1、Scientists To Drift On Ice Floe Near Antarctica,科学家将在南极洲附近乘浮冰漂流考察,Washington - A group of 20 U.S. and Russian scientists are preparing to launch an unprecedented expedition that will involve being set adrift on an ice floe for five months off the frozen coast of Antarctica, following roughly the sam
2、e path as the ill-fated expedition of a British explorer nearly eight decades earlier. 华盛顿讯一支由20名美国和俄国科学家组成的科学考察队正准备进行一次史无前例的探险，他们将搭乘浮冰，沿南极洲的冰封海岸漂流5个月，其漂流线路与近80年前英国探险家欧内斯特沙克尔顿爵士的探险线路大致相同，欧内斯特沙克尔顿爵士在那次探险中曾陷入困境。,In February the scientists, together with 12 support personnel, are due to disembark from
3、the Russian ice breaking research ship Akademik Federov（费德罗夫院士号） onto an ice floe at the southern end of the Weddell Sea（威德尔海）, about 2,000 kilometers south of the tip of South America. 这些科学家计划于2月份和12名后勤支援人员一起，在距南美洲最南端以南约2000公里的威德尔海南端，从俄国的“费德罗夫院士”号破冰考察船登上浮冰 /这些科学家计划，在威德尔海南端，从俄国的“费德罗夫院士”号破冰考察船登上浮冰，那里
4、距,Camped in a nest of prefabricated huts on a chunk of ice about a half kilometer wide and three meters thick, theyll drift northward for about 650 kilometers to gather the extensive data on the poorly understood interactions of ocean, ice and atmosphere in the Weddell Sea. The delicate balance of t
5、his system has a strong impact on global climate and ocean currents. 考察队将在一块约半公里宽，3米厚的浮冰上宿营于一组预制小屋中， 他们将向北漂流约650公里，并广泛收集威德尔海地区海洋、冰层和大气相互作用的数据。 人类对这方面的情况还知之甚少， 而这一系统的脆弱平衡却对全球气候和洋流有着巨大的影响。,The floes trajectory will take the scientists through the western part of the Weddell Sea, a region that has been
6、 largely off limits to researchers because of its perpetual ice. But in a 1993 meeting of Antarctic scientists in St. Petersburg, Russian scientists suggested a slow but sure way to get a research station into the western Weddell: rely on the natural drift of the ice floes. 按照这次冰上漂流的线路，科学家们将穿过威德尔海西部
7、。 这一带由于终年冰封，基本上仍是科研人员尚未涉足的禁区。 然而1993年在圣彼得堡召开的一次南极科学家会议上，俄国科学家提出了一个虽然耗时较长但却稳妥可靠的方案： 借助浮冰的自然漂流将科学考察站送入威德尔海西部。,Team members will be rotated in and out of the ice station by airplane from March 10 to 17, and via the new U.S. ice-breaking research ship Nathaniel B. Palmer （“纳塞尼尔B帕尔默”号）from April 23 to 30
8、. Airplanes and helicopters will also provide emergency evacuations, though sudden blizzards in the region might restrict air travel. 从3月10日至17日，队员们将乘飞机轮流进出冰上考察站， 从4月23日至30日则乘美国的“纳塞尼尔B帕尔默”号最新式破冰考察船进出。 虽然这一地区突发的暴风雪可能会妨碍空中航行，但还是准备了飞机和直升机以供紧急撤离之用。,The ice floe is expected to drift along roughly the sam
9、e path of Sir Ernest Shackleton（欧内斯特沙克尔顿）s ship Endurance, which was trapped in the ice in 1915 and carried over 900 kilometers north before it was crushed and sank. 预计考察队将搭乘浮冰，大致沿着欧内斯特沙克尔顿爵士曾经走过的航线漂流。 1915年，沙克尔顿爵士乘坐的“耐久”号探险船在南极陷入了浮冰的围困， 并被挟带着向北漂流了900公里，最后被挤碎沉没。,Escaping onto an ice floe, Shackleton
10、s men dragged boats to open water and reached Elephant Island, from which Shackleton and five others crossed 1,392 kilometers of ocean and organized the rescue of every men. 沙克尔顿他手下的船员们逃到一块浮冰上，然后把救生艇拖至无冰水域，并划抵海象岛。 沙克尔顿同5名船员从该岛出发，渡过1392公里的洋面，组织营救了每一名船员。,The ship Palmer is scheduled to pick up the ice
11、 floe scientists in June near the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula before the floe reaches the open ocean or begins to melt, not far from where Shackleton and his men finally escaped the ice. 按计划，“帕尔默”号破冰船将于6月份，在考察队所搭乘的浮冰漂到无冰洋面或开始融化之前，从南极半岛顶端附近接回浮冰上的科学家。当年，沙克尔顿及其船员们也正是在这附近最终摆脱了浮冰的围困。,One of the chief
12、goals of the expedition is to solve the puzzle of why the western Weddell Sea is covered by ice all year. In the rest of the Weddell Sea, the ice melts away in the summer and remains thin even in the winter. The researchers hope to find out what is happening under the ice pack by lowering sensors an
13、d current-monitoring acoustic devices through the ice to measure heat flow and study interactions of ocean, ice and atmosphere. 这次考察的主要目的之一，是解开威德尔海西部终年冰封之谜。 而在威德尔海的其它海域，冰层在夏季消融，即使在冬季也不厚。 研究人员将穿过冰层把传感器和监测洋流的声学仪器放入海中，测量暖流并研究海洋、冰和大气的相互作用，以期揭开浮冰下的奥秘。,Their findings are important because the waters aroun
14、d the Antarctica play a major role in world climate by releasing heat and taking up carbon dioxide, a major contributor to global warming. The surface waters, once they become colder and denser, sink and spread along the sea floor into most of the worlds oceans 这次考察的结果意义重大，因为南极洲周围的水域释放热量并吸收造成全球变暖的主要
15、温室气体二氧化碳，从而对世界气候产生重大影响。而且海洋表层的水流一旦变冷，密度变大，就会下沉并沿着海床扩散到全球各大洋的大部分地区。,About half of the carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere by the burning of fossil fuels and destruction of forests is believed to be absorbed by the ocean, where it is eventually incorporated into the deep ocean reservoir and do
16、es not contribute to the greenhouse effect. The worlds deep ocean waters contain about 50 times as much carbon dioxide as the atmosphere. 因燃烧矿物燃料和焚毁森林而产生的二氧化碳在进入大气后，据信约有半数被海洋所吸收， 并最终汇入深层海水，从而没有进一步加剧温室效应。 而全世界深海水体中的二氧化碳含量，是大气层中的50倍。,To date, scientists cannot predict whether global warming may increase or diminish the descent of cold water to the bottom or whether it may cause the ice cover to shrink or to expand. 科学家们至今仍无法预言，全球变暖是会增加还是会减少沉入海底的冷水，会使两极冰盖缩小还是扩大。,
