Its rapid growth is clear |
其迅速的增长 |
evidence that this new volcano is extremely active, |
足以证明这座新火山十分活跃 |
but will it be as deadly as its parent? |
但会像它母亲那样致命吗 |
These eruptions are always accompanied |
火山喷发经常伴随 |
by a series of ground-shaking tremors. |
一系列的地下震颤 |
For geologists, these small earthquakes are evidence |
对于地质学家来说这些小地震就证明 |
that this volcano is entering a more destructive phase. |
这座火山已进入更具毁灭性的阶段 |
Seismographs have been buried deep on Anak's slopes to |
地震仪已被深深的埋在安克山坡的地下 |
record this underground activity. |
来纪录地下活动 |
But these small quakes are not the only sign of |
但是这些微小的地震并不是 |
a dangerously active volcano. |
危险活火山的唯一标志 |
A more subtle clue is rit beneath Mandeville's feet. |
更细微的线索就埋在曼德维尔的脚下 |
Black sand beaches are very common in volcanic areas. |
黑沙海滩在火山周围是很常见的 |
Uh, the minerals and the glass fragments that comprise the ash |
火山喷出的由矿石和玻璃碎片组成的火山灰 |
that the volcano erupts is typically dark charcoal gray colored, |
是典型的炭黑或者灰色 |
and usually, these materials don't stand up to weathering over |
而且通常这种火山灰经不起 |
long protracted periods of geologic time, |
长久的地质年代的风化 |
but you find them in relatively fresh, |
但当你靠近活跃的火山时 |
pristine form when you are near an active volcano. |
你会发现他们新鲜而纯净 |
Anak Krakatau is really, completely quiet, |
安克喀拉喀托火山十分平静 |
but the level of activity in 2008 shows |
但2008年的活动水平显示 |
that the volcano has become unusually violent. |
它已经异常剧烈了 |
To discover just how much of a threat it could pose |
为了发现火山在不久的将来 |
in the near future, |
会造成多大危害 |
volcano detectives must turn to their history books |
火山探测学家必须要查阅历史资料 |
to learn what made its parent Krakatoa so destructive. |
找出喀拉喀托如此具有毁灭性的原因 |
This is a story that has |
这是个让地质学家 |
fascinated geologists for over a century. |
一个世纪以来着迷的难题 |
What got me switched on to volcanology was the 1883 eruption, |
我转向火山学是由于我在学校学到的 |
|
伯恩茅斯大学 |
|
尼克·佩特福德教授 |
I learned about this at school, |
1883年的大爆发 |
and I remember thinking how incredible |
我记得当时在想一个小岛 |
that an island could just blow itself into oblivion. |
奇迹般的自爆消失了 |
You know, what was going on? |
这是怎么回事儿 |
What was that all about? |
为什么会发生 |
What was special? You know, how does that happen? |
有什么特别之处是怎么发生的 |
And could it happen again elsewhere on Earth? |
地球其他地方还会发生吗 |
Before it exploded in 1883, |
1883年喀拉喀托喷发之前 |
Krakatoa was an uninhabited island with three jagged peaks, |
是座无人居住的小岛有高低不同3个山头 |
covered in lush vegetation. |
丛林茂密 |
It was part of the Dutch East Indies, |
它是荷属东印度群岛的一部分 |
a thriving, bustling hub of international trade. |
是个繁华热闹的国际贸易中心 |
Indonesia's wealth of minerals |
印度尼西亚丰富的矿藏和香料 |
and spices attracted many Western traders, |
吸引了许多西方商人 |
完整版请点击 |
|
journalists and geologists. |
记者和地质学家 |
Their reports provide first-hand accounts of what happened before |
他们的报告提供了喀拉喀托爆发之前 |
and during Krakatoa's s deadly and shocking eruption. |
与爆发期间致命和惊人的一切的一手资料 |
There had been no hint of volcanic activity in anyone's memory. |
在人们的记忆中火山爆发没有任何前兆 |
No one had a clue that Krakatoa was about to blow. |
没有人知道火山将要爆发 |
