ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Laura Robinson - Ocean scientist
Dr. Laura Robinson's scientific mission is to document and understand the processes that govern climate.

Why you should listen

Dr. Laura Robinson's research the processes that govern climate on time scales ranging from the modern day back through hundreds of thousands of years. To do this research, Robinson uses geochemical techniques, with an emphasis on radioactive elements including uranium series isotopes and radiocarbon. These elements are particularly valuable as they have a wide range of decay rates and geochemical properties and can be analyzed in geologic materials such as corals, marine sediments and seawater.

Through a combination of field work and lab work, Robinson has been tackling questions relating to: timing of Pleistocene climate change events; palaeoclimate reconstructions; deep-sea coral paleo-biogeography; impact of weathering on the ocean and climate; biomineralization; development of new geochemical proxies for past climate conditions; chemical tracers of ocean circulation.

Robinson describes the inspiration behind her work:

“When I finished my PhD, I moved to California to work with Professor Jess Adkins at Caltech on a project using deep-sea corals. Before that time, like many people, I did not know that corals lived in the deep ocean. The first thing I did was prepare for a research cruise to the North Atlantic. We took the research submarine 'Alvin' out to undersea mountains and were able to collect fossil corals from the seafloor. The start of my work in the Southern Ocean came from analysis of a single coral specimen from the Smithsonian Natural History Museum in Washington DC. They loaned us the sample, and we found that it was about 16,000 years old, just right for looking at the middle of the last global deglaciation. Being able to access and work on these specimens is a fantastic way of starting a science project. We published a paper on that sample, and then, together with a coral biologist, I wrote a proposal to fund specific expeditions to the Southern Ocean, and to the Equatorial Atlantic to gain a wider view of how the Atlantic Ocean behaved during major climate transitions.

I love the research as it combines field work, lab work and collaborations with all kinds of people including scientists, engineers as well as the ships' crews. In terms of scientists, I work with biologists, oceanographers, chemists, geologists, habitat specialists and a whole range of people who have technical expertise across these fields.”

Learn more about Robinson's current expidition in the Southern Ocean. 

More profile about the speaker
Laura Robinson | Speaker | TED.com
TEDxBrussels

Laura Robinson: The secrets I find on the mysterious ocean floor

羅拉·羅賓遜: 神秘海洋地板的秘密

Filmed:
1,759,346 views

在海平面以下数百米的地方,羅拉·羅賓遜在探索大型海底山峰的陡坡。她正在寻找千年珊瑚,当它把珊瑚放进核反应堆时,就能发现海洋是怎样随时间而变化的。通过学习地球的历史,罗宾逊希望能找出解答未来发展的线索。
- Ocean scientist
Dr. Laura Robinson's scientific mission is to document and understand the processes that govern climate. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:12
Well, I'm an ocean海洋 chemist化學家.
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我是一個海洋化學家
我關注現在的海洋變化
00:14
I look at the chemistry化學
of the ocean海洋 today今天.
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00:16
I look at the chemistry化學
of the ocean海洋 in the past過去.
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我關注過去的海洋變化
00:19
The way I look back in the past過去
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我探索過去的法則
是利用已經變成化石的深海珊瑚的遺骸
00:21
is by using運用 the fossilized化石 remains遺跡
of deepwater深水 corals珊瑚蟲.
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00:24
You can see an image圖片 of one
of these corals珊瑚蟲 behind背後 me.
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你可以看到在我身後 其中一張珊瑚的照片
00:27
It was collected from close to Antarctica南極洲,
thousands數千 of meters below下面 the sea,
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我們在毗鄰南極洲幾千米之下的深海處找到它
00:31
so, very different不同
than the kinds of corals珊瑚蟲
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因此 如果你在熱帶旅遊的時候能夠有幸看到一些珊瑚
00:33
you may可能 have been lucky幸運 enough足夠 to see
if you've had a tropical熱帶 holiday假日.
