经济学人110:地球上所有碳的秘密的项目

 　　Technology Going underground

　　科技 去地球深处

　　A project to reveal more about all the carbon on Earth

　　一个将会揭示更多关于地球上所有碳的秘密的项目

　　THE carbon cycle is the stuff of school books.

　　碳的循环在学校教科书中已经讲过了。

　　It is a familiar tale of photosynthesis¹, forests, farming and fossils fuels.

　　这是一个包含光合作用，森林，农业及化石燃料等且为人所熟知的故事。

　　Understanding this cycle is important, both because it sustains life on Earth and because it is bound up with the rate of global warming.

　　理解这个循环是重要的，既因为它支撑了地球上的生命又因为它和温室效应息息相关。

　　But are the outlines of the carbon cycle really that familiar?

　　但是碳循环真的就像我们所熟悉的那样子么？

　　At the AAAS meeting in Washington, DC, Robert Hazen of the Carnegie Institution for Science, which is based in the same town, gave a lecture intended to show that this view of the carbon cycle only scratches the surface.

　　在华盛顿特区召开的AAAS会议上，来自位于该特区卡耐基科学研究所的Robert Hazen做的研究试图展示出以前那种碳循环的观点仅仅是抓了些表面现象。

　　Dr Hazen is one of the moving spirits behind a project called the Deep Carbon Observatory², which will be paid for by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

　　Hazen博士是一个叫做地底碳观察项目的策划人，这个项目即将得到Alfred P. Sloan基金会的资助。

　　Over the course of the next decade it will attempt to understand all the carbon in the Earth, not just the stuff that cycles through the atmosphere, the oceans and living things.

　　在接下来的10年里，该项目将会致力于理解地球上所有碳的循环方式而不仅仅是大气，海洋和生物中循环的那些碳的运转。

　　As Dr Hazen pointed³ out, carbon is the fourth-most-abundant element in the universe, after hydrogen, helium and oxygen.

　　就像Hazen博士指出的那样，碳是宇宙中含量排第四的元素，仅落后于氢，氮和氧。

　　In the Earth, though less common than that, it is reckoned to make up between 0.07% and 3.2% of the planet.

　　虽然在地球上它的含量并没有这么高，但是据估计，它应该占星球的0.07%-3.2%。

　　But the uncertainty⁴ of this range is itself a comment on how little carbon's role in the Earth's overall physics and chemistry is understood.

　　有这个范围区间正表现出碳在整个地球物理化学研究中被忽视了。

　　Also uncertain is how much interchange there is between the carbon in the Earth's mantle⁵ and core, and the more familiar stuff in the crust, atmosphere and oceans.

　　地表和地心之间碳的交流以及地壳、大气和海洋之间碳的交流目前人们都不明确。

　　Some carbon comes from the mantle to the surface in the form of diamonds.

　　有些来自地幔的碳以钻石的形式到达地表。

　　These crystals, which can form only under the intense pressure of the Earth's deep interior, must have been erupted at unbelievable speed (about 100kph) to have survived the journey to the surface intact.

　　这些只有在地球内部巨大的压力下才能形成的晶体，需要以令人难以置信的速度（100公里每小时）喷出地表才能保持完整。

　　At slower speeds they would have turned into graphite, much to the chagrin⁶ of brides-to-be everywhere.

　　如果速度较低，他们会变成石墨，这是得那些即将成为新娘的人十分懊恼。（钻石很珍贵而结婚的新娘们很喜欢但因为它们因为速度的原因就不能形成钻石，所以很懊恼）

　　How, exactly, diamond forms is an important question. Diamonds are useful as an industrial material as well as gem⁷ stones, and they would have many more applications if they could be made cheaply. And another, even more important industrial material, petroleum⁸, may also come from the mantle.

　　钻石到底是怎么形成的是一个重要的问题。钻石不仅仅是宝石首饰，而且是重要的工业材料。如果可以很便宜的制作的话，它的使用会更加广泛。另外一种更加重要大的工业材料，石油，同样是来自地幔。

　　Among petroleum geologists⁹ in Western countries, the consensus¹⁰ is that crude oil and natural gas are formed near the Earth's surface from the fossilised bodies of living organisms.

　　西方地质学家认为，石油和天然气是生物石化的尸体在地表附近形成的。

　　Many Russians, though, disagree. They support the 130-year-old idea of their countryman Dmitri Mendeleev (who created the first version of the periodic table of elements).

　　很多俄国科学家则不这么看。他们支持同胞门捷列夫的有130年历史的观点。

　　He thought the temperatures and pressures of the mantle would convert carbonates and water into hydrocarbons¹¹.

　　门捷列夫认为，地幔的温度和压力可以把碳酸盐和水转化成碳氢化合物。

　　That has, indeed, been done experimentally in the past.

　　的确，这在过去被试验过。

　　And one role of the Deep Carbon Observatory will be to try to do it again in more sophisticated ways.

　　地底碳观察的一个任务是用更精确的方法重复这个实验，

　　If it turns out that fossil fuels are abiogenic, that probably means they are more abundant than Western geologists think, and may be found in places hitherto thought unpromising.