Beneath its green and placid surface, |
在它碧绿而平和的地表下面 |
Krakatoa was a time bomb waiting to explode. |
喀拉喀托是个随时会爆炸的定时炸弹 |
So the first idea the locals would have got that anything was-- |
当地小岛居民最初感到 |
anything strange was happening |
有异样发生 |
on their island would have been in May 1883. |
是在1883年5月 |
Earthquakes, earth tremors. |
多次地震多次颤动 |
These tremors reached as far as the capital Batavia, |
这些震颤一直传到当时的首都巴达维亚 |
more than 100 miles away. |
远在100英里以外 |
Few suspected that the island of Krakatoa, |
很少有人会怀疑遥远地平线上的 |
seen on the distant horizon, was to blame, |
喀拉喀托火山在作祟 |
and that these earthquakes |
然而这些地震 |
were the first clue to its deadly potential. |
却是致命威胁的前兆 |
Then, on May 20th, 1883, |
后来1883年的5月20号 |
Krakatoa announced that it was no mere island. |
喀拉喀托火山宣布了自己不只是个岛屿 |
One of Krakatoa's three peaks exploded with extreme force, |
三个山峰中的一个剧烈爆发 |
shooting a plume of ash hundreds of feet into the air. |
向天空喷出100英尺高的羽状火山灰 |
But after these initial fireworks, |
但待这次火山喷发以后 |
the activity appeared to cease. |
火山活动似乎停止了 |
The local population breathed a sigh of relief. |
当地人们轻舒了一口气 |
Thinking it safe, the governor of the Dutch East Indies |
安全起见荷属印度群岛总督 |
sent a research party of geologists to the island in late May, |
5月底派了一支地质小组到小岛考察 |
where they observed the scorched |
他们观察着烤焦的地貌 |
landscape and smoking crater with amazement. |
冒着烟的火山口震惊万分 |
Their meticulous report |
他们详细的报告 |
gives modern-day geologists the first clue |
为现代地质学家提供了有关喀拉喀托 |
as to what lay behind Krakatoa's immense power. |
巨大潜在威力的最早记录 |
A key discovery was a layer of pumice one foot deep |
一个关键的发现就是海边覆盖有 |
that covered the island's shores. |
一英尺厚的浮石 |
This pumice is the solidified lava |
这些浮石是由熔岩凝固而成 |
that comes from the heart of a volcano, |
熔岩从火山内部流出 |
and it's riddled with bubbles. |
充满了气泡 |
These bubbles suggest to |
这些气泡暗示地质学家 |
geologists that Krakatoa is a stratovolcano. |
喀拉喀托火山是成层火山 |
And those volcanoes tend to be the classic volcanoes |
那些火山很像教科书上的典型火山 |
that you see in textbooks, they're very steep-sided, |
山体陡峭 |
like sort of sharp, almost triangular type mountains. |
很陡峻基本都是三角形山脉 |
These are the most dangerous types of volcanoes on Earth. |
这是地球上最危险的一种火山种类 |
They are fueled by molten rock called lava, |
它里面全是熔化的岩石叫做熔岩 |
known as magma when it's underground. |
在地下被称为岩浆 |
The magma that flows through |
这些岩浆在火山内流动 |
these volcanoes is like liquid dynamite. |
就像液体炸药一样 |
Stratovolcanoes are dangerous |
成层火山之所以危险 |
because of the sorts of lava that they erupt, |
是因为他们喷出的熔岩类型 |
and the lava that comes out |
向外喷出的熔岩 |
of stratovolcanoes is very sticky, viscous lava, |
很粘稠就像半流体 |
and the danger there is that |
危险之处就是 |
sticky lava often contains large amounts of gas. |
粘稠的熔岩中含有很多气体 |
The bubbles inside the pumice discovered on Krakatoa in 1883 |
1883年喀拉喀托浮石中所发现的气泡 |
show that the magma was once packed with explosive gases. |
表明一旦岩浆中的气体饱和便会爆炸 |
Because the magma was so sticky-- |
因为岩浆如此粘稠 |
a term describing its thickness and resistance to flow-- |
只能用无法流动来形容它的粘稠度 |