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科学美国人60秒 SSS 食物链最底层——遭污染的深海食物

时间:2017-07-06 07:57:15

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(单词翻译)

The True "Bottom" of the Food Chain Is Plenty Polluted 食物链最底层——遭污染的深海食物

The Mariana Trench1 is the deepest spot in the world’s oceans. Only three humans have ventured into the trench in submersibles. But plenty of our pollution has made the voyage to the bottom of the sea: a new study finds that critters living more than six miles below the ocean surface contain high levels of harmful compounds like polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, and flame retardants.

马里亚纳海沟是全球海洋最深的地方。只有3个人曾乘潜水器冒险进入这一壕沟。然而,人类制造的许多污染物已经潜入了海底:一项新的研究发现,生活在海平面六英里以下的生物体内含有高浓度的有害化合物——比如多氯联苯(PCBs)和阻燃剂。

“An important thing is that, if you’re in the deepest place in world, there’s no place to go.”

“重点是,当你身处世上最深之地时,你就再无其他可去之处了。”

Alan Jamieson, a marine2 ecologist at Newcastle University in the U.K.

英国纽卡斯尔大学的海洋生态学家艾伦·杰米森(Alan Jamieson)说道。

\“You can’t be disturbed horizontally. You can’t go back up. So, for every nanogram of pollutant3 that’s gone into the deep sea, there’s no mechanism4 to put it back again. So, of course the values are going to be high, cause it’s only a one way traffic, right?”

“无法水平移动,也无法回到上层海域。所以,对于每一纳克进入深海的污染物,都没有途径再把它拉回去。因而,付出的代价势必会很高,毕竟这是一条单行道,不是吗?”

Jamieson and his colleagues used robotic traps to collect deep-sea amphipods living in the most remote parts of the oceans. These creatures look a bit like shrimp5, and they’re well adapted to their extreme environment, he says.

杰米森和同事们利用机器人捕捞来收集生活在海洋最偏远地区的深海片脚类动物。他说,这些生物看起来有点像虾,而且它们很能适应极端的环境。

“The deep sea-ones are incredible scavengers. This is why they thrive in the deep sea, because it’s a low-food environment where most of their food comes from dead carcasses raining from the surface or particulates6 coming down. So, everything from an organic particle to a dead whale is fair game to an amphipod.”

“这些深海动物是能力惊人的食腐动物。这就是为什么它们能在深海中茁壮成长。因为这是一个食物匮乏之地,它们的大部分食物来自雨水从地表冲下来的死去的动物尸体或落下来的微粒。所以,对片脚类动物来说,从一颗有机粒子到一只死鲸,一切物质都是可捕食的猎物。”

The food that floats down to the ocean bottom carries man-made contaminants, including PCBs, which entered the surface ocean from rivers and coastlines. Companies stopped manufacturing these chemicals in the 1970s, after they were found to be dangerous. But they don’t break down easily, so they’re still swirling7 around in the oceans and working their way down to the seafloor, where amphipods gobble them up.

漂向海底的食物含有人造污染物,包括从河流和海岸线流进海面的多氯联苯。上世纪70年代,人们发现这些化学物质很危险,此后公司便停止了生产。但它们很难分解,所以它们仍然在海洋中盘旋,并一路飘向海底,在那里被片脚类动物吞噬。

The research was published in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution.

这项研究发表在《自然生态与进化》杂志上。

In many surface-dwelling species, PCBs have been shown to interfere8 with animals’ abilities to reproduce. Jamieson says they don’t have enough data yet to know how deep-sea amphipods are faring, because they’re much harder to study. But he says that wasn’t his motivation for studying pollutants9 in the deep ocean.

在许多水面生的物种中,多氯联苯已被证明会损害它们的繁殖能力。杰米森表示,他们还没有足够的数据来了解深海片脚类动物的生活方式,因为它们研究起来比较困难。但他说,这并不是他研究深海污染物的动机。

“The point is that they are there. It’s to challenge people’s perception that the deep sea is not exempt10 from what’s happening in the rest of the world. And that’s a perception we hear quite a lot of.”

“重点是它们到了那里。这对人们的看法是一种挑战,即深海并不能免受世界其他地区的影响。而现实中我们经常听说那种看法。”


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1 trench VJHzP     
n./v.(挖)沟,(挖)战壕
参考例句:
  • The soldiers recaptured their trench.兵士夺回了战壕。
  • The troops received orders to trench the outpost.部队接到命令在前哨周围筑壕加强防卫。
2 marine 77Izo     
adj.海的;海生的;航海的;海事的;n.水兵
参考例句:
  • Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
  • When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时,他自愿参加了海军陆战队。
3 pollutant N1Zzy     
n.污染物质,散布污染物质者
参考例句:
  • Coal itself is a heavy pollutant.煤本身就是一种严重的污染物。
  • Carbon dioxide may not be a typical air pollutant.二氧化碳可能不是一种典型的污染物。
4 mechanism zCWxr     
n.机械装置;机构,结构
参考例句:
  • The bones and muscles are parts of the mechanism of the body.骨骼和肌肉是人体的组成部件。
  • The mechanism of the machine is very complicated.这台机器的结构是非常复杂的。
5 shrimp krFyz     
n.虾,小虾;矮小的人
参考例句:
  • When the shrimp farm is built it will block the stream.一旦养虾场建起来,将会截断这条河流。
  • When it comes to seafood,I like shrimp the best.说到海鲜,我最喜欢虾。
6 particulates 24011a21c8b46b35a9bfd904211c7c51     
n.微粒,粒子( particulate的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Techniques for controlling particulates include filtering, washing, centrifugal separation, and electrostatic precipitation. 控制颗粒污染物的技术包括过滤、洗涤、离心分离、静电沉降。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
  • Only micronic particulates penetrate to the depth of the lung. 只有微细粒子穿透到肺深部。 来自辞典例句
7 swirling Ngazzr     
v.旋转,打旋( swirl的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • Snowflakes were swirling in the air. 天空飘洒着雪花。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • She smiled, swirling the wine in her glass. 她微笑着,旋动着杯子里的葡萄酒。 来自辞典例句
8 interfere b5lx0     
v.(in)干涉,干预;(with)妨碍,打扰
参考例句:
  • If we interfere, it may do more harm than good.如果我们干预的话,可能弊多利少。
  • When others interfere in the affair,it always makes troubles. 别人一卷入这一事件,棘手的事情就来了。
9 pollutants 694861490fe64672170a0da250a277c7     
污染物质(尤指工业废物)( pollutant的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Pollutants are constantly being released into the atmosphere. 污染物质正在不断地被排放到大气中去。
  • The 1987 Amendments limit 301(g) discharges to a few well-studied nonconventional pollutants. 1987年的修正案把第301条(g)的普通排放限制施加在一些认真研究过的几种非常规污染物上。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
10 exempt wmgxo     
adj.免除的;v.使免除;n.免税者,被免除义务者
参考例句:
  • These goods are exempt from customs duties.这些货物免征关税。
  • He is exempt from punishment about this thing.关于此事对他已免于处分。

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