萬物簡史 第71期:敲石頭的人們(3)

Among the questions that attracted interest in thatfanatically inquisitive age was one that hadpuzzled people for a very long time—namely, whyancient clamshells and other marine fossils were sooften found on mountaintops. How on earth did theyget there?

在那個愛好鉆研的時代，在許多令人感興趣的問題當中，有個問題長期以來困擾著人們--即山頂上為什么經(jīng)常發(fā)現(xiàn)古代的蛤蜊殼和別的海生物化石。它們到底是怎么到那里的?

Those who thought they had a solution fell into twoopposing camps. One group, known as the Neptunists, was convinced that everything onEarth, including seashells in improbably lofty places, could be explained by rising and fallingsea levels. They believed that mountains, hills, and other features were as old as the Earthitself, and were changed only when water sloshed over them during periods of global flooding.

許多人認為自己已經(jīng)找到答案。他們分為兩個對立的陣營。水成論者認為，地球上的一切，包括在高處的海洋貝殼，可以用海平面的升高和降低來解釋。他們認為，山脈、丘陵和其他地貌與地球本身一樣古老，只是在全球洪水時期被水沖刷的過程中發(fā)生了一些變化。

Opposing them were the Plutonists, who noted that volcanoes and earthquakes, among otherenlivening agents, continually changed the face of the planet but clearly owed nothing towayward seas. The Plutonists also raised awkward questions about where all the water wentwhen it wasn't in flood. If there was enough of it at times to cover the Alps, then where, pray,was it during times of tranquility, such as now? Their belief was that the Earth was subject toprofound internal forces as well as surface ones. However, they couldn't convincingly explainhow all those clamshells got up there.

對立面是火成論者。他們認為有許多充滿活力的動因，其中，火山和地震不斷改變這顆行星的表面，但顯然跟遙遠的大海毫無關系。火成論者還提出難以回答的問題：不發(fā)洪水的時候，這水都流到哪里去了?要是有時候存在足以淹沒阿爾卑斯山的水，那么請問，在平靜下來以后，比如現(xiàn)在，這水都流到哪里去了?他們認為，地球受到內部深處的力和表面的力的作用。然而，他們無法令人信服地解釋，蛤蜊的殼是怎么跑到山頂上去的。