Globally significant volcanic event formed Giant’s Causeway, scientists find巨人堤道的火山起源之謎
聆聽課程
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#1
Scientists Link Giant's Causeway Formation to Globally Significant Volcanic Event
科學家將巨人堤道的形成與全球性重大火山事件聯繫起來
#2
For centuries, Irish folklore has attributed the creation of the Giant's Causeway to the legendary giant Finn McCool, who supposedly hurled enormous rocks into the sea to confront his Scottish rival, Benandonner.
幾個世紀以來，愛爾蘭民間傳說一直將巨人堤道的創造歸功於傳奇巨人芬恩·麥克庫爾，據說他將巨石扔進海裡，以對抗他的蘇格蘭對手貝南多納。
#3
However, a team of geochronologists has now revealed that the iconic formation owes its existence not to mythical conflict but to an extraordinarily intense volcanic event approximately sixty million years ago.
然而，一個地球年代學家團隊現在已經揭示，這個標誌性的地質構造並非歸因於神話中的衝突，而是歸因於大約六千萬年前一場異常強烈的火山事件。
#4
Researchers from the British Geological Survey and the Geological Survey of Northern Ireland have determined that volcanic activity in the Antrim region produced the Causeway's forty thousand distinctive interlocking basalt columns over a span of merely 5.5 million years.
來自英國地質調查局和北愛爾蘭地質調查局的研究人員已確定，安特里姆地區的火山活動在僅僅五百五十萬年的時間跨度內，形成了巨人堤道四萬根獨特且相互交織的玄武岩柱。
#5
This revised geological timescale is eight million years shorter than previous estimates had suggested, fundamentally altering scientists' understanding of how rapidly these formations emerged.
這個修正後的地質時間尺度比先前的估計縮短了八百萬年，從根本上改變了科學家對這些地貌如何迅速形成的理解。
#6
The findings carry broader implications for understanding plate tectonics in the North Atlantic.
這些發現對理解北大西洋的板塊構造具有更廣泛的啟示。
#7
Doctor Simon Tapster, a geochronologist at the British Geological Survey, emphasized that researchers can now correlate the timing of the Causeway's formation with other volcanic systems across the region at an unprecedented level of precision.
英國地質調查局的地質年代學家西蒙·塔普斯特博士強調，研究人員現在能夠以史無前例的精確度，將巨人堤道的形成時間與該地區的其他火山系統聯繫起來。
#8
He noted that prior to this volcanic event, Greenland had been physically joined to the crust beneath northern Britain.
他指出，在這次火山事件之前，格陵蘭曾與不列顛北部下方的地殼物理性地相連。
#9
Perhaps most remarkably, the research demonstrates that by the conclusion of this volcanic episode, the North Atlantic Ocean had begun to open between Greenland and the British Isles.
也許最引人注目的是，該研究表明，在此次火山活動期結束時，北大西洋已開始在格陵蘭和不列顛群島之間裂開。
#10
Were it not for this cataclysmic geological upheaval, the familiar geography of the North Atlantic would look profoundly different today.
若非這場災難性的地質劇變，北大西洋如今熟悉的地理面貌看起來將會大不相同。
#11
For the first time, scientists have been able to definitively connect the earliest lava flows in the region to a major globally impacting volcanic event recorded in rocks as distant as Greenland.
科學家首次得以將該地區最早的熔岩流，與記錄在遠至格陵蘭的岩石中、具全球性影響的重大火山事件明確地聯繫起來。