Wild Europe - Genesis 肇始之初- 5

It took a ten-meter layer of fallen rain forest to make just a one-meter seam of coal. When you consider the depth of all the seams in all the coalfields worked in Europe, from Britain through to northern France and Germany, Poland and Ukraine, the immense scale of Carboniferous forests becomes clear.

Coal fuelled one of the greatest transformations¹ that Europe has ever seen. Its presence all across the continent was a vital component² in making Europe the cradle of the Industrial Revolution and ultimately turned it into the economic powerhouse it is today. The ancient past can directly shape the present. Europe is now the most urbanized and industrialized continent on the globe, largely thanks to its position on the equator 300 million years ago.

When these steaming forests were at their peak, other events were already in motion that would banish³ them forever. Europe, still drifting north, had been rocked by another series of monumental collisions. And the result of the tectonic pileup was this, the supercontinent Pangea.

Around 213 million years ago, Europe was engulfed by a massive land. Now, far from the oceans, rain no longer fell. Under an unforgiving sun, the lush tropical forests disappeared and the continent was swallowed by sand.

The fossilized remains⁵ of these desert dunes⁶ now form much of the bedrock of the Eastern Europe. In the depths of a Russian winter, it's hard to imagine how hot and dry this place once was, let alone some of the creatures that roamed here, Dinosaurs⁷, a new order on the move.

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words and expressions

seam :a stratum of ore or coal thick enough to be mined with profit矿层；煤层

powerhouse:an electrical generating station发电站

banish:To drive away; expel驱逐, 消除

engulf:To swallow up or overwhelm by or as if by overflowing and enclosing席卷；吞没

1 transformations   

n.变化( transformation的名词复数 )；转换；转换；变换

参考例句：

• Energy transformations go on constantly, all about us. 在我们周围，能量始终在不停地转换着。 来自辞典例句
• On the average, such transformations balance out. 平均起来，这种转化可以互相抵消。 来自辞典例句

2 component   

n.组成部分，成分，元件；adj.组成的，合成的

参考例句：

• Each component is carefully checked before assembly.每个零件在装配前都经过仔细检查。
• Blade and handle are the component parts of a knife.刀身和刀柄是一把刀的组成部分。

3 banish   

vt.放逐，驱逐；消除，排除

参考例句：

• The doctor advised her to banish fear and anxiety.医生劝她消除恐惧和忧虑。
• He tried to banish gloom from his thought.他试图驱除心中的忧愁。

4 engulfed   

v.吞没，包住( engulf的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was engulfed by a crowd of reporters. 他被一群记者团团围住。
• The little boat was engulfed by the waves. 小船被波浪吞没了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

6 dunes   

沙丘( dune的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The boy galloped over the dunes barefoot. 那男孩光着脚在沙丘间飞跑。
• Dragging the fully laden boat across the sand dunes was no mean feat. 将满载货物的船拖过沙丘是一件了不起的事。

7 dinosaurs   

n.恐龙( dinosaur的名词复数 )；守旧落伍的人，过时落后的东西

参考例句：

• The brontosaurus was one of the largest of all dinosaurs. 雷龙是所有恐龙中最大的一种。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Dinosaurs have been extinct for millions of years. 恐龙绝种已有几百万年了。 来自《简明英汉词典》