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會發現二者很不一樣
00:37
So I'm hoping希望 that this talk will give you
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我真誠地希望我的演說
能夠為你帶來一個四維的海洋
00:39
a four-dimensional四維 view視圖 of the ocean海洋.
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二維的海洋
00:41
Two dimensions尺寸, such這樣 as this
beautiful美麗 two-dimensional二維 image圖片
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比如這張美麗的海洋表面溫度的二維的圖像
00:45
of the sea surface表面 temperature溫度.
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00:47
This was taken採取 using運用 satellite衛星,
so it's got tremendous巨大 spatial空間的 resolution解析度.
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这是由卫星拍摄的 所以拥有极好的空间辨析度
00:51
The overall總體 features特徵 are extremely非常
easy簡單 to understand理解.
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图片上关于整体的特征极其容易了解
00:54
The equatorial赤道 regions地區 are warm
because there's more sunlight陽光.
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赤道地区比较温暖 因为那裡接收了更多的阳光
00:58
The polar極性 regions地區 are cold
because there's less sunlight陽光.
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极地地区比较严寒 因为那裡光照稀少
01:01
And that allows允許 big icecaps冰蓋
to build建立 up on Antarctica南極洲
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这让巨大的冰盖在南极洲和北半球上部形成
01:04
and up in the Northern北方 Hemisphere半球.
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01:06
If you plunge跳水 deep into the sea,
or even put your toes腳趾 in the sea,
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如果你俯冲入深海之中 或者把你的脚趾放进海里
你就知道越往下水温越低
01:09
you know it gets得到 colder更冷 as you go down,
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01:11
and that's mostly大多 because the deep waters水域
that fill the abyss深淵 of the ocean海洋
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那是大多是因为流動在海洋深處的海水
来自寒冷的极地地区 它们的密度更高
01:15
come from the cold polar極性 regions地區
where the waters水域 are dense稠密.
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01:19
If we travel旅行 back in time
20,000 years年份 ago,
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如果我们進行時間旅行 回到两万年前
01:22
the earth地球 looked看著 very much different不同.
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会发现地球看起来有很大不同
如果你真的回到那麼久以前的地球
01:24
And I've just given特定 you a cartoon動畫片 version
of one of the major重大的 differences分歧
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将会看到我用图像给你们展现其中一个最大的不同之处
01:28
you would have seen看到
if you went back that long.
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冰川面積更大
01:30
The icecaps冰蓋 were much bigger.
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它們覆蓋了很多的陸地 而且延伸到了海洋
01:32
They covered覆蓋 lots of the continent大陸,
and they extended擴展 out over the ocean海洋.
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01:35
Sea level水平 was 120 meters lower降低.
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海平面比现在低了120米
01:38
Carbon dioxide二氧化碳 [levels水平] were very
much lower降低 than they are today今天.
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二氧化碳含量也比現在低了許多
01:42
So the earth地球 was probably大概 about three
to five degrees colder更冷 overall總體,
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所以可能全球平均氣溫要低了3到5度
在極地地區要更加寒冷
01:45
and much, much colder更冷
in the polar極性 regions地區.
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01:49
What I'm trying to understand理解,
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我希望了解的
01:51
and what other colleagues同事 of mine
are trying to understand理解,
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我的其他同事們希望了解的
是我們的地球怎麼從一個極寒的星球
01:54
is how we moved移動 from that
cold climate氣候 condition條件
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變成一個适宜人类居住的家園
01:56
to the warm climate氣候 condition條件
that we enjoy請享用 today今天.
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01:59
We know from ice core核心 research研究
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通過對冰核的探索
我們了解到這一個從嚴寒到溫暖的轉變過程並不平穩
02:01
that the transition過渡 from these
cold conditions條件 to warm conditions條件
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02:04
wasn't smooth光滑, as you might威力 predict預測
from the slow increase增加 in solar太陽能 radiation輻射.
