剛剛，研究人員在歐洲發(fā)現(xiàn)了一塊失落的大陸

剛剛，研究人員在歐洲發(fā)現(xiàn)了一塊失落的大陸

Researchers have discovered a long-hidden continent — a gigantic mass the size of Greenland that has remained mostly buried under Southern Europe for almost 140 million years.

研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)了一個隱藏已久的大陸——一塊與格陵蘭島大小相仿的巨大大陸，在南歐地下埋藏了將近1.4億年。

The hidden continent — dubbed “Greater Adria” by its finders at Utrecht University in the Netherlands — apparently separated from North Africa and ended up largely underwater.

這片被荷蘭烏得勒支大學的發(fā)現(xiàn)者稱為“大阿德里亞”的隱藏大陸，顯然與北非分離，最終大部分沉入水下。

It was discovered when the researchers were reconstructing the complex geology of the Mediterranean as it evolved, according to CNN.

據(jù)美國有線電視新聞網(wǎng)(cnn)報道，這是研究人員在重建地中海演化過程中的復雜地質(zhì)結構時發(fā)現(xiàn)的。

The research was published this month in the scientific journal Gondwana Research.

這項研究本月發(fā)表在科學雜志《岡瓦納研究》(Gondwana research)上。

The researchers said it is possible that many people have unknowingly set foot on Greater Adria.

研究人員說，很多人可能在不知不覺中踏上了大阿德里亞。

“Forget Atlantis,” Douwe van Hinsbergen, study author and professor of global tectonics and paleogeography at Utrecht University, told the news outlet. “Without realizing it, vast numbers of tourists spend their holiday each year on the lost continent of Greater Adria.”

烏得勒支大學全球構造和古地理教授、研究作者杜韋·范·欣斯伯根在接受新聞媒體采訪時說:“忘掉亞特蘭蒂斯吧。”“在沒有意識到這一點的情況下，每年有大量的游客在失落的大阿德里亞大陸度假。”

While most of Greater Adria is underwater, much of the hidden continent’s sedimentary pieces were scraped off during its great migration.

雖然大阿德里亞大部分都在水下，但隱藏大陸的大部分沉積碎片在大遷徙期間被刮掉了。

Those scrapings now comprise European mountain belts, including parts of the Alps, Greece and Turkey.

這些殘骸現(xiàn)在遍布歐洲山區(qū)，包括阿爾卑斯山、希臘和土耳其的部分地區(qū)。

“It is quite simply a geological mess. Everything is curved, broken and stacked,” van Hinsbergen said. “Compared to this, the Himalayas, for example, represent a rather simple system.”

“這完全是一個地質(zhì)混亂。一切都是彎曲的，破碎的和堆疊的。”范辛斯伯格說。“例如，與此相比，喜馬拉雅山代表了一個相當簡單的系統(tǒng)。”

He said the research into the evolution of mountain chains can reveal details about the evolution of continents.

他說，對山脈演化的研究可以揭示大陸演化的細節(jié)。

“Most mountain chains that we investigated originated from a single continent that separated from North Africa more than 200 million years ago,” van Hinsbergen said. “The only remaining part of this continent is a strip that runs from Turin via the Adriatic Sea to the heel of the boot that forms Italy.”

范辛斯伯格說：“我們調(diào)查的大多數(shù)山脈起源于一個大陸，這個大陸在2億多年前與北非分離。這塊大陸僅存的一部分，是一條從都靈經(jīng)亞得里亞海一直延伸到形成意大利的鞋跟的地帶。”

The researchers found that Greater Adria started to become its own continent during the Triassic period some 240 million years ago.

研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)，大亞得里亞海在大約2.4億年前的三疊紀時期開始形成自己的大陸。

“From this mapping emerged the picture of Greater Adria, and several smaller continental blocks too, which now form parts of Romania, North Turkey or Armenia, for example,” van Hinsbergen told CNN.

范·欣斯伯根告訴CNN：“從這張地圖上可以看到大阿德里亞和幾個較小的大陸塊，它們現(xiàn)在是羅馬尼亞、土耳其北部或亞美尼亞的一部分。”

“The deformed remnants of the top few kilometers of the lost continent can still be seen in the mountain ranges. The rest of the piece of continental plate, which was about 100 kilometers [62 miles] thick, plunged under Southern Europe into the Earth’s mantle, where we can still trace it with seismic waves up to a depth of 1,500 kilometers [932 miles].”

“在山脈中仍然可以看到失落大陸頂部幾公里的變形遺跡。大陸板塊的其余部分，大約100公里(62英里)厚，墜入南歐的地幔之下，在那里我們?nèi)匀豢梢杂玫卣鸩ㄗ粉櫟?500公里(932英里)的深度。”

This isn’t the first time a lost continent has been discovered.

這不是第一次發(fā)現(xiàn)失落的大陸。

In January 2017, researchers announced the discovery of a lost continent left over from the supercontinent Gondwana, which began disintegrating 200 million years ago.

2017年1月，研究人員宣布發(fā)現(xiàn)了岡瓦納大陸超大陸遺留下來的失落大陸，岡瓦納大陸在2億年前開始解體。

The lava-covered leftover piece is now under Mauritius, an island in the Indian Ocean.

這塊被熔巖覆蓋的殘片現(xiàn)在位于印度洋上的毛里求斯島之下。

And in September 2017, another research team found the lost continent of Zealandia through ocean drilling in the South Pacific, where it sits two-thirds of a mile under the sea.

而在2017年9月，另一個研究小組通過在南太平洋的海洋鉆探發(fā)現(xiàn)了失落的新西蘭大陸，它位于海下三分之二英里處。