VOA慢速英语--神奇的亚马逊隐藏着大西洋的珊瑚礁

Amazing Amazon Hides Atlantic's Coral Reef¹ 神奇的亚马逊隐藏着大西洋的珊瑚礁

Scientists studying the area where the Amazon River meets the Atlantic Ocean were in for a surprise.

Under the muddy, dark Amazon River water was a large number of undiscovered reefs² with colorful sea fans, coral, plants, fish and very big sponges³. It was one of the biggest surprises in modern ocean science.

Most ocean reefs need sunlight to exist.

On their boat that day in 2012, they carried a hand-drawn map that suggested maybe a large set of reefs sat just below them.

Brazilian scientist Rodrigo Moura of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, brought the map. He had read about the possible reefs in a 1977 research paper.

He lowered a dredging machine into the muddy water. 

Oceanographer Patricia Yager was there too. With others, she leaned over the boat’s edge, waiting to see what Moura would bring up from the bottom. They did not expect much.

"But we were very excited about the possibility, and of course he brings up the most amazing animals I have ever seen, at least in this part of the world. They were colorful, coral, sponges, fish, brittle⁴ stars, all kinds of things I could not have imagined in my wildest dreams, lived underneath⁵ this river plume⁶.”

The team was studying the area where the Amazon River flows into the Atlantic Ocean. Where these waters meet, the world’s largest river moves out across the top of the ocean, spreading out like a fan.

Yager teaches oceanography at the University of Georgia in the U.S. She explains that the water from the river stays separate from the ocean as it moves across it, covering the ocean with its dark and muddy water.

The reefs sit hidden in the ocean, about 50 meters below the surface of the water, says Yager.

“And so it is not being bathed in the river plume itself. It’s far below, in the very salty ocean, so the fresh water is not touching⁷ the reefs, they’re in salty ocean water.” 

The reefs run from the French Guiana border to Brazil’s Maranhao state, covering about 9,500 square kilometers.

Yager says she was surprised to find coral reefs below the dark muddy water.

“You can’t look down and see them like other reefs, they’re quite deep.  And then on top of that, the water, the surface layer of the water is very dark and turbid⁸, so yeah, you can’t see them from the surface, that’s why we didn’t know they were there.”

She says that she was taught that coral needs sunlight to survive.  And yet, here were coral in the lowlight of this area and they were just fine.

Some of the reefs do get sunlight for part of the year.

She says in the areas that get less light, the living creatures are less dependent on photosynthesis⁹.

Some of the coral reefs stand 30 meters high. They are home to lobster¹⁰, red snapper fish and very big sponges. But the area does not have as many different kinds of animals as some of the other well-known reefs around the world, like Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.

On their trip in 2012, the team only had a short time to find and explore their surprising discovery. The Brazilian scientists went back to the reefs in 2014 to do more studies of the reefs.

Recently they published their findings in the journal Science.

Yager says they plan to keep studying the area. One day, they would like to use they would like to use submersibles—vehicles used under water, to explore the reefs.

 “It would be really nice to not have to dredge this system to understand it, because of course that is a very destructive¹¹ method.  I would rather go down with cameras and look at it instead of destroying it.”

She says discovering these reefs is an example of how little is known about the oceans, and how important exploration is.

“We need to be open to discoveries,” she says.

News about the reef comes when there is more bad news about the problems of coral bleaching¹² in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. Scientists warn the bleaching is due to warming waters, and it is very damaging to the coral.

Yager says it might help to study how these Amazon reefs survive with less sunlight. Maybe, she says, scientists can find ways to help the other reefs suffering around the world.

But the Amazon reefs face their own threats. Companies want to drill for oil near the reefs. If they go forward, Yager warns, those large-scale operations could damage the reefs.

