纪录片《地球劫难日》 第28期 冰冻甲烷

Could these massive reservoirs of methane¹, he now wondered, be the source of the carbon 12 found in Permian rocks

他现在想知道，这些大型甲烷矿藏是否就是二叠纪岩层中碳-12的来源，

and if it was, how did it get there?

如果是，它们又是怎么进入岩石的呢？

Dickens started to investigate.

Dickens决定展开调查。

Naturally occurring frozen methane is unstable² and difficult to extract,

自然生成的冰冻甲烷很不稳定，也很难获得，

so samples were artificially created in a lab.

所以样本只能在实验室中人工制造。

The big question is try to get methane from deep down in the ocean up to the atmosphere.

问题是甲烷如何从深海底上升到大气层中。

He put blocks of the man-made methane into warmed water.

他将几块人造甲烷放入温水。

The results were spectacular. So it's disassociating deep down.

反应十分强烈。它们分解了。

Dickens found that even small pieces of frozen methane released enormous quantities of gas rich in carbon 12.

Dickens发现即使很小一块冰冻甲烷也能释放出大量含有碳-12的气体。

The experiment supported what he'd suspected

实验证实了他的假设，

the increase in carbon 12 could be the fingerprint³ of a massive methane release.

碳-12的剧增正是甲烷大量释放的结果。

He found something else as well.

此外他还有别的发现。

It would only take a small increase in water temperatures to melt the methane and release the carbon.

水温只要略有升高，甲烷就会融化释放出碳。

1 methane   

n.甲烷，沼气

参考例句：

• The blast was caused by pockets of methane gas that ignited.爆炸是由数袋甲烷气体着火引起的。
• Methane may have extraterrestrial significance.甲烷具有星际意义。

2 unstable   

adj.不稳定的，易变的

参考例句：

• This bookcase is too unstable to hold so many books.这书橱很不结实，装不了这么多书。
• The patient's condition was unstable.那患者的病情不稳定。

3 fingerprint   

n.指纹；vt.取...的指纹

参考例句：

• The fingerprint expert was asked to testify at the trial.指纹专家应邀出庭作证。
• The court heard evidence from a fingerprint expert.法院听取了指纹专家的证词。