你可曾見過會(huì)走路的石頭?美國加州死亡谷有一種奇特的現(xiàn)象:石頭會(huì)在荒灘沙漠上神秘地“自行移動(dòng)”,并在地面上留下行走的痕跡。這一神秘現(xiàn)象在科學(xué)界引發(fā)的討論已逾數(shù)十年。它們又是怎么移動(dòng)的呢?真的是超自然力量的驅(qū)使嗎?
By Bren Parks
硯青 選 岳曉玲 譯
A baffling phenomenon of nature or a paranormal[1] display of supernatural existence or is it an alien intervention? Questions still remain unanswered while experts are still nailing down on what could be the accurate reason behind stones of Death Valley that slide by themselves, without the interference of humans or animals.[2] In the southwest of the United States of America, lies this mysterious valley—popular as the hottest and driest location in North America. This lowest lying point of the continent is a deserted floor located in the Inyo Country by the border of California and Nevada, and consists of a dry lakebed named “Racetrack Playa[3]” which is proved to have the motion of rocks every two or three years. What are Sailing Stones? “Sailing Stones” of Death Valley—named from their distinctive and mysterious feature are in a count of hundreds scattered allover the Racetrack Playa from the size of a pebble to as large as huge boulders.[4] The playa which is nothing but a flat bed of scorched mud observes the sailing of such stones on its broken surface of flat octagons and pentagons.[5] While the stones having rough bottoms tend to form smooth straight tracks, stones with smoother bottom are found wandering in an unorganized pattern. Stones also tend to turn over during this process leading all the way to another track. Like the size and shape of sailing stones, its component also varies all over the Racetrack Playa. In the southern end of the region, they’re found to be made of dark dolomite, while the stones from the adjacent slopes consist more of tan-colored igneous rock.[6] From as small as 10 feet to as long as 100 feet, the tracks formed by these sailing stones are usually 2.5 cms deep and 4-12 inches wide, consisting of silt and clay sediments and last usually for three to four years. The Science of Sailing Stones Even though this geological phenomenon is a mystery and still a subject under research, various speculations have been made on the exact reason behind the sailing of the stones. Some researchers believe a combination of natural events cause these stones to “sail”. This area of Death Valley can get very frigid in the winter nights, causing a layer of ice to form on the baked smooth soil. The combination of the ice-coated ground and fierce winds, the rocks are gently pushed across the surface. The winds are indeed fierce, as they have been known to clock up[7] to 90 mph during the winter months. Other researchers question this theory[8]. Some point the conditions have to be just right for these stones to move, perhaps occurring once every one to three years. They claim some other unknown factor is probably in play. To add more to this strange phenomenon, these sailing stones don’t follow a specific path that could be predicted when ice and wind are present. Some stones that are physically near each other may start out sailing in a parallel direction, but then one would stop while the other one continues. Some have started sailing in a parallel direction, but then suddenly one would turn left or right and continue on in that direction. There are some stones that have reversed course while others have continued on in a straight path. To make matters even more complicated, some stones have completely turned over while continuing to sail across the dry lake bed. There are also researchers believe that the movement of stones in the desert are under the influence of Milky Way, means our galaxy. The position of stars create a magnetic structure in such a way which make the stones to slide in valley, just like the tides in oceans which are sometimes influenced by the gravitation pull[9] of the moon. Till date these mysterious stones and their movement remains un-filmed and unobserved by human eyes, but the various speculations made by experts keep us driving towards this mystical happening of nature, wondering how this could be possible.