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這也可以從緩慢增長的太陽輻射推測出來
02:10
And we know this from ice cores核心,
because if you drill鑽頭 down into ice,
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而我們從冰核中得到這些結論
因為如果你鑽入到冰川深處
就能看到年復一年形成的冰層
02:13
you find annual全年 bands of ice,
and you can see this in the iceberg冰山.
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在冰川上它們肉眼可見
你能看到那些藍白相間的層
02:16
You can see those blue-white藍白色 layers.
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02:18
Gases氣體 are trapped被困 in the ice cores核心,
so we can measure測量 COCO2 --
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氣體被困在冰核之中
所以我們可以測量氣體中CO2的含量
02:22
that's why we know COCO2
was lower降低 in the past過去 --
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因此我們知道過去的CO2含量要低得多
02:24
and the chemistry化學 of the ice
also tells告訴 us about temperature溫度
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而且冰的元素組成
也告訴我們過去極地的溫度信息
02:27
in the polar極性 regions地區.
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02:29
And if you move移動 in time
from 20,000 years年份 ago to the modern現代 day,
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如果你的思緒从20,000年前回到现在
你會發現溫度上升了
02:32
you see that temperature溫度 increased增加.
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它提升得並不平穩
02:34
It didn't increase增加 smoothly順利.
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有時候它迅速上升
02:36
Sometimes有時 it increased增加 very rapidly急速,
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接著是穩定狀態
02:38
then there was a plateau高原,
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然後再次迅速上升
02:39
then it increased增加 rapidly急速.
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兩極的狀況有所不同
02:40
It was different不同 in the two polar極性 regions地區,
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而CO2含量同樣猛漲
02:42
and COCO2 also increased增加 in jumps跳躍.
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02:46
So we're pretty漂亮 sure the ocean海洋
has a lot to do with this.
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所以我們相當確定海洋影響了這個過程
海洋儲存了大量的碳元素
02:49
The ocean海洋 stores商店 huge巨大 amounts of carbon,
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大約是空氣中的60倍
02:52
about 60 times more
than is in the atmosphere大氣層.
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海洋也影響了热量跨越赤道传播
02:54
It also acts行為 to transport運輸 heat
across橫過 the equator赤道,
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而且它富有養分 控制了初級生產力
02:58
and the ocean海洋 is full充分 of nutrients營養成分
and it controls控制 primary productivity生產率.
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03:02
So if we want to find out
what's going on down in the deep sea,
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所以我們想弄明白深海中到底發生了什麼事情
我們真的需要下到那裡
03:05
we really need to get down there,
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看看有什麼事物
03:06
see what's there
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然後開始挖掘與探索
03:07
and start開始 to explore探索.
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這是一些美麗的海丘的影像
03:09
This is some spectacular壯觀 footage鏡頭
coming未來 from a seamount海山
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在公海海域大概一千米深處
03:12
about a kilometer公里 deep
in international國際 waters水域
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在鄰近赤道 遠離陸地的大西洋海域
03:14
in the equatorial赤道 Atlantic大西洋, far from land土地.
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你們是第一批看到這海底一隅的人
03:17
You're amongst其中包括 the first people
to see this bit of the seafloor海底,
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和我的團隊一起
03:20
along沿 with my research研究 team球隊.
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03:23
You're probably大概 seeing眼看 new species種類.
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你可能已經看到了新物種
也許吧
03:25
We don't know.
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你需要收集樣本然後進行認真的分類
03:26
You'd have to collect蒐集 the samples樣本
and do some very intense激烈 taxonomy分類.
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03:29
You can see beautiful美麗 bubblegum泡泡糖 corals珊瑚蟲.
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你可以看到美麗的泡泡珊瑚
那裡有柔軟的海星生長在上面
03:31
There are brittle stars明星
growing生長 on these corals珊瑚蟲.
