万物简史 第293期:地下的烈火(1)

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　　In the summer of 1971, a young geologist¹ named Mike Voorhies was scouting² around on some grassy³ farmland in eastern Nebraska, 1971年夏，一位名叫迈克·沃里斯的年轻地质学家在内布拉斯加州东部一片草木丛生的农田里考察，

　　not far from the little town of Orchard⁴, where he had grown up. 就在离果园小镇不远的地方。

　　Passing through a steep-sided gully, he spotted⁵ a curious glint in the brush above and clambered up to have a look. 他是在那里长大的。在经过一处陡峭的隘口的时候，他发现上面的树丛里射出一道古怪的闪光，就爬上去看个明白。

　　What he had seen was the perfectly⁶ preserved skull⁷ of a young rhinoceros⁸, which had been washed out by recent heavy rains. 他发现原来是一块保存完好的小犀牛头骨。它是被最近下的大雨冲到外面的。

　　A few yards beyond, it turned out, was one of the most extraordinary fossil beds ever discovered in North America, 原来，几米以外有个北美有史以来发现的最不寻常的化石床：

　　a dried-up water hole that had served as a mass grave for scores of animals—rhinoceroses, zebra-like horses, saber-toothed deer, camels, turtles. 一个已经干涸的水洞，它成为几十头动物的集体坟墓——其中有犀牛，斑马似的野马，长着剑齿的鹿、骆驼、乌龟。

　　All had died from some mysterious cataclysm⁹ just under twelve million years ago in the time known to geology as the Miocene. 它们都在不到1200万年之前死于一次神秘的大灾难。那个时代在地质学上被称之为中新世。

　　In those days Nebraska stood on a vast, hot plain very like the Serengeti of Africa today. 当时，内布拉斯加位于一片广阔而又炎热的平原，就如今天非洲的塞伦盖蒂平原。

　　The animals had been found buried under volcanic¹⁰ ash up to ten feet deep. 动物被发现埋在深达3米的火山灰底下。

　　The puzzle of it was that there were not, and never had been, any volcanoes in Nebraska. 令人费解的是，内布拉斯加当时没有过也从来没有过火山。

　　Today, the site of Voorhies's discovery is called Ashfall Fossil Beds State Park, 今天，沃里斯的发现现场被称之为州立阿什福尔化石床公园。

　　and it has a stylish¹¹ new visitors' center and museum, with thoughtful displays on the geology of Nebraska and the history of the fossil beds. 这里新盖了一个漂亮的游客中心和博物馆，里面很有创见地陈列着内布拉斯加的地质发现和化石床历史。

　　The center incorporates a lab with a glass wall through which visitors can watch paleontologists cleaning bones. 中心有个实验室，游客通过玻璃墙看得见古生物学家们在清理骨头。

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