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它究竟是一個(gè)令人困惑的自然現(xiàn)象,還是一個(gè)超自然異象的展現(xiàn)?亦或是外星人干預(yù)的結(jié)果?這些問題至今仍無定論。專家們也仍在致力于探究死亡谷那些石頭在沒有人類或動(dòng)物干預(yù)的情況下自行漂移的確切原因。神秘的死亡谷位于美國西南部,那里以是北美最為炎熱干燥之處而廣為人知。這塊人際罕至的荒原也是北美大陸海拔的最低點(diǎn),它位于加利福尼亞州和內(nèi)華達(dá)州交界處的因約縣,是一塊名為“跑道干湖”的干涸湖床,這里每隔兩三年就會(huì)被證實(shí)有巖石移動(dòng)的痕跡。 何謂風(fēng)帆石? 死亡谷的“風(fēng)帆石”因其神秘和獨(dú)特而得名。數(shù)以百計(jì)的風(fēng)帆石散落在跑道干湖上,小者有如鵝卵石,大者堪比巨礫。這座干荒盆地除了由干焦的泥土組成的平坦湖床之外一無所有,湖床表面已龜裂成單調(diào)五角形和八角形,經(jīng)常會(huì)出現(xiàn)風(fēng)帆石移動(dòng)的痕跡。那些底部凹凸不平的石頭身后通常會(huì)留下筆直流暢的痕跡,而那些底部較為平滑的石頭的軌跡卻呈現(xiàn)蜿蜒曲折的不規(guī)則曲線狀。風(fēng)帆石滑動(dòng)過程中還會(huì)因翻滾而變換軌道。 正像風(fēng)帆石的大小、形狀不一,它們的組成物也在跑道干湖的各處各不相同。該區(qū)域南端的石頭是暗色的白云石,而附近斜坡上的石頭則多是棕褐色的火成巖。這些風(fēng)帆石身后的行跡由淤泥和土壤沉淀物組成,短則10英尺,長者可達(dá)100英尺,通常深約2.5厘米,寬約4至12英寸,而且一般會(huì)保留三到四年。 風(fēng)帆石里的科學(xué) 盡管這一地質(zhì)現(xiàn)象仍是未解之謎,科學(xué)家們也仍在努力探究,但關(guān)于這些石頭能自己滑動(dòng)的確切原因,人們已有多種猜測。 一些研究人員認(rèn)為風(fēng)帆石的“航行”是多種自然因素綜合作用的結(jié)果。冬季的夜晚,死亡谷地區(qū)會(huì)變得奇寒無比,湖床夏日烤焦的平坦底土上會(huì)結(jié)一層冰。這層覆冰的土壤與凜冽的寒風(fēng)共同作用,推動(dòng)風(fēng)帆石在地面上緩緩移動(dòng)。這里的風(fēng)勢極猛,冬天時(shí),風(fēng)速可達(dá)每小時(shí)90英里。 不過,也有研究人士對(duì)這一觀點(diǎn)提出質(zhì)疑。有人指出,(上述推論所描述的)風(fēng)帆石位移的發(fā)生,只有在所有條件都恰巧具備的情況下才會(huì)發(fā)生,而這種適宜的條件每一到三年才會(huì)出現(xiàn)一次。(故而)他們認(rèn)為還有一些未知的因素或許在起作用。 令這一奇怪現(xiàn)象更具神秘色彩的是,風(fēng)帆石的移動(dòng)并非遵循特定的軌跡,而如果按上述冰層和風(fēng)的條件都具備的情況下,那么石頭運(yùn)動(dòng)的行跡應(yīng)該是可以預(yù)測的。一些相互距離較近的石頭開始移動(dòng)時(shí),其行進(jìn)方向可能是平行的,接著一塊石頭停了下來,另一塊石頭卻仍會(huì)繼續(xù)移動(dòng)。有時(shí),在平行的方向上,其中的一塊石頭可能突然左轉(zhuǎn)或右轉(zhuǎn),并在新的方向上繼續(xù)前行。有些石頭移動(dòng)過程中可能會(huì)倒轉(zhuǎn)往回移動(dòng),另一些則會(huì)繼續(xù)保持直線移動(dòng)。令情況更為復(fù)雜的是,有些石頭會(huì)在干涸的湖面上完全翻了個(gè)兒地移動(dòng)。 另外有研究者認(rèn)為,風(fēng)帆石能在沙漠中移動(dòng)是由于銀河,也就是我們的銀河系的影響。恒星的位置會(huì)形成一定的磁場結(jié)構(gòu),使得這些石頭在山谷中滑行,一如海中的潮汐有時(shí)會(huì)受到月球引力作用的影響那樣。 迄今為止,人類尚未拍攝到或目睹過這些神秘石頭的“行走”,然而專家們的各種猜想?yún)s一直吸引著我們?nèi)リP(guān)注這一自然奇觀,令我們不禁感嘆:真是無奇不有! (來源:英語學(xué)習(xí)雜志) |
Vocabulary: 1. paranormal: 超自然的。 2. nail down: 弄清,確定;interference: 干涉。 3. playa: 干鹽湖;(美國西南部的)干荒盆地。 4. scatter: 分散,散落;boulder: 巨礫,(由于氣候或水侵蝕而形成的)卵石。 5. scorched: 燒焦的;octagon: 八角形;pentagon: 五角形。 6. dolomite: 白云石;adjacent: 鄰近的,附近的;tan-colored: 棕褐色的;igneous rock: 火成巖。 7. clock up:〈口〉達(dá)到。 8. theory: 此處指意見,看法,推測。 9. gravitation pull: 引力。 |