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那看起來就像珊瑚裡伸出了觸手
03:34
Those are things that look
like tentacles觸手 coming未來 out of corals珊瑚蟲.
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那裡有由各種形式的碳酸鈣組成的珊瑚
03:37
There are corals珊瑚蟲 made製作 of different不同 forms形式
of calcium carbonate碳酸鹽
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生長在巨大的海底玄武岩山脈上
03:40
growing生長 off the basalt玄武岩 of this
massive大規模的 undersea海底 mountain,
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而那些黑色物質是變成化石的珊瑚
03:43
and the dark黑暗 sort分類 of stuff東東,
those are fossilized化石 corals珊瑚蟲,
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隨著我們對過去的探究
03:46
and we're going to talk
a little more about those
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我们也會對它們進行更多的討論
03:49
as we travel旅行 back in time.
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03:51
To do that, we need
to charter憲章 a research研究 boat.
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為了完成這件事 我們要租一艘科研船
這是James Cook 一艘遠洋探索船舶
03:53
This is the James詹姆士 Cook廚師,
an ocean-class海洋級 research研究 vessel船隻
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它停泊在特納夫利島
03:56
moored停泊 up in Tenerife特內里費.
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看起來美極了 對吧?
03:57
Looks容貌 beautiful美麗, right?
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03:59
Great, if you're not a great mariner水手.
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然而 如果你不是一名好的船員
04:01
Sometimes有時 it looks容貌
a little more like this.
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有時候情況更多是這樣的
為了不要錯過一個珍貴的樣本
04:04
This is us trying to make sure
that we don't lose失去 precious珍貴 samples樣本.
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所有人來回跑動 我劇烈地暈船
04:07
Everyone's每個人的 scurrying亂竄 around,
and I get terribly可怕 seasick暈船,
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所以這並不總是很愉快的 但總體來說它是
04:10
so it's not always a lot of fun開玩笑,
but overall總體 it is.
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為了做這件事 我們必須成為非常優秀的製圖人
04:13
So we've我們已經 got to become成為
a really good mapper映射器 to do this.
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你不可能在所有地方都看到那樣壯觀的大片珊瑚
04:15
You don't see that kind of spectacular壯觀
coral珊瑚 abundance豐富 everywhere到處.
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隻有在極少數的 深海的地方才能看到
04:19
It is global全球 and it is deep,
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但我們迫切地需要找到正確的地方
04:22
but we need to really find
the right places地方.
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我們參考一張標明去年巡遊路線的世界地圖
04:25
We just saw a global全球 map地圖,
and overlaid覆蓋 was our cruise巡航 passage通道
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04:28
from last year.
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04:29
This was a seven-week七週 cruise巡航,
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這是一次持續七周的巡遊
而這是我們自己製作的
04:31
and this is us, having made製作 our own擁有 maps地圖
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04:33
of about 75,000 square廣場 kilometers公里
of the seafloor海底 in seven weeks,
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關於75,000平方千米的海底的地圖
它是花費7周的成果
04:37
but that's only a tiny fraction分數
of the seafloor海底.
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但這只是海底很小的一部分
我們從西邊走到東邊
04:40
We're traveling旅行 from west西 to east,
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走過在過於簡略的世界地圖上看起來毫無特點的海洋
04:41
over part部分 of the ocean海洋 that would
look featureless無特色 on a big-scale大尺度 map地圖,
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但事實上這些海洋底部的山脈與珠穆朗瑪峰一樣巨大
04:45
but actually其實 some of these mountains
are as big as Everest珠峰.
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有了這張我們在船上繪製的地圖
04:48
So with the maps地圖 that we make on board,
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我們得到了100米的分辨率
04:50
we get about 100-meter-儀表 resolution解析度,
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足以讓我們選擇一個區域並布置我們的儀器
04:52
enough足夠 to pick out areas
to deploy部署 our equipment設備,
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但不足以讓我們看到太多的東西
04:55
but not enough足夠 to see very much.
