔斐神谕下面的气体（被认为促使了阿波罗的神圣女祭司所经历的幻象）

these sites have been sought out for purposes of divination⁴.

寻找这些地点的目的都是为了占卜。

With a modern twist, this is still happening, for Jason Ricketts of the University of Texas at El Paso thinks

随着现代科技的发展，这种情况仍在发生，厄尔巴索德克萨斯大学的詹森·里基茨认为

the remnants of ancient springs can be used to help monitor climates of the past by dating when warm and cold periods occurred.

古代泉水的遗迹可以用来帮助监测过去的气候，方法是确定温暖期和寒冷期的年代。

Dr Rickett's starting point is his assumption that, as ice ages end and the world warms up,

里基茨博士的出发点是他的一个假设—随着冰河时代的结束，世界变暖，

underground water flows will increase simultaneously⁵ all around the planet.

地球各地的地下水流量将同时增加。

Moreover, as water travels through the ground it dissolves and picks up minerals, particularly calcium⁶ carbonate.

此外，当水穿过地面时，它会溶解并吸收矿物质，尤其是碳酸钙。

When it subsequently bubbles to the surface, it deposits these minerals as a type of limestone⁷ called travertine,

当它随后冒泡在地表时，它将这些矿物质沉积为一种叫做石灰华的石灰石，

which has bands in it that reveal by their thickness approximately how long the water which created them was flowing.

石灰华中存在条带，可以通过它们的厚度显示出创造它们的水大约流动了多长时间。

The age of a band can be determined⁸ by analysis of the radioactive isotopes⁹ within it, particularly those of uranium and its decay products.

条带的年龄可以通过分析其中的放射性同位素来确定，尤其是铀及其衰变产物。

Dr Rickett therefore predicted that the thicknesses of bands of travertine of the same age from all around the world would be correlated,

因此，里基茨博士预测世界各地年代相同的石灰华条带的厚度是相关的，

and that those thicknesses would decrease and increase with the coming and going of ice ages.

并且这些厚度会随着冰河时代的到来和结束而减少或增加。

To test this idea he and his colleagues searched the scientific literature for all the previous studies of travertine they could find.

为了验证这一观点，他和他的同事们查阅了所有他们能找到的关于石灰华的科学文献。

By doing so, as they report in the Journal of Quaternary Science,

正如他们在《Journal of Quaternary Science》中的报告所述，

they discovered the ages of 1,649 deposits of the rock, scattered¹⁰ across every continent except Antarctica.

这么做让他们发现1649年的岩石沉积物，这些沉积物分布在除南极洲以外的所有大陆上。

To his delight, when Dr Rickett plotted these ages against the thickness of the bands reported,

令他高兴的是，当里基茨博士将这些年代与所报告中的条带厚度进行对比时，

he found that those thicknesses did indeed rise and fall in step.

他发现这些厚度确实是同步上升和下降的。

To his further delight, the dates he deduced for warm and cold periods matched those from the existing way of dating them,

令他更高兴的是，他推断出的温暖期和寒冷期的年代与用现有年代计算方式所得结果吻合，

which measures the ratio of isotopes of oxygen in fossil teeth—for this ratio is temperature dependent.

通过现有方式测算出了牙齿化石中氧同位素的比例—因为这个比值与温度有关。

That different dating methods have arrived at the same conclusion in this way

不同的年代测定方法以这种方式得出了相同的结论

is a useful confirmation¹¹ that palaeoclimatologists' dates for events in the past few hundred thousand years are correct.

这有力地证实了古气候学家对过去几十万年事件的年代测定是正确的。

1 inscribed   

v.写，刻( inscribe的过去式和过去分词 )；内接

参考例句：

• His name was inscribed on the trophy. 他的名字刻在奖杯上。
• The names of the dead were inscribed on the wall. 死者的名字被刻在墙上。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 oracle   

n.神谕，神谕处，预言

参考例句：

• In times of difficulty,she pray for an oracle to guide her.在困难的时候，她祈祷神谕来指引她。
• It is a kind of oracle that often foretells things most important.它是一种内生性神谕，常常能预言最重要的事情。

3 stimulated   

a.刺激的

参考例句：

• The exhibition has stimulated interest in her work. 展览增进了人们对她作品的兴趣。
• The award has stimulated her into working still harder. 奖金促使她更加努力地工作。

4 divination   

n.占卜，预测

参考例句：

• Divination is made up of a little error and superstition,plus a lot of fraud.占卜是由一些谬误和迷信构成，再加上大量的欺骗。
• Katherine McCormack goes beyond horoscopes and provides a quick guide to other forms of divination.凯瑟琳·麦考马克超越了占星并给其它形式的预言提供了快速的指导。

5 simultaneously   

adv.同时发生地，同时进行地

参考例句：

• The radar beam can track a number of targets almost simultaneously.雷达波几乎可以同时追着多个目标。
• The Windows allow a computer user to execute multiple programs simultaneously.Windows允许计算机用户同时运行多个程序。

6 calcium   

n.钙(化学符号Ca)

参考例句：

• We need calcium to make bones.我们需要钙来壮骨。
• Calcium is found most abundantly in milk.奶含钙最丰富。

7 limestone   

n.石灰石

参考例句：

• Limestone is often used in building construction.石灰岩常用于建筑。
• Cement is made from limestone.水泥是由石灰石制成的。

8 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

9 isotopes   

n.同位素；同位素( isotope的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• the many isotopes of carbon 碳的诸多同位素
• Tritium is one of the mildest radioactive isotopes. 氚是最和缓的放射性同位素之一。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 scattered   

adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的

参考例句：

• Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来，塞进文件夹里。

11 confirmation   

n.证实，确认，批准

参考例句：

• We are waiting for confirmation of the news.我们正在等待证实那个消息。
• We need confirmation in writing before we can send your order out.给你们发送订购的货物之前，我们需要书面确认。