时差N小时 南极曾是一片森林?(下)

That suggests that the trees were deciduous¹, meaning that they shed their leaves at the same time.

这说明树木会在每年的相同时间内落叶。

But fossilized wood from the region tells a different story.

但是该地区的木化石却又说明了另一种情况。

How so?

原因是？

Cells in the tree rings show a pattern of growth that's consistent with evergreen² trees, meaning trees that don't shed their leaves.

年轮的细胞体现出树木的生长方式与常青树相同。也就是说它们不会落叶。

So the ancient Antarctic forests were probably a mix of evergreen and deciduous trees.

因此，古代的南极森林可能是一片常青树和落叶树的杂交林。

Right. Analysis of carbon molecules³ in the fossil woods shows something similar.

对木化石中碳分子的分析结果也显示有所相似之处。

And it also suggests that the forests have some similarities to tropical forests today.

真奇怪，同时，分析结果还表明了南极森林和今天的热带雨林也存在一定的相似。

Weird1 Another question is how Antarctic forests dealt with constant daylight half the year and near total darkness the other half.

另一个问题就是南极森林是如何适应极昼和极夜现象的。

Wouldn't that mess with their ability to photosynthesize?

这难道不会扰乱它们光合作用的能力吗?

Good question! More research might reveal the answer.

问得好！想要找出答案可能还需要进行更多的研究。

1 deciduous   

adj.非永久的；短暂的；脱落的；落叶的

参考例句：

• Overgrown deciduous shrubs can be cut back at this time of year.过于繁茂的落叶灌木可以在每年的这个时候修剪。
• Deciduous trees shed their leaves in autumn.落叶树木在秋天落叶。

2 evergreen   

n.常青树；adj.四季常青的

参考例句：

• Some trees are evergreen;they are called evergreen.有的树是常青的，被叫做常青树。
• There is a small evergreen shrub on the hillside.山腰上有一小块常绿灌木丛。

3 molecules   

分子( molecule的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The structure of molecules can be seen under an electron microscope. 分子的结构可在电子显微镜下观察到。
• Inside the reactor the large molecules are cracked into smaller molecules. 在反应堆里，大分子裂变为小分子。