经济学人184:恐龙的崛起 恐龙称霸地球的原因

 　　Science and technology

　　科学技术

　　The rise of the dinosaurs²

　　恐龙的崛起

　　Pardon!

　　恕我直言!

　　A geological burp may have led to the dinosaurs'domination

　　地质上的甲烷释放可能是恐龙称霸地球的原因

　　THE dinosaurs, famously, went out with a bang.

　　众所周知，恐龙在地球上是突然消失的。

　　Some 65.5m years ago, at the end of the Cretaceous period, the Earth collided with an asteroid³ and the biggest terrestrial beasts in history were no more.

　　大约在6500万年前的白垩纪末期，地球与小行星相撞导致最大的陆地兽类全部灭绝。

　　That left things clear for the rise of the mammals.

　　此次灭绝事件为哺乳动物的崛起提供了契机。

　　But how did the dinosaurs rise to power in the first place?

　　但首要的是恐龙是如何崛起的呢？

　　Some light on this question has just been shed by a paper published in Science by Micha Ruhl of Utrecht University, in the Netherlands, and his colleagues.

　　荷兰乌得勒支大学迈克尔·鲁尔及其同事在最近一期科学杂志上撰文对此问题进行了阐述。

　　Dinosaurs first appear in the fossil record during the Triassic period, some 230m years ago.

　　恐龙最早出现在三叠纪时期的化石记录中。

　　They do not take over, though, until the end of the Triassic, 201m years ago.

　　但直至三叠纪末期恐龙才取得地球霸主地位。

　　That date marks one of five recognised mass extinctions in history.

　　历史公认的5次物种大灭绝事件之一就是以三叠纪末期为标志的。

　　In it, half the world’s known species disappeared.

　　在此期间，世界上的半数已知物种都灭绝了。

　　Until now, the end of the Triassic has been blamed on massive volcanic⁵ eruptions⁶ that went on for 600,000 years.

　　直到现在，人们都一直将三叠纪的终结归因于持续了60万年的大规模火山喷发。

　　Dr Ruhl, however, reckons that was not the cause—or, at least, not directly.

　　然而鲁尔博士却认为火山喷发不是导致三叠纪终结的原因或者至少不是直接原因。

　　By analysing the isotopic⁷ composition of hydrocarbon⁸ molecules⁹ from plant waxes of the period,

　　通过分析该时期植物腊的碳氢分子同位素组成，

　　he found what looks like a spike¹⁰ in the amount of recently non-biological carbon, lasting¹¹ between 10,000 and 20,000 years.

　　他发现有种类似最近非生物碳的碳元素在数量上激增，这种现象持续了1万到2万年。

　　He thinks the liberation of methane¹² stored at the bottom of the ocean in structures called clathrates is the most likely culprit.

　　他认为出现这种现象的最可能诱因是甲烷气体的释放,这些甲烷气体释放前存储在海底称作"笼形包合物"的结构中。

　　The alternative, that the carbon came from the volcanoes, is unlikely because the spike is much shorter than the period of volcanic activity.

　　另一种说法是这种碳元素来自于火山，但这不可能，因为碳数量激增期比火山活动期要短得多。

　　Methane is a greenhouse gas far stronger than carbon dioxide, so the consequence would have been a rapid warming of the climate—a phenomenon that the rocks suggest did actually happen.

　　甲烷是一种比二氧化碳浓烈得多的温室气体，它的释放会导致地球气候迅速升温—岩石层研究也表明这种现象确实发生过。

　　This is not the first time a methane burp has been blamed for an extinction⁴.

　　人类已经不是第一次将物种灭绝归因于甲烷气体的脉冲式释放。

　　Though the Cretaceous asteroid cleared the stage,

　　尽管白垩纪时期的小行星灭绝了居统治地位的恐龙，

　　mammals did not really get going until 10m years later, in the Eocene epoch¹³.

　　但哺乳动物却一直到1000万年后的始新世才真正兴起繁盛起来。

　　The preceding Palaeocene epoch was also brought to an end, the rocks suggest, by a sudden release of methane.