　　如果最终证明化石燃料是和生物无关的，那意味着它们的存在可能比西方地质学家们想的更加广泛，可能在以前认为不可能的地方存在。

　　Abiogenic petroleum could also provide food for one of the most intriguing¹² targets of all for the Deep Carbon Observatory: the bacteria that live in the Earth's depths.

　　非生物化的石油也可以为地底碳观察最刚兴趣的对象--地底细菌，提供食物。

　　Current estimates suggest that half of all the living matter on Earth lives underground, at depths of up to 5km.

　　现在估计地球上大约一半的生物生活在地下深度约5千米以下的地方。

　　Some people think the share may be bigger than that. Indeed, there is loose talk of life having originated more than once in the distant past, and of there being entire shadow biospheres of organisms completely unrelated to anything on the surface.

　　有些人认为比例可能更大。的确，有关于生命不止一次的在不久的过去重新起源的讨论，以及关于存在与地表无关的地底阴影生物圈的讨论。

　　Intriguingly¹³, a few diamonds bear signs that their carbon was once part of living organisms.

　　有趣的是某些钻石有着一些它们可能曾经是生物的迹象。

　　The ratio between the heavy and light isotopes¹⁴ of the element in their crystals is not quite right for stuff that has come out of the ground.

　　它们晶体里重轻同位素的比例并不像是从地底挖出来的东西那样。

　　Instead, it matches the ratio found when organic molecules¹⁵ have been through a few rounds of biochemical processing.

　　与之相反，它们与生物分子经过生化处理后表现出的比率相吻合。

　　Clearly there is a lot going on deep in the Earth that is completely unknown to science.

　　很显然，地下深处正在发生的很多事情科学对其是一无所知的。

　　With a bit of luck, over the ten years of Dr Hazen's project, the veil of ignorance will be lifted a little.

　　如果幸运的话，十年之后Hazen博士的项目将会帮我们减少这方面的无知。

1 photosynthesis   

n.光合作用

参考例句：

• In apple trees photosynthesis occurs almost exclusively in the leaves.苹果树的光合作用几乎只发生在叶内。
• Chloroplasts are the structures in which photosynthesis happens.叶绿体就是光合作用发生的地方。

2 observatory   

n.天文台，气象台，瞭望台，观测台

参考例句：

• Guy's house was close to the observatory.盖伊的房子离天文台很近。
• Officials from Greenwich Observatory have the clock checked twice a day.格林威治天文台的职员们每天对大钟检查两次。

3 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

4 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

5 mantle   

n.斗篷，覆罩之物，罩子；v.罩住，覆盖，脸红

参考例句：

• The earth had donned her mantle of brightest green.大地披上了苍翠欲滴的绿色斗篷。
• The mountain was covered with a mantle of snow.山上覆盖着一层雪。

6 chagrin   

n.懊恼；气愤；委屈

参考例句：

• His increasingly visible chagrin sets up a vicious circle.他的明显的不满引起了一种恶性循环。
• Much to his chagrin,he did not win the race.使他大为懊恼的是他赛跑没获胜。

7 gem   

n.宝石，珠宝；受爱戴的人 [同]jewel

参考例句：

• The gem is beyond my pocket.这颗宝石我可买不起。
• The little gem is worth two thousand dollars.这块小宝石价值两千美元。

8 petroleum   

n.原油，石油

参考例句：

• The Government of Iran advanced the price of petroleum last week.上星期伊朗政府提高了石油价格。
• The purpose of oil refinery is to refine crude petroleum.炼油厂的主要工作是提炼原油。

9 geologists   

地质学家，地质学者( geologist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Geologists uncovered the hidden riches. 地质学家发现了地下的宝藏。
• Geologists study the structure of the rocks. 地质学家研究岩石结构。

10 consensus   

n.(意见等的)一致，一致同意，共识

参考例句：

• Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗？
• What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么？

11 hydrocarbons   

n.碳氢化合物，烃( hydrocarbon的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Hydrocarbons (HC), like carbon monoxide, represent unburned and wasted fuel. 碳氢化合物(HC)像一氧化碳一样，为未燃尽的和被浪费掉的燃料。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• With this restricted frequency range it is not applicable to hydrocarbons. 这个较紧缩的频率范围不适用于烃类。 来自辞典例句

12 intriguing   

adj.有趣的；迷人的v.搞阴谋诡计(intrigue的现在分词)；激起…的好奇心

参考例句：

• These discoveries raise intriguing questions. 这些发现带来了非常有趣的问题。
• It all sounds very intriguing. 这些听起来都很有趣。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 intriguingly   

参考例句：

• Intriguingly, she gave to the music a developed although oddly malleable personality. 最神奇的是，她的音乐具有成熟却又很奇怪地极富可塑性。 来自互联网
• Intriguingly, the patients brains were riddled with tangles, but not amyloid plaques. 有趣的是，患者的大脑中充满了各缠结，但并没有粉斑。 来自互联网

14 isotopes   

n.同位素；同位素( isotope的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• the many isotopes of carbon 碳的诸多同位素
• Tritium is one of the mildest radioactive isotopes. 氚是最和缓的放射性同位素之一。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 molecules   

分子( molecule的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The structure of molecules can be seen under an electron microscope. 分子的结构可在电子显微镜下观察到。
• Inside the reactor the large molecules are cracked into smaller molecules. 在反应堆里，大分子裂变为小分子。