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In 1998, the search for clues took American geologist Mike Rampino to the Alps.
1998年，美國地質學家Mike Rampino前往阿爾卑斯山尋找線索。
It's one of the only places in Europe where there are Permian fossils.
它是歐洲為數不多的擁有二疊紀化石的地區之一。
Rampino had been trying to understand the extinction for some years,
Rampino多年來一直致力于研究生物大滅絕，
and thought one vital piece of information was missing.
他認為人們忽略了一個關鍵的信息。
Nobody knew with any certainty how long the extinction had taken.
誰都不知道這場大滅絕究竟持續了多久。
He believed that if he could find this out, he'd have a clue to its identity.
他認為如果了解了這一點，就有可能找出最后的真相。
Was he looking for a hit-and-run killer or something slower?
他尋找的究竟是瞬間的殺手呢，還是長年的兇煞呢？
One of the things we'd like to know about the Permian mass extinction was how rapid it was,
我們想知道的一個情況就是二疊紀生物大滅絕到底有多快，
how long did it take for those, all of those organisms to become extinct?
所有這些生物的滅絕持續了多長時間？
He planed to use a radically new dating system.
他計劃使用最新的檢測系統。
It's based on the fact that the fossil record charting the end of the Permian era is preserved in a thin layer of rock.
該系統的依據是二疊紀末期的化石記錄保留在一個很薄的巖層中。
If it could work out how long it had taken for this rock to be deposited,
如果他能得知這個巖層堆積所需的時間，
he'd know how long the extinction had taken.
他也就能知道大滅絕持續了多久。