　　岩石层研究表明甲烷的突然释放导致了之前的古新世时期结束。

　　The burp could, of course, have been provoked by the eruptions, so the volcanoes are not off the hook completely.

　　当然甲烷的脉冲式释放可能是火山喷发所致，因此火山始终难辞其咎。

　　But, for those of a nervous disposition¹⁴, the tying of an ancient greenhouse warming to an ancient mass extinction might suggest lessons for the future.

　　但是对于这些性情冲动的火山，古代的温室变暖和古代大量物种灭绝之间的联系或许对未来有诸多的借鉴意义。

　　1.dinosaur¹ n.恐龙

　　The blue whale is bigger than the biggest dinosaur.

　　蓝鲸比最大的恐龙还要大。

　　2.domination n.支配；控制；管辖

　　The defeated army must assent¹⁵ to the domination of the victors.

　　被打败的军队必须同意胜利军队的支配。

　　3.terrestrial n.地球生物

　　Men live on the terrestrial parts of the earth.

　　人们住在地球上的陆地部分。

　　4.mammal n.哺乳动物

　　The bat is the only mammal that can fly.

　　蝙蝠是唯一会飞的哺乳动物。

　　5.fossil n.化石；食古不化的人

　　Coal is a fossil fuel.

　　煤是一种矿物燃料。

1 dinosaur   

n.恐龙

参考例句：

• Are you trying to tell me that David was attacked by a dinosaur?你是想要告诉我大卫被一支恐龙所攻击？
• He stared at the faithful miniature of the dinosaur.他凝视著精确的恐龙缩小模型。

2 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》

3 asteroid   

n.小行星；海盘车(动物)

参考例句：

• Astronomers have yet to witness an asteroid impact with another planet.天文学家还没有目击过小行星撞击其它行星。
• It's very unlikely that an asteroid will crash into Earth but the danger exists.小行星撞地球的可能性很小，但这样的危险还是存在的。

4 extinction   

n.熄灭，消亡，消灭，灭绝，绝种

参考例句：

• The plant is now in danger of extinction.这种植物现在有绝种的危险。
• The island's way of life is doomed to extinction.这个岛上的生活方式注定要消失。

5 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。

6 eruptions   

n.喷发，爆发( eruption的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There have been several volcanic eruptions this year. 今年火山爆发了好几次。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Over 200 people have been killed by volcanic eruptions. 火山喷发已导致200多人丧生。 来自辞典例句

7 isotopic   

adj.同位素的，合痕的

参考例句：

• The isotopic signatures of most ancient limestones indicated the same process. 大多数古代石灰岩的同位素特征说明了同样的过程。 来自辞典例句
• Isotopic discrimination is not likely. 同位素甄别是不可能的。 来自辞典例句

8 hydrocarbon   

n.烃，碳氢化合物

参考例句：

• During incomplete combustion some of the hydrocarbon fuel is cracked.在不完全的燃烧中，一些烃燃料裂解。
• The hydrocarbon must be an alkene.这个碳氢化合物必定是烯烃。

9 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。

10 spike   

n.长钉，钉鞋；v.以大钉钉牢，使...失效

参考例句：

• The spike pierced the receipts and held them in order.那个钉子穿过那些收据并使之按顺序排列。
• They'll do anything to spike the guns of the opposition.他们会使出各种手段来挫败对手。

11 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。

12 methane   

n.甲烷，沼气

参考例句：

• The blast was caused by pockets of methane gas that ignited.爆炸是由数袋甲烷气体着火引起的。
• Methane may have extraterrestrial significance.甲烷具有星际意义。

13 epoch   

n.(新)时代；历元

参考例句：

• The epoch of revolution creates great figures.革命时代造就伟大的人物。
• We're at the end of the historical epoch,and at the dawn of another.我们正处在一个历史时代的末期，另一个历史时代的开端。

14 disposition   

n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署

参考例句：

• He has made a good disposition of his property.他已对财产作了妥善处理。
• He has a cheerful disposition.他性情开朗。

15 assent   

v.批准，认可；n.批准，认可

参考例句：

• I cannot assent to what you ask.我不能应允你的要求。
• The new bill passed by Parliament has received Royal Assent.议会所通过的新方案已获国王批准。