VOA慢速英语2014 光纤测量南极冰川融化（在线收听）

AS IT IS 2014-10-22 Fiber Optic Cable Measures Antarctic Ice Melt 光纤测量南极冰川融化

Antarctica is covered with ice that extends past the land and floats on the sea in thick shelves. But those ice shelves are melting quickly. As they melt, the sea level rises, increasing the risk of damaging floods.

南极被延展到陆地上和漂浮在海上的厚厚的冰架覆盖着.但是这些冰架正在快速地融化.因为他们的融化,海平面上升,加速了破坏性洪水发生的风险.

Scientists have developed a new way to monitor the temperature of the ice shelf and how fast it is melting. They are using a fiber optic cable — like the one connected to your television or home computer. But this cable is as thin as a human hair. And, it is covered with steel to protect it from ocean pressure.

现在科学家已经开发出一种可以监督冰架的温度和冰架融化速度的方法,他们用一种光纤------就像连接在你的电视或者家庭电脑上的光纤一样.但是这种光纤像人的头发一样细.并且,为了保护它不被海洋的压力压坏,它是被钢铁覆盖着的.

Scott Tyler teaches at the University of Nevada in Reno. Professor Tyler is a specialist in hydrology – the movement and quality of water on Earth and other planets. He described the work with fiber optic cable in the journal Research Letters.

斯科特·泰勒任教于内华达州立大学. 泰勒教授是水文学的专家,研究的是地球或者其他星球上水的运动和水的品质.他在《研究信访》日志上描述了他关于光纤的工作.

Professor Tyler said researchers set up a base camp on the Ross Ice Shelf. They made a hole in the ice 200 meters deep. Then, they extended the cable 700 meters down into the hole.

泰勒教授说研究人员在罗斯冰架上建立了一个营地，他们在冰上挖了一个200米深的洞，然后，他们从这个洞里把光纤延伸到了700米深.

He says the scientists had to work fast. 

他说科学家们必须快速地工作.

“The ice shelf temperature is cold. It’s minus 23 C (Celsius). So, it is very cold ice. So the ocean wanted to freeze. And so we figured, we calculated that we had about at minimum 20 minutes of time to get everything down this little, tiny 50-millimeter diameter hole into the ocean before it would freeze solid. And, we did!”  

“冰架的温度有零下23度之低，所以，冰块非常的冷，所以海洋想要冻结了。我们就设想，我们计算出我们大约有最低20分钟的时间，在海洋冻成固体之前，在这个小的、直径有50毫米宽的洞里把事情处理完，并且，我们做到了！

Researchers connected the other end of the cable into equipment on the surface. Images began to appear on the computer screen of what was happening down below. The researchers also learned how cold it was at the other end of the cable.

研究人员把光纤的另一端连接在地面上的设备。下面发生的什么的图像都开始呈现在电脑屏幕上了，研究人员也了解到了光纤的另一端是有多冷了。

He added that researchers could operate the equipment remotely. In other words, they did not have to be on the ice shelf.

他补充说研究人员能够远程操作设备，也就是说他们不用必须在冰架上。

“That’s right. We can talk to it by satellite modem, so satellite, basically satellite telephone. It is probably a little bit like when they are working the Mars Rover. It takes a long time to get any information back and forth, but it worked generally most of the time.” 

“是的，我们可以用卫星调制解调器与它对话，是卫星，基本上是卫星通话，这大概有点像当他们在火星上工作时，信息的接受和发送需要很长一段时间，但是一般大部分时间就是这样工作的。”

The National Science Foundation provided financing for the project. It proved that the technology works.

国家科学基金会为这个项目提供了基金。事实证明，这种技术是可行的。

Mr. Tyler says he hopes to create more fiber optic stations on ice shelves. While satellites can show changes from space, he said, fiber optics can record those changes under ice.

泰勒先生说他希望在冰架上创建更多的光纤站，然后卫星就可以通过太空显示出变化，他说，光纤可以记录冰块下面的变化。

Words in This Story

monitor - v. to observe for a special purpose over a period of time

fiber optic - adj. with thin threads of glass or plastic to carry very large amounts of information in the form of light signals

calculated - v. found a number using a mathematical process

diameter - n. the distance through the center of something from one side to the other