犹他州拱门国家公园:奇怪而美丽的世界

The Strange and Beautiful World of Arches² National Park 犹他州拱门国家公园:奇怪而美丽的世界

This week on our national parks journey, we travel to Utah. The western state is home to several of the most popular national parks in America.

Today, we travel to the eastern part of the state. We visit a park filled with strange and beautiful colored rock formations. These formations have been created over millions of years. They curve and narrow and balance on top of one another. Some are extremely thin. Others have huge cracks, yet remain standing³. Many of the rock formations seem to ignore the rules of gravity.

Welcome to Arches National Park!

Arches are formations that look like half a circle standing up. Sometimes they create a curved bridge between two large rocks.

Arches National Park contains the most natural rock arches of any place on Earth. The smallest arches are less than a meter across. The largest, called Landscape Arch¹, measures 93 meters from one base of the arch to the other.

Water and ice, extreme temperatures, and many layers of salt underground created these rock formations over hundreds of millions of years. The huge amount of salt is the remains⁴ of an ancient sea. It covered the area around 300 million years ago.

As time passed, the area filled with material left by rivers. Rocks buried the area. This created pressure on the underground salt bed.

Salt under pressure moves easily. It is not stable. The thick cover of rock created pressure on the salt. It moved this way and that, making the rock layers above move, as well.

A soft rock called sandstone moved upwards⁵. It met with other, harder rocks. These sandstone structures continued to grow for about 150 million years.

Scientists say water is the most important element in creating arches. Water destroys the chemicals that keep rock particles together. The rock breaks as the water freezes and expands. Then the wind blows away the loose rock pieces.

Erosion⁶ from wind and weather slowly removed layers of younger rock. Most of the layers of rock seen today are pinkish-red in color. The rock is called Entrada Sandstone.

Experts say that most arches seen in the park today developed within the past million years. But the land formations continue to change slowly over time.

But sometimes, change happens quickly. In 2008, a formation called Wall Arch suddenly collapsed⁸. Thousands of tons of sandstone crashed to the ground, creating a thunderous noise.

It is not easy to predict when arches might collapse⁷. Wall Arch was not as thin as Landscape Arch, for example. Wall Arch also did not have visible cracks. But, many tiny breaks within the stone made the arch weaker than others.

Some formations within the park look as though the gentlest wind could send huge pieces of rock crashing to the ground. These are called balanced rocks. The most famous of all is simply called Balanced Rock.

This sandstone rock is the size of three school buses. It sits on top of a tower of darker rock called mudstone. The formation is about 39 meters tall. This bottom rock narrows sharply⁹ where it connects to the sandstone rock on top. Scientists call this a bridge. Mudstone weathers much more quickly than sandstone.

One day, far in the future, Balanced Rock will no longer be balanced. Just as Wall Arch did, Balanced Rock will collapse.

The names of the rock formations give you information about their appearance or structure. The most famous arch within the park is named Delicate Arch. “Delicate” means “easily broken or damaged.” But it can also mean “very carefully and beautifully made.”

Delicate Arch is a huge free-standing arch. It is 19 meters high and 13 meters wide. Humans have called it many different names throughout history. The name “Delicate Arch” first appeared in a 1934 article. Scientists described it as “the most delicately chiseled¹⁰ arch in the entire area.”

Of the 2,000 stone arches within the park, Delicate Arch has become a symbol of the state of Utah. It is among the most famous geological¹¹ features in the world.

Many of Arches’ famous rock formations are easily seen from the single road that goes through the park. But Delicate Arch is not visible from a car. Some visitors choose to walk to two view points. But, even from the view points, Delicate Arch is still more than a kilometer away.

Many visitors choose to hike up to see the famous arch. The trail is 5 kilometers. It is the most popular hike in the park.

The walk is difficult and steep. It offers no shade. The sun is extremely strong. In summer months, the temperature can rise to 40 degrees Celsius¹². Park officials tell hikers to take at least two liters of water with them. In winter months, ice and water can make the sandstone trail extremely slick.

Along the way, hikers pass a wall of ancient animal drawings created by the Ute Indians. These are called petroglyphs. Petroglyphs exist throughout the park. They are a reminder¹³ of the long human history in this harsh¹⁴ environment.

