纪录片《恐龙灭绝真相》 第29期 蕨类高峰

It seemed there was no role left for the asteroid¹ impact or impacts at all.

看起来小行星碰撞或者所有碰撞均没有产生任何影响。

The dinosaurs² were doomed³ anyway:

恐龙命中注定是要灭绝的：

except there was still evidence of an environmental catastrophe⁴ at the KT boundary.

虽然第三纪界线层中依旧存在着环境灾难证据。

The awkward unavoidable fact that remains⁵ to support the impact theory was the fern spike⁶.

仍旧支持大碰撞理论的不可否认的事实就是蕨类植物。

The predominance of fern spores⁷ in the KT boundary layers suggests that all vegetation was destroyed for a time.

在第三纪界线层中，蕨类植物孢子高峰表明所有植物一度遭到过破坏。

Those who are convinced that Chicxulub killed off the dinosaurs argue that the fern spike, caused by the impact,

那些坚持认为希克苏鲁伯大碰撞消灭恐龙的科学家辩称，由大碰撞引起的蕨类高峰，

is still the key to understanding the mass extinction⁹.

仍然是大灭绝认识中的关键。

It's reasonable to think that all the standing⁸ vegetation all over the earth was destroyed,

认为地球上所有的常见植物都遭到过破坏，这是有道理的，

so we don't understand exactly how yet,

但我们并不了解具体情形，

but certainly its evidence of a dramatic catastrophe in the terrestrial eco system from the impact.

当然，这是大碰撞给陆地生态系统带来巨大灾难的证据。

Because the vegetation was not destroyed by wild fires,

既然植物不是被野火烧毁的，

the most likely cause seems to be global darkness brought on by the impact dust

那么摧毁它们的最有可能的原因就是由大碰撞烟尘所造成的全球黑暗，

and that would have been catastrophic for the dinosaurs.

这对恐龙来说也是致命的灾难。

1 asteroid   

n.小行星；海盘车(动物)

参考例句：

• Astronomers have yet to witness an asteroid impact with another planet.天文学家还没有目击过小行星撞击其它行星。
• It's very unlikely that an asteroid will crash into Earth but the danger exists.小行星撞地球的可能性很小，但这样的危险还是存在的。

2 dinosaurs   

n.恐龙( dinosaur的名词复数 )；守旧落伍的人，过时落后的东西

参考例句：

• The brontosaurus was one of the largest of all dinosaurs. 雷龙是所有恐龙中最大的一种。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Dinosaurs have been extinct for millions of years. 恐龙绝种已有几百万年了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 doomed   

命定的

参考例句：

• The court doomed the accused to a long term of imprisonment. 法庭判处被告长期监禁。
• A country ruled by an iron hand is doomed to suffer. 被铁腕人物统治的国家定会遭受不幸的。

4 catastrophe   

n.大灾难，大祸

参考例句：

• I owe it to you that I survived the catastrophe.亏得你我才大难不死。
• This is a catastrophe beyond human control.这是一场人类无法控制的灾难。

5 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。

6 spike   

n.长钉，钉鞋；v.以大钉钉牢，使...失效

参考例句：

• The spike pierced the receipts and held them in order.那个钉子穿过那些收据并使之按顺序排列。
• They'll do anything to spike the guns of the opposition.他们会使出各种手段来挫败对手。

7 spores   

n.（细菌、苔藓、蕨类植物）孢子( spore的名词复数 )v.（细菌、苔藓、蕨类植物）孢子( spore的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Ferns, mosses and fungi spread by means of spores. 蕨类植物、苔藓和真菌通过孢子传播蔓生。
• Spores form a lipid membrane during the process of reproducing. 孢于在生殖过程中形成类脂膜。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 预防生物武器

8 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

9 extinction   

n.熄灭，消亡，消灭，灭绝，绝种

参考例句：

• The plant is now in danger of extinction.这种植物现在有绝种的危险。
• The island's way of life is doomed to extinction.这个岛上的生活方式注定要消失。