possibly some changes in the patterns of behavior of the geysers and steam vents, but nobody really knows." 间歇泉和喷气孔的活动方式可能有变化，但确实谁也说不清楚。”

　　So it could just blow without warning? “那么，它可能会在没有任何警报的情况下爆发？”

　　He nodded thoughtfully. 他若有所思地点了点头。

　　The trouble, he explained, is that nearly all the things that would constitute warning signs already exist in some measure at Yellowstone. 他解释说，问题在于，在某种程度上，能成为警报信号的差不多一切现象在黄石公园里都已存在。

　　"Earthquakes are generally a precursor of volcanic eruptions, but the park already has lots of earthquakes— 1,260 of them last year. “一般来说，地震是火山爆发的先兆，但公园里已经发生了很多次地震——去年发生了1260次。

　　Most of them are too small to be felt, but they are earthquakes nonetheless." 其中大多数很弱，因此感觉不到，但毕竟还是地震。”

　　A change in the pattern of geyser eruptions might also be taken as a clue, he said, but these too vary unpredictably. 他说，间歇泉活动方式的变化，也可以被看成是个迹象，但间歇泉变化多端，同样无法预言。

　　Once the most famous geyser in the park was Excelsior Geyser. 木丝泉一度是公园里最著名的间歇泉。

　　It used to erupt regularly and spectacularly to heights of three hundred feet, but in 1888 it just stopped. 它过去一直喷射得很有规律，非常壮观，达到100米的高度，但在1888年突然停喷了。

　　Then in 1985 it erupted again, though only to a height of eighty feet. 然后，它在1985年又恢复喷射，但高度只有25米。

　　Steamboat Geyser is the biggest geyser in the world when it blows, shooting water four hundred feet into the air, 汽船泉是世界上最大的间歇泉，喷射的时候可达120米高，

　　but the intervals between its eruptions have ranged from as little as four days to almost fifty years. 但喷射的间隔时间可以少到4天，多达50年。

　　"If it blew today and again next week, “要是它今天喷射了下个星期又喷射，

　　that wouldn't tell us anything at all about what it might do the following week or the week after or twenty years from now," Doss says. 丝毫不说明它下下个星期或下下下个星期或20年之后会怎么样，”多斯说，

　　"The whole park is so volatile that it's essentially impossible to draw conclusions from almost anything that happens." “整个公园都变化无常，你实际上不可能根据任何动静来下个结论。”