Words in This Story

reef – n. a group of rocks or coral or sand ridge¹³ at or near the surface of water

coral – n. a hard material formed on the bottom of the sea by the skeletons¹⁴ of small creatures

dredging – v. the act of removing mud from the bottom a river (or lake, etc) in order to search for something

oceanographer – n. a person who studies oceans

plume – n. the area where the river meets the Atlantic Ocean and fans out on top of the ocean water

photosynthesis – n. the process where plants turn water and carbon dioxide into food when the plant is exposed to light

destructive – adj. something that causes a very large amount of damage

bleaching – n. the harmful process when coral losing their color—turning white— due to stress, because of warming waters

1 reef   

n.礁，礁石，暗礁

参考例句：

• The ship and its crew were lost on the reef.那条船及船员都触礁遇难了。
• The ship was wrecked on a coral reef.这条船在珊瑚暗礁上撞毁了。

2 reefs   

礁体

参考例句：

• The motorboat cut across swift currents and skirted dangerous reefs. 汽艇穿过激流，绕过险滩。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Fish are abundant about the reefs. 暗礁附近鱼很多。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 sponges   

n.海绵( sponge的名词复数 )；海绵动物

参考例句：

• Sponges absorb water. 海绵吸水。 来自辞典例句
• Ice bags and alcohol sponges help to reduce fever, especially in children. 用冰袋和洒精擦浴有助于降体温，尤其是对儿童。 来自辞典例句

4 brittle   

adj.易碎的；脆弱的；冷淡的；(声音)尖利的

参考例句：

• The pond was covered in a brittle layer of ice.池塘覆盖了一层易碎的冰。
• She gave a brittle laugh.她冷淡地笑了笑。

5 underneath   

adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面

参考例句：

• Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
• She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣，里面套着一条连衣裙。

6 plume   

n.羽毛；v.整理羽毛，骚首弄姿，用羽毛装饰

参考例句：

• Her hat was adorned with a plume.她帽子上饰着羽毛。
• He does not plume himself on these achievements.他并不因这些成就而自夸。

7 touching   

adj.动人的，使人感伤的

参考例句：

• It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
• His letter was touching.他的信很感人。

8 turbid   

adj.混浊的，泥水的，浓的

参考例句：

• He found himself content to watch idly the sluggish flow of the turbid stream.他心安理得地懒洋洋地望着混浊的河水缓缓流着。
• The lake's water is turbid.这个湖里的水混浊。

9 photosynthesis   

n.光合作用

参考例句：

• In apple trees photosynthesis occurs almost exclusively in the leaves.苹果树的光合作用几乎只发生在叶内。
• Chloroplasts are the structures in which photosynthesis happens.叶绿体就是光合作用发生的地方。

10 lobster   

n.龙虾，龙虾肉

参考例句：

• The lobster is a shellfish.龙虾是水生贝壳动物。
• I like lobster but it does not like me.我喜欢吃龙虾，但它不适宜于我的健康。

11 destructive   

adj.破坏（性）的，毁灭（性）的

参考例句：

• In the end,it will be destructive of our whole society.它最终会毁灭我们整个社会。
• It is the most destructive storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的一次风暴。

12 bleaching   

漂白法，漂白

参考例句：

• Moderately weathered rock showed more intense bleaching and fissuring in the feldspars. 中等风化岩石则是指长石有更为强烈的变白现象和裂纹现象。
• Bleaching effects are very strong and show on air photos. 退色效应非常强烈，并且反映在航空象片上。

13 ridge   

n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭

参考例句：

• We clambered up the hillside to the ridge above.我们沿着山坡费力地爬上了山脊。
• The infantry were advancing to attack the ridge.步兵部队正在向前挺进攻打山脊。

14 skeletons   

n.（建筑物等的）骨架( skeleton的名词复数 )；骨骼；梗概；骨瘦如柴的人（或动物）

参考例句：

• Only skeletons of buildings remained. 只剩下了建筑物的框架。 来自辞典例句
• It looks like six skeletons in front of that stone door! 在这石头门前看上去就象有六副骨骼！ 来自辞典例句