雙語散文欣賞富有生命的海洋

  海洋佔地球表面四分之三。地球上維持生命的氧氣,90%產生於海洋,整個天氣體系變化的動力也是海洋。接下來,小編給大家準備了,歡迎大家參考與借鑑。

  

  The ocean covers three quarters of the earth's surface, produces 90 percentof allits life-supporting oxygen, and is the driving force behind the entireweather system. There are over 450 million cubic miles of sea water on theearth; and each cubic mile contains over 150 million tons of minerals.

  So vast and so pervasive is the sea that if the earth's crust were made level,ocean water would form a blanket over 8,000 feet deep.

  The oceans contribute immeasurably to the earth's life support system aswell as provide an untapped storehouse of food, minerals, energy, and ar-chaeological treasureAdvanced atmospheric diving suits permit researchers to descend to depthsof l,500 feet. Yet the ocean's average depth is greater than 12,000 feet. It is atthese depths that remarkable discoveries are being made, discoveries whichonly a short time ago would have been impossible.

  In that depth, where darkness is absolute and pressure exceeds eight tons persquare inch, robotic submersibles have discovered enormous gorges, fourtimes deeper than the Grand Canyon Here, too, are volcanoes that vastlyoutnumber those on land. Landslides the size of Rhode Island have beenrecorded, as well as raging undersea storms that go completely unnoticed oitthe surface while dramatically rearranging the underwater landscapes.

  And under these seas the largest single geological feature on earth hasbeen found-a mountain range that dwarfs the Himalayas. It's a range thatcovers nearly one quarter of the earth's surface.

  All these discoveries have come from the exploration ofless than one-tenthof this undersea mountain range.

  The earth is the only planet we know that has an ocean. The ocean is tlielargest feature on earth. Yet it's the one feature we know the least about. Weknow more about the moon 240,000 miles away than we know about thethree-fourths of the earth covered with water. Man has set foot on the moon,but not on the most remote part of the earth, 35,000 feet under the sea.

  Technology is changing all that. It's literally parting the waves for today'sundersea explorers. And it's bringing about the opportunity to transformvision, curiosity and wonder into practical knowledge.

  Properly managed as a tool to serve society, technology is the best hopefor overcoming economic and social problems facing people everywhere. Italways has been. The earliest relics of human life are tools. And our ancientancestors used these tools to understand and change the world around themand make it better. The same is true today.

  The deep sea is the last frontier left to explore.

  富有生命的海洋

  海洋佔地球表面四分之三。地球上維持生命的氧氣,90%產生於海洋,整個天氣體系變化的動力也是海洋。地球上的海水超過4億5千萬立方英里,每立方英里含有的礦物超過1億5千萬噸。

  海洋如此廣大浩翰,如此分佈遼闊,地球表層如果使之平整起來,那麼海水可以形成深8,000多英尺的覆蓋層。

  海洋對地球上的維持生命系統做出了不可估量的貢獻,同時又是一座尚未開啟的寶庫,儲有食物、礦物、能源和具有很大考古價值的東西。

  先進的常壓潛水衣可以使研?a href='//' target='_blank'>咳嗽畢魯戀?,500英尺的深度。但海洋的平均深度超過12,000英尺。現在正是在這個深度才發現了驚人的情況,這些發現在不久以前是不可能辦到的。

  這個深度的海中完全是漆黑一片,每平方英寸的壓力超過8噸,潛水機器人在這裡發現了巨大的峽谷,比美國科羅拉多大峽谷深3倍。這裡火山之多,大大超過陸地上的火山,也曾有過規模大到和羅得島一樣的山崩,還有猛烈的海底風暴,這種風暴在海面上一點也覺察不到,卻劇烈地改變著水下的景觀。 ,就在這些海洋中發現了地球上惟一最大的地質構成——一條使喜馬拉雅相形見絀的大山脈,這條山脈覆蓋了地球表面幾乎四分之一。

  上述那些發現都是來自探索這條水下山脈不到十分之一的地區所見到的。

  地球是我們所知有海洋存在的唯一行星。海洋是地球構成的最大部分,而正是這部分我們知道得最少,這一覆蓋地球四分之三的水域我們所知的情況還不如我們對遠離地球24萬英里的月球所知道的多。

  人類已涉足月球,但對海面以下3萬5千英尺地球最深邃的地方卻從未涉足過。

  技術正在改變這一切,它正在劈波斬浪為今日的水下探索者開路。它正在創造機會使幻想、求知慾和高深莫測的事情轉化成實實在在的知識。

  把技術當作服務於社會的工具適當地加以掌握,它就是克服各地人民所面臨的經濟與社會問題最大的希望所在。技術歷來都是如此。

  人類生活的最早遺物就是工具。我們遠古的祖先使用那些工具來認識世界改造、世界使之日趨完善。今天的情況也還是如此。

  深海是尚待探索的最後一個領域。