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LESSON 4 The bed of the atlantic
第四課 大西洋洋底
(To be read before a Map)
(地圖前的解讀）
If the waters of the Atlantic could be drawn off, so as to expose to view the great trough which separates the Old World from the New, a scene would present itself of the grandest and most imposing character. The very ribs of the solid Earth, and the foundations of the hills, destitute of the garniture of vegetation, would be brought to light. We should have unrolled before us a vast panorama of mountains and valleys, of tablelands and plains, of deep gorges and lofty peaks, rivalling in grandeur and in variety the continents of the upper world.
如果把大西洋里的水抽干，你將看到一個巨大溝槽把東西半球隔開，壯觀而莊嚴。那些構成地球實體的紋路和山脈的基石，褪去了植被的裝飾后將重見天日。高山峽谷、高原平地、深壑峭壁，以一種全景般的開闊視野展現在我們面前，其壯麗和千奇百態足以和上層世界的大陸相匹敵。
Comparatively little is yet known of the bed of the South Atlantic; but the basin of the North Atlantic has been extensively surveyed by the English and American Navies. Let us suppose this vast basin to be emptied of its waters; and, with the aid of the charts which have been constructed, let us in imagination traverse these deep places of the Earth and learn what we can of their secrets. Remembering that what we have to explore is really a vast system of table-lands, mountains, and valleys, let us first endeavour to grasp its broad outstanding features.
相對于北部海域，我們對于大西洋南部海底的探秘要少得多，而對大西洋北部海底的探秘，則主要來源于英國和美國的海軍。現在，假設整個大西洋的海水都已蒸發，我們將在已有知識體系的基礎上，縱橫大地深處，探尋它們的秘密。記住，我們所要探索的是覆蓋了平地、高山、峽谷的一個巨大的地理體系，我們要先掌握這個體系所具有的廣泛的、顯著的特征。
In the northern part of the basin there stretches across the Atlantic from Newfoundland to Ireland a great submarine plain, known in recent years as Telegraph Plateau. About one hundred miles from the coast of Ireland this plateau, rising as a broad terrace, reaches to within a hundred fathoms of the surface of the ocean. On this terrace stand the British Islands, the climate of which is materially affected by their being thus removed from the influence of the colder waters in the depths of the Atlantic.
穿過紐芬蘭和愛爾蘭島，在大西洋的北部流域內，潛藏著一處巨大的海底平原，近些年該海底平原被稱為“特里瓜夫高原”。在距離愛爾蘭島海岸約100英里的特里瓜夫高原，有一片突起的廣闊地域，最高處距離海平面不到一百英尋。不列顛群島就坐落在這片地域之上。而這種地理因素對不列顛群島的氣候產生的實質性影響，則使其免受了來自大西洋深處冰冷海水的沖擊。
