評(píng)論
打印
Could these massive reservoirs of methane, he now wondered, be the source of the carbon 12 found in Permian rocks
他現(xiàn)在想知道，這些大型甲烷礦藏是否就是二疊紀(jì)巖層中碳-12的來(lái)源，
and if it was, how did it get there?
如果是，它們又是怎么進(jìn)入巖石的呢？
Dickens started to investigate.
Dickens決定展開(kāi)調(diào)查。
Naturally occurring frozen methane is unstable and difficult to extract,
自然生成的冰凍甲烷很不穩(wěn)定，也很難獲得，
so samples were artificially created in a lab.
所以樣本只能在實(shí)驗(yàn)室中人工制造。
The big question is try to get methane from deep down in the ocean up to the atmosphere.
問(wèn)題是甲烷如何從深海底上升到大氣層中。
He put blocks of the man-made methane into warmed water.
他將幾塊人造甲烷放入溫水。
The results were spectacular. So it's disassociating deep down.
反應(yīng)十分強(qiáng)烈。它們分解了。
Dickens found that even small pieces of frozen methane released enormous quantities of gas rich in carbon 12.
Dickens發(fā)現(xiàn)即使很小一塊冰凍甲烷也能釋放出大量含有碳-12的氣體。
The experiment supported what he'd suspected
實(shí)驗(yàn)證實(shí)了他的假設(shè)，
the increase in carbon 12 could be the fingerprint of a massive methane release.
碳-12的劇增正是甲烷大量釋放的結(jié)果。
He found something else as well.
此外他還有別的發(fā)現(xiàn)。
It would only take a small increase in water temperatures to melt the methane and release the carbon.
水溫只要略有升高，甲烷就會(huì)融化釋放出碳。
