万物简史 第308期:地下的烈火(16)

 　　How and when the Earth got its crust are questions that divide geologists¹ into two broad camps, 地球如何有了地壳，何时有了地壳，这两个问题把地质学家分成两大阵营，

　　those who think it happened abruptly² early in the Earth's history and those who think it happened gradually and rather later. 一派认为，它是地球史之初突然发生的；另一派认为，它是渐渐发生的，而且时间比较晚。

　　Strength of feeling runs deep on such matters. 大家在这些问题上很动感情。

　　Richard Armstrong of Yale proposed an early-burst theory in the 1960s, then spent the rest of his career fighting those who did not agree with him. 耶鲁大学的理查德·阿姆斯特朗在20世纪60年代提出早期爆炸的理论，然后花了整个余生与持不同观点的人作斗争。

　　He died of cancer in 1991, but shortly before his death he 他1991年死于癌症。但是，去世前不久，他

　　"lashed³ out at his critics in a polemic⁴ in an Australian earth science journal that charged them with perpetuating⁵ myths," “在澳大利亚一本地球科学杂志的一次论战中，狠狠抨击了他的批评者，指责他们使神话永久化”，

　　according to a report inEarth magazine in 1998. 据1998年《地球》杂志报道说。

　　"He died a bitter man," reported a colleague. “他死不瞑目。”一位同事说。

　　The crust and part of the outer mantle⁶ together are called the lithosphere⁷ (from the Greek lithos, meaning "stone"), 地壳以及部分外层地幔，统称岩石圈（源自希腊语lithos，意思是岩石）。

　　which in turn floats on top of a layer of softer rock called the asthenosphere (from Greek words meaning "without strength"), 而陆界又浮在一层较软的岩石之上，名叫软流圈（源自希腊语，意思是“没有力量”），

　　but such terms are never entirely⁸ satisfactory. 但这些名称向来不令人满意。

　　To say that the lithosphere floats on top of the asthenosphere suggests a degree of easy buoyancy that isn't quite right. 说岩石圈浮在软流圈上面，意味着有一定程度的浮力，这是不完全正确的。

　　Similarly it is misleading to think of the rocks as flowing in anything like the way we think of materials flowing on the surface. 同样，认为岩石在像平面流动的物体那样流动，这也会使人产生误解。

　　The rocks are viscous⁹, but only in the same way that glass is. 岩石是黏稠的，但只是很像玻璃。

　　It may not look it, but all the glass on Earth is flowing downward under the relentless¹⁰ drag of gravity. 这似乎不大可能，但在引力的持续拉动下，地球上所有的玻璃都在往下流动。

　　Remove a pane¹¹ of really old glass from the window of a European cathedral and it will be noticeably thicker at the bottom than at the top. 从欧洲教堂的窗户上取下一块真正古老的玻璃，你会发现它的底部明显厚于顶部。

　　That is the sort of "flow" we are talking about. 我们在讨论的就是这种“流动”。

1 geologists   

地质学家，地质学者( geologist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Geologists uncovered the hidden riches. 地质学家发现了地下的宝藏。
• Geologists study the structure of the rocks. 地质学家研究岩石结构。

2 abruptly   

adv.突然地，出其不意地

参考例句：

• He gestured abruptly for Virginia to get in the car.他粗鲁地示意弗吉尼亚上车。
• I was abruptly notified that a half-hour speech was expected of me.我突然被通知要讲半个小时的话。

3 lashed   

adj.具睫毛的v.鞭打( lash的过去式和过去分词 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥

参考例句：

• The rain lashed at the windows. 雨点猛烈地打在窗户上。
• The cleverly designed speech lashed the audience into a frenzy. 这篇精心设计的演说煽动听众使他们发狂。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 polemic   

n.争论，论战

参考例句：

• He launched into a fierce polemic against the government's policies.他猛烈地抨击政府的政策。
• He wrote a splendid polemic in my favour.他写了一篇出色的文章为我辩护。

5 perpetuating   

perpetuate的现在进行式

参考例句：

• Revenge leads to a self-perpetuating cycle of violence. 怨怨相报会导致永不休止的暴力。
• It'set out to eradicate heresy, and ended by perpetuating it. 它的目的只是要根除异端邪说，结果却巩固了异端邪说。 来自英汉文学

6 mantle   

n.斗篷，覆罩之物，罩子；v.罩住，覆盖，脸红

参考例句：

• The earth had donned her mantle of brightest green.大地披上了苍翠欲滴的绿色斗篷。
• The mountain was covered with a mantle of snow.山上覆盖着一层雪。

7 lithosphere   

n.陆界，岩石圈

参考例句：

• The hydrosphere and the lithosphere together form the Earth's surface.水圈与岩石圈一起形成地球的表面。
• They slide on a more yielding layer at the base of lithosphere.它们在岩石圈底部更柔软的一层滑动。

8 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

9 viscous   

adj.粘滞的，粘性的

参考例句：

• Gases are much less viscous than liquids.气体的粘滞性大大小于液体。
• The mud is too viscous.You must have all the agitators run.泥浆太稠，你们得让所有的搅拌机都开着。

10 relentless   

adj.残酷的，不留情的，无怜悯心的

参考例句：

• The traffic noise is relentless.交通车辆的噪音一刻也不停止。
• Their training has to be relentless.他们的训练必须是无情的。

11 pane   

n.窗格玻璃，长方块

参考例句：

• He broke this pane of glass.他打破了这块窗玻璃。
• Their breath bloomed the frosty pane.他们呼出的水气，在冰冷的窗玻璃上形成一层雾。