Before reaching Delicate Arch, hikers must walk on a long and narrow rock ledge¹⁵. The trail is often crowded with people.

But most say the heat and crowds are worth it. Delicate Arch stands alone above a natural sandstone bowl. It rises up dramatically from the flat land that surrounds it. On one side of the arch, the sandstone gently twists. On the other, a severe crack cuts through the narrowing rock.

Those who hike to its base appreciate and understand why it was once described as “delicate.”

Most visitors to Arches National Park would agree that there is no other place in the world quite like it in the world. It is quiet and dreamlike, unpredictable and violent, old yet ever-changing. A trip to Arches is like visiting another world.

Words in This Story

stable - adj. in a good state or condition that is not easily changed or likely to change

erosion - n. the gradual destruction of something by natural forces (such as water, wind, or ice

thunderous - adj. making a loud noise like the sound of thunder; very loud

chiseled - adj. having an attractive well-formed shape

geological - adj. relating to the rocks, land, processes of land formation, etc., of a particular area

shade - n. an area of slight darkness that is produced when something blocks the light of the sun

ledge - n. a flat rock surface that sticks out from a cliff

1 arch   

n.拱门，桥洞；v.拱起，成为弓形

参考例句：

• Dip your head under the low arch.在低矮的门拱下要低头。
• The trees arch overhead.树木在头顶上弯成拱形。

2 Arches   

n.拱( arch的名词复数 )；拱门；拱形物；足弓v.（使）弯成拱形( arch的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Arches are built of wood, stone, brick or any other building material. 拱门是用木料、石块、砖头或其他建筑材料建成的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The cat arches its back when It'sees the dog. 猫看到狗，便把背拱起。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

3 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。

4 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。

5 upwards   

adv.向上，在更高处...以上

参考例句：

• The trend of prices is still upwards.物价的趋向是仍在上涨。
• The smoke rose straight upwards.烟一直向上升。

6 erosion   

n.腐蚀，侵蚀，磨损，削弱，减少

参考例句：

• The erosion of beach here is serious.这里海岸的腐蚀很严重。
• Drought and soil erosion had long been a major problem.干旱和水土流失一直是个老大难问题。

7 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

8 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

9 sharply   

adj.锐利地，急速；adv.严厉地，鲜明地

参考例句：

• The plane dived sharply and rose again.飞机猛然俯冲而后又拉了起来。
• Demand for personal computers has risen sharply.对个人电脑的需求急剧增长。

10 chiseled   

adj.凿刻的，轮廓分明的v.凿，雕，镌( chisel的过去式 )

参考例句：

• Woltz had chiseled the guy, given him peanuts for the book. 乌尔茨敲了这个作家的竹杠，用了他的书，却只给微不足道的一点点钱。 来自教父部分
• He chiseled the piece of wood into the shape of a head. 他把这块木头凿刻成人头的形状。 来自辞典例句

11 geological   

adj.地质（学）的

参考例句：

• aeons of geological history 数以亿万年计的地质史
• The workers skirted the edge of the cliff on a geological survey. 工人们沿着崖壁作了一次地质勘察。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 Celsius   

adj.摄氏温度计的，摄氏的

参考例句：

• The temperature tonight will fall to seven degrees Celsius.今晚气温将下降到七摄氏度。
• The maximum temperature in July may be 36 degrees Celsius.七月份最高温度可能达到36摄氏度。

13 reminder   

n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示

参考例句：

• I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
• It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知，她才付应该交的房租。

14 harsh   

adj.严厉（酷）的，刺耳的，刺目的，毛糙的

参考例句：

• The sunlight is very harsh.太阳光很刺眼。
• Although his words are harsh,there is positiveness in them.虽然他的话很苛刻，但有建设性。

15 ledge   

n.壁架，架状突出物；岩架，岩礁

参考例句：

• They paid out the line to lower him to the ledge.他们放出绳子使他降到那块岩石的突出部分。
• Suddenly he struck his toe on a rocky ledge and fell.突然他的脚趾绊在一块突出的岩石上，摔倒了。