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Scientists Use Ancient Shells To Learn About The Past
科學家用遠古貝殼了解過去
If you were traveling from the United States to Singapore, a guide book could tell you what sort of climate to expect. But if, like paleontologists and geologists, you needed to know what the weather was like in Singapore tens of millions of years ago, you’d have to consult a different source.
如果你從美國到新加坡旅行，一本指南能告訴你會有什么樣的天氣。但是，如果你是古生物學家和地質(zhì)學家，需要知道幾千萬年新加坡的天氣是怎么樣的，你得去別的原始資源找尋。
By examining the chemistry of shell fossils, researchers can discover what temperatures were like in ancient climates.
通過研究貝殼化石的化學物質(zhì)，研究者能夠知道在古氣候時天氣是怎樣的。
Oxygen provides the key to finding out about ancient temperatures. Oxygen comes in two different forms—heavy and light. By determining the ratio of the two different types of oxygen in the fossils, researchers can make an educated guess at the temperature of the environment the animals lived in.
氧氣是發(fā)現(xiàn)原始天氣的關鍵。氧有兩種不同的形式——重的和輕的。通過決定在化石中兩種氧氣的比例，研究者對動物生長環(huán)境做出有根據(jù)的推測。
Both types of oxygen are found in carbon dioxide, which is found both in the atmosphere and in water. The amount of carbon dioxide water contains depends on the temperature of the water. Cooler water contains more carbon dioxide.
兩種形式的氧氣都能在二氧化碳中發(fā)現(xiàn)，還可以在空氣和水中發(fā)現(xiàn)。水中含有二氧化碳的量取決于水的溫度。比較冷的水含有更多的二氧化碳。
But as the water warms, carbon dioxide gas escapes. Carbon dioxide made of the lighter oxygen escapes at cooler temperatures, leaving more carbon dioxide made of the heavy oxygen in the water. At warmer temperatures, carbon dioxide made of heavy oxygen begins to escape, leaving less heavy oxygen in the water.
但是當水熱起來了，二氧化碳會消失。由輕氧構成的二氧化碳在較冷天氣下會消失，剩下更多的由水中重氧組成的二氧化碳。在溫暖的天氣下，由重氧構成的二氧化碳開始消失，剩下不重氧在水中。
Since animals living in the ocean use the carbon and oxygen that remains in the water to build their shells, the shells of animals that lived in a cool climate contain more heavy oxygen.
自從在海邊生存的動物使用仍然在水中的氧氣和二氧化碳去建它們的貝殼，在涼爽氣候下生存殼類動物蘊含更多的重氧。
By grinding up the shells and determining how much of each type of oxygen they contain, researchers can learn what temperatures were like in ancient environments.
通過磨碎貝殼和測試每種氧它們富含多少，研究人員能夠了解到在古環(huán)境下天氣是什么樣的。