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為了看到更多 我們需要让遠程遙控機器人
04:57
To do that, we need to fly
remotely-operated遠程操作 vehicles汽車
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遊動在大概距海底5米的地方
05:00
about five meters off the seafloor海底.
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如果我們這樣做
05:02
And if we do that, we can get maps地圖
that are one-meter一米 resolution解析度
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我們就能夠在數千米之下的海底得到1米的分辨率
05:05
down thousands數千 of meters.
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這是我們的遠程遙控機器人
05:07
Here is a remotely-operated遠程操作 vehicle車輛,
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一個研究型的機器人媒介
05:09
a research-grade研究級 vehicle車輛.
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05:12
You can see an array排列
of big lights燈火 on the top最佳.
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你可以在它的頭上看到一列的大燈
和高清攝像機以及人工機械臂
05:14
There are high-definition高清 cameras相機,
manipulator機械手 arms武器,
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許多箱子之類的東西來收集樣品
05:17
and lots of little boxes盒子 and things
to put your samples樣本.
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05:21
Here we are on our first dive潛水
of this particular特定 cruise巡航,
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終於到了我們在這個特殊的巡遊中
第一次入海的時候
05:24
plunging暴跌 down into the ocean海洋.
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猛潛入海洋
我們下潛地很快
05:26
We go pretty漂亮 fast快速 to make sure
the remotely遠程 operated操作 vehicles汽車
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來保證機器人不會被任何其他船隻影響
05:29
are not affected受影響 by any other ships船舶.
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然後我們持續下潛
05:31
And we go down,
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這就是在海水中你能夠看到的景象
05:32
and these are the kinds of things you see.
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這是一隻米級的深海海綿
05:34
These are deep sea sponges海綿, meter儀表 scale規模.
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05:38
This is a swimming游泳的 holothurian海參 --
it's a small sea slug金屬塊, basically基本上.
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一個正在海洋中徜徉的海參
本質上也就是一個小小的海洋鼻涕蟲
05:43
This is slowed放緩 down.
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這個影像被放慢了
大多數我展現給你們的影像都是快進的
05:44
Most of the footage鏡頭 I'm showing展示
you is speeded加快 up,
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因為所有的這些拍攝花費了大量的時間
05:46
because all of this takes a lot of time.
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05:49
This is a beautiful美麗 holothurian海參 as well.
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這也是一個漂亮的海參
05:52
And this animal動物 you're going to see
coming未來 up was a big surprise.
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而這個將要出現的生物是給我們帶來了巨大的驚喜
我從來沒有見過這樣的生物 它讓我們都很驚訝
05:55
I've never seen看到 anything like this
and it took us all a bit surprised詫異.
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在這時我們已經工作了15個小時 都處於亢奮的狀態
05:59
This was after about 15 hours小時 of work
and we were all a bit trigger-happy好戰的,
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突然這個巨大的海洋怪物蠕動着經過
06:03
and suddenly突然 this giant巨人
sea monster怪物 started開始 rolling壓延 past過去.
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它被稱為火體蟲 或者群體性被囊動物
06:05
It's called a pyrosomepyrosome
or colonial殖民 tunicate被囊動物, if you like.
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隨你怎麼叫
06:08
This wasn't what we were looking for.
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但是這不是我們在尋找的生物
我們在尋找着珊瑚 深海的珊瑚
06:10
We were looking for corals珊瑚蟲,
deep sea corals珊瑚蟲.
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06:14
You're going to see a picture圖片
of one in a moment時刻.
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你將會看到一張深海珊瑚的照片
它很小 大概只有5釐米高
06:16
It's small, about five centimeters公分 high.
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它由碳酸鈣構成
06:19
It's made製作 of calcium carbonate碳酸鹽,
so you can see its tentacles觸手 there,
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你可以看到它的那些小觸手隨着洋流飄動
06:22
moving移動 in the ocean海洋 currents電流.
