纪录片《地球劫难日》 第06期 西伯利亚地盾

Scientists have spent years digging in Permian rocks for clues.

数年来，科学家们一直都在二叠纪岩层中挖掘线索。

Yet, wherever they looked they could find no evidence of the cause of death.

可是他们无论到哪里都没能找到这场大屠杀的起因。

No footsteps, no finger prints.

哪怕连足印和指纹也没有。

It seemed as if the killer¹ had arrived and departed without a trace.

仿佛那个杀手真的是来无影去无踪。

Then in the early 1990s, they stumbled on something.

后来直到上世纪90年代初，他们终于有了进展。

Buried under the frozen wastes of Siberia are thousands of miles of lava².

西伯利亚的冻土层下埋藏着数千英里的熔岩。

It's an area known as the Siberian Traps.

这个地区叫做西伯利亚地盾。

Today the region is covered in snow and vegetation,

今天该地已被积雪和植被覆盖，

but below the surface are the ancient remains³ of the biggest and most destructive volcanic⁴ eruptions⁵ the world has ever witnessed.

但地表之下却遗留着地球上有史以来规模最大、毁灭性最强的火山爆发的远古证据。

250 million years ago, hundreds of thousands of square miles of Siberia caught fire.

2亿5千万年前，西伯利亚方圆数千英里的土地都是一片火海。

1 killer   

n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者

参考例句：

• Heart attacks have become Britain's No.1 killer disease.心脏病已成为英国的头号致命疾病。
• The bulk of the evidence points to him as her killer.大量证据证明是他杀死她的。

2 lava   

n.熔岩，火山岩

参考例句：

• The lava flowed down the sides of the volcano.熔岩沿火山坡面涌流而下。
• His anger spilled out like lava.他的愤怒像火山爆发似的迸发出来。

3 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

4 volcanic   

adj.火山的；象火山的；由火山引起的

参考例句：

• There have been several volcanic eruptions this year.今年火山爆发了好几次。
• Volcanic activity has created thermal springs and boiling mud pools.火山活动产生了温泉和沸腾的泥浆池。

5 eruptions   

n.喷发，爆发( eruption的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There have been several volcanic eruptions this year. 今年火山爆发了好几次。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Over 200 people have been killed by volcanic eruptions. 火山喷发已导致200多人丧生。 来自辞典例句