探索世界之歐洲自然寫真 Wild Europe Genesis 肇始之初 9

..As they died they slowly sank, settling in layers on the seafloor. Through time they formed these cliffs in an ocean that was up to 300 meters deeper than we see it today. Just imagine how London might have looked back then. All this flooding was triggered by rising seafloors and a warming climate, causing the ice caps to melt, a cataclysm that resulted in much of the continent's disappearing.

But it wasn't these rising seas that spelt the end for the dinosaurs, it was an event that happened thirty million years later and half a world away.

A giant meteorite crashed into the Gulf of Mexico. The destructive power equaled five billion Hiroshima bombs. Shock waves swept across the Atlantic.

All across Europe, life struggled to hold on. The extinction of the dinosaurs created opportunities for new forms of life, evidence of which can be found here on the Baltic coast of Poland. These fishermen are after a catch that could change their lives. They are not after fish or crabs but something far more precious washed up from the seabed.

One lucky dip could net a small fortune and open a window back more than fifteen million years into Europe's past.

This is amber. It doesn't look much until it's polished. Then it can reveal all kinds of treasures.

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words and expressions

cataclysm: (n.) A violent and sudden change in the earth's crust. 災(zāi)變地殼的劇烈而突然的改變

Baltic: (adj.) Of or relating to the Baltic Sea, the Baltic States, or a Baltic-speaking people. 波羅的海的

amber: (n.) A hard, translucent, yellow, orange, or brownish-yellow fossil resin, used for making jewelry and other ornamental objects. 琥珀