纪录片《侏罗纪之谜》 第16期 岩石地层

In the rocks there were brown layers which came from old riverbeds.

岩石中有古老河床形成的褐色地层

Above this were grey layers made up of lake muds.

上面是湖泊泥渣形成的灰色地层

These two layers seemed to be evidence for a very wet climate,

这两个地层证明了当时的湿润气候

but nearby in the same formation there were very different rocks, fossilised sand-dunes.

但是在附近同样的地质结构中，却存在着完全不同的岩层，石化沙丘

This was evidence for a very dry climate. It didn't seem to make sense.

它是干旱气候的证据。这真是莫名其妙

You might see one report that said it was desert

可能一篇报导说这是沙漠

and then you might see another report that said it was tropical rainforest in the same place,

而另一篇报导却说这是热带雨林都在同一个地方，

but clearly both of those can't be right.

显然这两种说法都不正确

Well you wouldn't think they could both be right

既然这些观点都不对

and so it was just sort of trying to figure out what that all meant,

那我们要做的就是找出这里的事实真相

how you could, how these two radically¹ different signals in the same piece of geology that,

同样地质条件下存在着两种截然不同的情况

that really was one of the things that made this so interesting and surprising.

这确实是让人感到奇怪和好奇的事

But as she studied these contradictory² signals,

随着Judy研究这些矛盾的事实

Judy realised there was one answer that would solve the riddle³.

她意识到只有一种解释能解开谜团

The climate had to be two things at once, a hot, dry season and a short but very intense wet season.

当时这两种气候必然一起发生，即炎热的旱季和短暂而强烈的雨季

This would explain how rivers and deserts could appear at the same time.

这就能解释为什么河流和沙漠会在同一时期出现。

1 radically   

ad.根本地，本质地

参考例句：

• I think we may have to rethink our policies fairly radically. 我认为我们可能要对我们的政策进行根本的反思。
• The health service must be radically reformed. 公共医疗卫生服务必须进行彻底改革。

2 contradictory   

adj.反驳的，反对的，抗辩的；n.正反对，矛盾对立

参考例句：

• The argument is internally contradictory.论据本身自相矛盾。
• What he said was self-contradictory.他讲话前后不符。

3 riddle   

n.谜，谜语，粗筛；vt.解谜，给…出谜，筛，检查，鉴定，非难，充满于；vi.出谜

参考例句：

• The riddle couldn't be solved by the child.这个谜语孩子猜不出来。
• Her disappearance is a complete riddle.她的失踪完全是一个谜。