Greenland'sMeltwater May Fertilize Fjords with Phosphorus

Greenland'sMeltwater May Fertilize Fjords with Phosphorus

格陵兰冰川融化

 

fjords是什么意思

  

基本解释

n.峡湾，海岸峡江( fjord的名词复数 )

phosphorus是什么意思

英音 [ˈfɒsfərəs]  
美音[ˈfɑ:sfərəs]  

基本解释

n.[化]磷；磷光体

The massive icesheet topping Greenland is losing nearly 300 billion tons a year to melting, according to NASA estimates. And all that melt water means rising seas. But it's also dumping huge amounts of nutrients and minerals into Arctic waters.

 

ice sheet  

[地]冰原；冰盖；冰盾

topping是什么意思

英音 ['tɒpɪŋ]  
美音[ˈtɑpɪŋ]  

基本解释

n.构成顶部的东西；糕点上的装饰配料

dumping是什么意思

英音 [ˈdʌmpɪŋ]  

基本解释

n.倾销
v.倾倒( dump的现在分词 )；丢下；随便堆放；释放

glaciers是什么意思

英音 [ɡ'læsɪəz]  
美音[ɡ'læsɪrz]  

基本解释

n.冰河，冰川( glacier的名词复数 )

据美国航空航天局估计，格陵兰岛表层的巨大冰层正以每年3000亿的速度消失。冰块融化意味着海平面上升。但同时也会有大量的营养物质和矿物会进入北极海域。

 

"The great thing about glaciers and ice sheets, is that they're these big, very heavy systems, and as they move over rock they grind and crush the rock up." 

move over 移开

crush up
粉碎; 揉成一团; 压碎;

Jon Hawkings, a glacial biogeochemist at the University of Bristol in the U.K.

biogeochemical是什么意思

英音 [baɪədʒi':ɒkemɪkl]  
美音[baɪədʒi':ɒkemɪkl]  

基本解释

adj.生物地球化学的

"So they expose【all these reactive kind of trace components of the rock lattice】 to【the fresh melt water that's coming in.】 ”

 【 trace components】微量成分

【rock lattice】岩石晶格

冰川和冰层的伟大之处在于体积巨大，质量庞大，并且可以移动岩石将岩石击碎。乔恩·霍金是英国布里斯托尔大学的冰川地质学家。“所以岩石中的丰富的微量成分将进入融化的雪水中。”

 

That meltwater funnels rock dust into Greenland's glacial rivers, where Hawkings and his colleagues took their samples. They found that Greenland's rivers are much richer in phosphorus than previously believed.

funnels  

n. 漏斗（funnel的复数）

融化的冰水将岩石中的尘土过滤，并最终成为格陵兰的冰川河流，而霍金和同事们就在这里进行取样。他们发现，与之前的猜测相比，格陵兰的河流中磷含量非常丰富。

 

And they estimate that Greenland's glacial rivers may flush some 400,000 tons of phosphorus into ocean waters every year—that's on par with the amount of phosphorous dumped into the ocean by the Mississippi or Amazon rivers. The findings appear in the journal Global Biogeochemical Cycles.

flush [flʌʃ]  

n. 激动，洋溢；面红；萌芽；旺盛；奔流
vt. 使齐平；发红，使发亮；用水冲洗；使激动

on par with  

• 与…同等水平

对此他们估计格陵兰的冰川河每年会把大约40万吨的磷注入海洋——而这一数量与密西西比河或亚马逊河每年的注入量持平。该研究结果发表在《全球生物地球化学循环 》杂志上。

 

All that extra phosphorus could be fertilizer for ocean life. "It's an essential nutrient for phytoplankton, who are the guys on the bottom of the food chain. So it's really, really important for life. And life can't exist without it."

“所有这些额外的磷将会成为海洋生物的肥料。浮游植物位于食物链的底层，而磷是其重要的营养元素。所以，这些真的很重要，没有它，生命就无法存活。”

phytoplankton [,faitəu'plæŋktən]  

n. 浮游植物（群落）

And this process—glaciers grinding rocks, then melting and flushing those nutrients to sea—it’s not the first time it's happened. In fact, the authors speculate that during the last extreme ice age—the so-called "snowball Earth,

" some 700 million years ago—all this phosphorus runoff may have caused a bloom in ocean life. A bloom that may have ultimately oxygenated the planet...and paved the way for organisms like us.

runoff是什么意思

英音 ['rʌnˌɔ:f]  
美音[ˈrʌnˌɔf, -ˌɑf]  

基本解释

n.决胜投票；附加赛；径流

oxygenated [,ɔksidʒən'eitid]  

adj. 氧化的；充了氧的；充满氧气的
v. 使氧合（oxygenate的过去分词）；充氧

冰川研磨岩石这一过程，就会将这些营养物质融化并冲入大海——而这样的事情并不罕见。实际上，作者估计，在过去极端冰河时代——关于7亿年前雪球假说——这些磷径流可能导致海洋生命茂盛。生命旺盛最终导致地球上有氧生物的出现，就为我们人类的产生奠定了基础。

 

听力原文：

Greenland's Meltwater May Fertilize Fjords with Phosphorus

The massive ice sheet topping Greenland is losing nearly 300 billiontons a year to melting, according to NASA estimates. And all that meltwatermeans rising seas. But it's also dumping huge amounts of nutrients and mineralsinto Arctic waters.

"The great thing about glaciers and ice sheets, is that they'rethese big, very heavy systems, and as they move over rock they grind and crushthe rock up." Jon Hawkings, a glacial biogeochemist at the University ofBristol in the U.K. "So they expose all these reactive kind of tracecomponents of the rock lattice to the fresh meltwater that's coming in.”

That meltwater funnels rock dust into Greenland's glacial rivers,where Hawkings and his colleagues took their samples. They found thatGreenland's rivers are much richer in phosphorus than previously believed. Andthey estimate that Greenland's glacial rivers may flush some 400,000 tons ofphosphorus into ocean waters every year—that’s on par with the amount ofphosphorous dumped into the ocean by the Mississippi or Amazon rivers. Thefindings appear in the journal Global Biogeochemical Cycles.

All that extra phosphorus could be fertilizer for ocean life."It's an essential nutrient for phytoplankton, who are the guys on thebottom of the food chain. So it's really, really important for life. And lifecan't exist without it." And this process—glaciers grinding rocks, thenmelting and flushing those nutrients to sea—it’s not the first time it'shappened. In fact, the authors speculate that during the last extreme iceage—the so-called "snowball Earth," some 700 million years ago—allthis phosphorus runoff may have caused a bloom in ocean life. A bloom that mayhave ultimately oxygenated the planet...and paved the way for organisms likeus.