2018年经济学人 太阳物理和古生物学:“石”事求是(2)

 

They have been able to apply the tree-ring method to petrifiedtrunks from a nearby fossil forest.

他们能够将判断树年轮的方式应用在附近石化森林的一颗石化的树木上。

This forest (imagined in an artist’s impression above) was buried by a volcanic² eruption³ 290m years ago, during the Permian period.

这个森林（用一个艺术家的感觉脑补一下这个森林吧）在2亿9百万年前的二叠纪时，被火山喷发所淹没。

And, as they report in Geology, Mr Luthardt and Dr Rossler have found that the sunspot cycle was little different then from what it is now.

Luthardt和Rossler博士在《地质》杂志中发表的报告里提出，他们发现2亿9百万年前的太阳黑子周期与现在差别不大。

The Chemnitz fossil trees, mostly conifers and ferns, are particularly well preserved.

开姆尼斯自然历史博物馆中的化石树大多都是针叶树和蕨类植物，这些树都得到了很好的保护。

Volcanic minerals seeped⁴ intothem soon after the eruptionand petrified¹ them before bacteria and fungi⁵ could rot their tissues away.

在火山爆发以后不久，火山矿物就渗入了这些树木中，同时在细菌和真菌分解它们的组织之前将其石化。

Mr Luthardt and Dr Rossler selected 43 of the largest specimensand looked at their growth rings.

Luthardt和Rossler博士选择了43个尺寸最大的标本，并观察了它们的年轮。

They found 1,917 rings which were in a good enough state to be measured under a microscope.

他们发现了1917个在显微镜下处于最佳观测状态下的年轮。

They knew that the trees had died simultaneously⁷, giving them a baseline to work from, and so were able to compare the rings from different plants.

他们还知道，这些树木在火山喷发时几乎同时石化——这是在他们研究中，能够将不同种类植物相比较的先提条件。

They were stunned⁸ by how clearly they could see the cycles.

这些年轮简直清晰得令人难以置信。

About three-quarters of their specimens⁶ showed synchronousgrowth peaks like those caused by modern sunspot activity.

约四分之三他们观察的样本展示出了与现代太阳黑子活动相似的周期。

In total, the rings they measured let them study 79 years of forest growth before the eruption.

总的来说，他们所测量的年轮能够体现出火山爆发前79年的树木生长情况。

During this period, the solar cycle averaged 10.6 years.

在那一时期，太阳活动周期平均为10.6年。

That compares with 11.2 years in the modern era, although this figure conceals⁹ wide variation in the lengths of individual cycles.

与之相比，现代的太阳活动周期平均为11.2年，不过这个数据不包括长时间以来生物个体发生的各种各样的变化。

Within statistical¹⁰ limits, then, it seems that the sunspot cycle was the same in the early Permian as it is now,

统计学认为，因为二叠纪早起的太阳黑子周期与近代相似，

suggesting that the sun’s magneticoscillationswere the same then as they are at present.

那么就能够认为，现在太阳的磁振荡与那时也同样相近。

Whether that is a coincidence has yet to be determined¹¹,

这是否是一个巧合还有待考证，

but there is no reason why the method Mr Luthardt and Dr Rossler have developed should not be applied¹² to other petrifiedforests, from different periods, to find out.

但这并不意味着Luthard先生与Rossler 博士自创的方法不能用来寻找其他处于不同时期的的石化森林。

1 petrified   

adj.惊呆的；目瞪口呆的v.使吓呆，使惊呆；变僵硬；使石化(petrify的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• I'm petrified of snakes. 我特别怕蛇。
• The poor child was petrified with fear. 这可怜的孩子被吓呆了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 volcanic   

adj.火山的；象火山的；由火山引起的

参考例句：

• There have been several volcanic eruptions this year.今年火山爆发了好几次。
• Volcanic activity has created thermal springs and boiling mud pools.火山活动产生了温泉和沸腾的泥浆池。

3 eruption   

n.火山爆发；（战争等）爆发；（疾病等）发作

参考例句：

• The temple was destroyed in the violent eruption of 1470 BC.庙宇在公元前1470年猛烈的火山爆发中摧毁了。
• The eruption of a volcano is spontaneous.火山的爆发是自发的。

4 seeped   

v.（液体）渗( seep的过去式和过去分词 )；渗透；渗出；漏出

参考例句：

• The rain seeped through the roof. 雨水透过房顶渗透。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Icy air seeped in through the paper and the room became cold. 寒气透过了糊窗纸。屋里骤然冷起来。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）

5 fungi   

n.真菌，霉菌

参考例句：

• Students practice to apply the study of genetics to multicellular plants and fungi.学生们练习把基因学应用到多细胞植物和真菌中。
• The lawn was covered with fungi.草地上到处都是蘑菇。

6 specimens   

n.样品( specimen的名词复数 )；范例；（化验的）抽样；某种类型的人

参考例句：

• Astronauts have brought back specimens of rock from the moon. 宇航员从月球带回了岩石标本。
• The traveler brought back some specimens of the rocks from the mountains. 那位旅行者从山上带回了一些岩石标本。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 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。

8 stunned   

adj. 震惊的，惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The fall stunned me for a moment. 那一下摔得我昏迷了片刻。
• The leaders of the Kopper Company were then stunned speechless. 科伯公司的领导们当时被惊得目瞪口呆。

9 conceals   

v.隐藏，隐瞒，遮住( conceal的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• He conceals his worries behind a mask of nonchalance. 他装作若无其事，借以掩饰内心的不安。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Drunkenness reveals what soberness conceals. 酒醉吐真言。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 statistical   

adj.统计的，统计学的

参考例句：

• He showed the price fluctuations in a statistical table.他用统计表显示价格的波动。
• They're making detailed statistical analysis.他们正在做具体的统计分析。

11 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。

12 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。