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06:25
An organism生物 like this probably大概 lives生活
for about a hundred years年份.
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它大概已經生活了幾百年了
當它生長的時候 它會吸收海洋中的元素
06:28
And as it grows成長, it takes in
chemicals化學製品 from the ocean海洋.
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而海洋中的元素種類
06:31
And the chemicals化學製品,
or the amount of chemicals化學製品,
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或者元素含量
06:34
depends依靠 on the temperature溫度;
it depends依靠 on the pHpH值,
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取決於溫度 取決於酸堿度
也取決於海洋中的養分
06:36
it depends依靠 on the nutrients營養成分.
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06:38
And if we can understand理解 how
these chemicals化學製品 get into the skeleton骨架,
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如果我們能夠明白這些元素是怎麼進到珊瑚遺骨里的
我們就能通過收集化石樣品
06:41
we can then go back,
collect蒐集 fossil化石 specimens標本,
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重新構建過去的海洋景觀
06:44
and reconstruct重建 what the ocean海洋
used to look like in the past過去.
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現在你能夠看到我們在用真空吸器收集珊瑚
06:47
And here you can see us collecting蒐集
that coral珊瑚 with a vacuum真空 system系統,
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將它放進一個樣品收集箱
06:50
and we put it into a sampling採樣 container容器.
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應當說明的是 我們非常小心地做這件事
06:53
We can do this very
carefully小心, I should add.
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有些海底生物甚至活得更久
06:55
Some of these organisms生物 live生活 even longer.
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06:57
This is a black黑色 coral珊瑚 called LeiopathesLeiopathes,
an image圖片 taken採取 by my colleague同事,
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這是一張珊瑚黑礁的照片
是由我的同事Brendan Roark
07:01
Brendan布倫丹 Roark洛克, about 500
meters below下面 Hawaii夏威夷.
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在夏威夷海域500米水下拍攝的
4000年很漫長
07:04
Four thousand years年份 is a long time.
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07:06
If you take a branch from one
of these corals珊瑚蟲 and polish拋光 it up,
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從這些珊瑚礁上取下一條枝條並將它處理乾淨
它大概有100微米長
07:10
this is about 100 microns微米 across橫過.
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07:12
And Brendan布倫丹 took some analyses分析
across橫過 this coral珊瑚 --
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Brendan對這些珊瑚礁進行了一系列的分析
你們可以看到那些痕跡
07:15
you can see the marks分數 --
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他發現那真真切切是年齡層
07:17
and he's been able能夠 to show顯示
that these are actual實際 annual全年 bands,
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所以即使生活在500米水深下
07:20
so even at 500 meters deep in the ocean海洋,
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珊瑚也能夠記錄季節性變化
07:22
corals珊瑚蟲 can record記錄 seasonal時令的 changes變化,
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這十分令人驚艷
07:24
which哪一個 is pretty漂亮 spectacular壯觀.
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但4000年還不足以讓我們回到末次冰盛期
07:26
But 4,000 years年份 is not enough足夠 to get
us back to our last glacial冰河 maximum最大值.
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那麼我們該怎麼做呢?
07:30
So what do we do?
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我們要繼續收集化石樣品
07:31
We go in for these fossil化石 specimens標本.
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07:34
This is what makes品牌 me really unpopular不得人心
with my research研究 team球隊.
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這讓我在我的隊伍里很不得人心
我們一直在海底前進
07:37
So going along沿,
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到處都是巨大的鯊魚
07:38
there's giant巨人 sharks鯊魚 everywhere到處,
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有火體蟲 有遊動的海參
07:39
there are pyrosomespyrosomes,
there are swimming游泳的 holothurians海參,
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有巨大的海綿
07:42
there's giant巨人 sponges海綿,
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但是我讓所有人去到那死氣沉沉的化石區域
07:43
but I make everyone大家 go down
to these dead fossil化石 areas
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花上幾個世紀的時間時間 在海底鏟來鏟去
07:46
and spend ages年齡 kind of shoveling
around on the seafloor海底.
