The Continental Plates 盘古大陆，板块迁移
- 详细资料
- 创建于 2006年9月12日
- 最后更新于 2024年5月25日
- 发布于 2011年11月23日
- 作者：Mike Lee
- 点击数：207
课文朗读
课文讲解
Whenever you look at a world map, doesn’t it look like a big jigsaw puzzle? If you think the continents were once a single giant one, you are right. For the last 200 million years, they have slowly separated, creating the globe’s surface as we know it today.
当你看着世界地图时，会不会觉得它很像一块大拼图？如果你认为世界各大洲曾是一整块巨大的陆地，那么你的想法是正确的。两亿年以来，陆地渐渐分裂，创造出我们今日所知的地球表面。
In 1912, Alfred Wegener contended that the great continent he called Pangaea, meaning “all land” in Greek, began to split apart 200 million years ago. He coined the phrase “Continental Drift” to describe his idea. Today, we have evidence supporting the theory. Identical fossils have been found in West Africa and eastern South America, and rock layers form a continuous line on these separate continents. There are also tropical plant fossils in Antarctica, leading experts to believe that this frozen continent was once located in tropical waters.
1912年，韦格纳主张这块他称为「盘古（Pangaea）」的大陆在两亿年前开始分裂，Pangaea在希腊文中意为「所有的陆地」。他创造出「大陆漂移」这个名词来描述他的概念。如今，我们有证据可支持这项理论：在西非和南美东部发现相同的化石，且在这两个分开大陆的岩层形成了一条连线；在南极洲也有热带植物的化石，让专家相信这块冰冻陆地曾经位于热带海洋中。
The mechanism that causes continental drift is now understood. According to the theory of plate tectonics, the continents are actually plates thatfloat atop the earth’s mantle, which is made of molten rock known as lava. The inner mantle is heated by the earth’s core and it rises. As the mantle spreads, the plates are carried along with it. When they collide, one continent is forced up, creating mountains, while the other is forced down, returning to the inner earth. The areas where these plates meet have a high frequency of earthquakes. So next time you feel like you’re on solid ground, remember that you’re really floating on a continent!
造成大陆漂移的机制现已为人所知。根据板块运动理论，陆地其实是漂浮在地幔上的板块，而地幔的成份是熔化的岩石，即岩浆。地幔内部被地核加热开始上升。地幔扩张，大陆板块也随之移动。当板块碰撞时，其中一个板块受力上升形成山脉，另一个则受力下降回到地球内部，板块交界带发生地震的频率很高。所以，下次你觉得自己像踩在坚固的地面上时，别忘了你其实是在陆地上漂浮着！
−by Howard Weston
Vocabulary
单词发音
contend [kənˋtɛnd] v. 坚决主张，声称
core [kor] n. 核心
collide [kəˋlaɪd] v. 碰撞；相撞
More Information
单词发音
jigsaw [ˋdʒɪg͵sɔ] n. 拼图玩具
globe [glob] n. 地球
Pangaea [pænˈdʒɪə] n. 盘古大陆
split [splɪt] v. 分裂
coin [kɔɪn] v. 创造﹐杜撰〔新字等〕
continuous [kənˋtɪnjʊəs] adj. 连续的
Antarctica [ænˋtɑrktɪkə] n. 南极洲
mechanism [ˋmɛkə͵nɪzəm] n. 机制
tectonics [tɛkˋtɑnɪks] n. 构造学, 构造地质学, 大地构造学
atop [əˋtɑp] prep. 在…上面
mantle [ˋmænt!] n. 【地】地幔
lava [ˋlɑvə] n.【地】熔岩
molten [ˋmoltən] adj. 熔化的