地震仪升级版

Scientists study the Earth and natural disasters through the science of seismology – how seismic waves move through the Earth – and seismometers are their most important tool. Geophysicist Mark Zumberge at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography is developing a new breed of seismometer to get a better look inside the Earth.

地震学是研究地震波如何在地球内部传播的科学。科学家通过地震学研究地球及自然灾难，地震仪是最有效的工具。斯克里普斯海洋研究所的地球物理学家马克．藏伯格正着手开发一种新的地震仪，从而更细致地观察地球内部情况。

Mark Zumberge: Basically a seismometer is a box with a spring with a mass hanging inside, and as the ground shakes the mass goes up and down.

马克．藏伯格：地震仪的基本模型是一个箱体，箱内装置弹簧，弹簧上悬挂重物，地震来临时，重物在竖直方向上振动。

Zumberge said a conventional seismometer records how its mass is displaced by these waves of seismic energy with electric circuit boards. The electronics make the instrument bulky and hard to use in hot environments, like the interior of the Earth.

藏伯格称，常规地震仪采用电路板记录重物受地震波影响的振动情况。这些电子器件使地震仪变得笨重，难以在地球内部等炎热环境下使用。

We’ve come up with a way, using optical fibers, to bring laser light to and from the seismometer, to make very precise measurements of the vibrations of the mass in our seismometer.

我们想出了一种新方法，通过光导纤维将激光导入和输出地震仪，从而精准地测量重物的振动值。

The optical technology allows the device to be deployed in boreholes, narrow shafts drilled into the Earth. The advantage, Zumberge said, is that there’s not as much background activity that must be separated from the seismic activity.

光学技术的应用使得地震仪能够装置在深入地壳内部的钻孔及狭窄深井。藏伯格称，这样做的优势在于，干扰地震活动监测的本底辐射大大减少。

Mark Zumberge: So we can study not only very large earthquakes nearby, but the most distant quiet earthquakes as well.

马克．藏伯格：因此我们不仅可以研究所在地附近的大地震，还可以监测到遥远地方发生的微弱地震。