研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)史前西藏雨林的存在

The cold and dry plateau of Tibet in Southwest China used to be a warm and humid rainforest 40 million years ago, scientists from China, India and the UK recently discovered, saying that it offers critical evidence of the plateau’s ancient environment.

來自中國、印度和英國的科學家最近發(fā)現(xiàn)，4000萬年前，中國西南部西藏寒冷干燥的高原曾經(jīng)是溫暖潮濕的雨林。他們說，這為青藏高原古代環(huán)境提供了重要證據(jù)。

The scientists found a Tibet amber and proved it was the fossil resin of an ancient dipterocarpaceae, the representative plant of Asian rainforests, which is key to proving the existence of Tibet’s ancient rainforests, according to a release provided by the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology of Chinese Academy of Sciences, which participated in the research, to the Global Times on Thursday.

據(jù)參與研究的中國科學院南京地質古生物學研究所周四向“環(huán)球時報”提供的一份新聞稿稱，科學家們發(fā)現(xiàn)了一顆西藏琥珀，并證明它是一種古老的亞洲熱帶雨林的代表性植物-一種古老的龍舌蘭科植物的化石樹脂。這是證明西藏古代熱帶雨林存在的關鍵。

The Tibet amber, originally located less than 1,300 meters above sea level, is derived from the representative plant of Asian rainforests, said Wang Bo, researcher of the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology and program instructor.

南京地質古生物研究所研究員、項目指導員王波說，西藏琥珀最初位于海拔不到1300米的地方，是從亞洲熱帶雨林的代表性植物中提取出來的。

Wang’s team worked with their counterparts from Britain and India.

王波的團隊與來自英國和印度的同行一起工作。

At that time, Tibet had a relatively low sea level and so the forest formed because of warm steam from the Indian Ocean, Wang said.

王波說，當時西藏的海平面相對較低，因此印度洋的溫暖蒸汽形成了森林。

He explained that the Tibet forest resembles Xishuangbanna in Southwest China’s Yunnan Province, one of the most famous rainforests in China, which experiences close to tropical climate.

他解釋說，西藏森林類似于中國西南部云南省的西雙版納，是中國最著名的熱帶雨林之一，靠近熱帶氣候。