Meltwater Lakes in Antarctica Show Signs of Trouble(翻译)

Antarctica is home to the largest ice mass on Earth.
南极洲有地球上最大的冰块。
The continent sits on 14 million square kilometers of rock.About 98 percent of the land surface is covered by ice.
南极洲面积达1400万平方公里。98%的地面被冰层覆盖。

Beautiful lakes have begun to appear on the top of the ice.They look like islands of deep blue in an ocean of white.These lakes are called supraglacial or meltwater lakes.
美丽的湖泊开始出现在冰层表面。它们像是一片白色冰雪汪洋中点缀着的深蓝色岛屿。这些湖泊称之为冰上湖泊或融水湖。

Although the lakes can be beautiful, the ones scientists studied are a sign of trouble.Amber Leeson is a scientist with Lancaster University in England.
尽管它们很美丽，然而科学家们研究发现，这些湖泊其实暗藏着危机。安布尔·利森是英国兰卡斯特大学的科学家。

“We really weren’t expecting to find lakes as far inland as 20 kilometers, which was the furthest inland lake we found during the study.And it was important that we found the link between the atmospheric temperature and the depth, number, and size of the lakes...”
“之前我们没有想到在内陆20公里远的地方发现湖泊，它是我们研究过程中发现的最遥远的内陆湖。很重要的是，我们发现大气温度与湖泊的深度、数量和大小之间存在联系。”

Scientists say Antarctica has always had supraglacial lakes appearing on the ice during the summer months.But the more lakes there are, the more unstable they make the continent’s ice shelf.
科学家们表示，南极洲在夏季，冰层表面会出现湖泊。然而，冰层表面的湖泊越多，南极洲的冰架会越不稳定。

Ice shelves are permanent, but floating pieces of ice that connect to the land.They form where a glacier or ice sheet reaches a coastline and into the sea.
冰架是稳定的，但浮冰与陆地相连。冰川或冰层延伸至海岸线并融入海洋里的地方，会形成冰架。

Leeson says water from the lakes can drip down through the glacier, causing the huge river of ice and snow to weaken.
利森认为，湖泊里的水可渗入冰川，导致大面积河流的冰雪层开始松动。

“If they form on the grounded ice, which is the bit of the ice sheet that sits on the bedrock,then the water they contain can drain away through the ice to the base, where it can lubricate the flow of the ice and make it flow a bit faster.If they form on the floating part of the ice, which is where the ice shelf extends over the ocean and begins to float on the sea,by repeatedly filling and draining they can actually weaken the ice shelf.”
“底冰是一些位于底部的冰层，如果湖泊水在底冰上形成，那么它携带的水会排入冰川中，水起到润滑剂的作用，这样冰川会流动地更快。如果湖泊水在浮冰上形成，而浮冰处的冰架延伸至海洋，开始在海面漂浮，那么湖泊水通过不断的充水和排水，可至冰架崩解。”

Leeson and other scientists believe that lakes are partly responsible for the collapse of the Antarctica ice sheets.
利森和其他科学家们认为，湖泊是南极洲冰原崩塌的部分原因。

“...the Larsen B ice shelf collapsed in 2002 and we think that this is because it was covered in lakes in the years prior to collapse, and that by repeatedly filling and draining,they weaken the ice sheet, leading to its eventual disintegration...”
“2002年，南极的拉尔森B冰架崩解，我们认为其原因是冰架在崩塌前的数年里，浸在湖泊中，随后通过反复的充水和排水，冰原开始松动，最终导致崩塌。”

And as temperatures rise, the team expects to see more and more lakes appearing in the continent.The scientists fear that all that meltwater could raise the world’s sea levels.
随着气温的升高，科考队有望在南极看到更多的湖泊。科学家们担心，融水湖可能会推动全世界的海平面上升。

I’m Marsha James.
玛莎·詹姆斯为您报道。