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然後我們帶回所有的珊瑚樣品 將它們分類
07:49
And we pick up all these corals珊瑚蟲,
bring帶來 them back, we sort分類 them out.
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每一株珊瑚的年代都是不同的
07:53
But each one of these is a different不同 age年齡,
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但是如果我們能夠發現它們到底生活了多久
07:55
and if we can find out how old they are
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我們就能量化那些化學信號
07:57
and then we can measure測量
those chemical化學 signals信號,
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這幫助我們了解
08:00
this helps幫助 us to find out
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過去的海洋到底發生了什麼
08:01
what's been going on
in the ocean海洋 in the past過去.
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08:04
So on the left-hand左手 image圖片 here,
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所以在左邊的這張圖片
08:06
I've taken採取 a slice through通過 a coral珊瑚,
polished it very carefully小心
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我從珊瑚上取下了一小片 並十分小心地清潔它
然後拍了一張光學圖像
08:09
and taken採取 an optical光纖 image圖片.
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右邊這張圖
08:11
On the right-hand右手 side,
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我再取了這個珊瑚的一小片 把它放進核反應堆
08:12
we've我們已經 taken採取 that same相同 piece of coral珊瑚,
put it in a nuclear reactor反應堆,
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激發核裂變
08:15
induced誘發 fission分裂,
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經過足夠長的時間它開始衰變
08:16
and every一切 time there's some decay衰變,
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你看到那些在珊瑚上的痕跡
08:18
you can see that marked out in the coral珊瑚,
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是肉眼可見的珊瑚中鈾的分布
08:20
so we can see the uranium distribution分配.
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我們為什麼要做這樣的事情呢?
08:22
Why are we doing this?
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鈾是一種很不常見的元素
08:23
Uranium is a very poorly不好 regarded認為 element元件,
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但我愛死它了
08:25
but I love it.
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它的衰變幫助我們了解海洋中事情發生的頻率和時間
08:27
The decay衰變 helps幫助 us find out
about the rates利率 and dates日期
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08:30
of what's going on in the ocean海洋.
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如果你還記得的話
08:31
And if you remember記得 from the beginning開始,
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這就是我們為了探索氣候想要得到的數據
08:33
that's what we want to get at
when we're thinking思維 about climate氣候.
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所以我們用激光去探測珊瑚中的鈾元素
08:36
So we use a laser激光 to analyze分析 uranium
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以及它的其中一個衰變產物釷
08:38
and one of its daughter女兒 products製品,
thorium, in these corals珊瑚蟲,
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這能告訴我們這些化石的確切壽命
08:41
and that tells告訴 us exactly究竟
how old the fossils化石 are.
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這是一張美麗的南部海洋的動畫
08:44
This beautiful美麗 animation動畫
of the Southern南部的 Ocean海洋
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我將會利用它來說明我們如何利用這些珊瑚
08:46
I'm just going to use illustrate說明
how we're using運用 these corals珊瑚蟲
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獲得遠古海洋的訊息
08:50
to get at some of the ancient
ocean海洋 feedbacks反饋.
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在這個動圖中你可以看出表面海水的密度
08:54
You can see the density密度
of the surface表面 water
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08:56
in this animation動畫 by Ryan瑞安 AbernatheyAbernathey.
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我的同事Ryan Abernathey製作了它
上面隻展現了一年的數據
08:59
It's just one year of data數據,
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但你可以看到南部的海洋有多麼的活力四射
09:01
but you can see how dynamic動態
the Southern南部的 Ocean海洋 is.
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那些強烈的交匯
09:04
The intense激烈 mixing混合,
particularly尤其 the Drake Passage通道,
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特別是在圖中用黑色方框圈出來的大渡海的地區
09:07
which哪一個 is shown顯示 by the box,
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09:10
is really one of the strongest最強
currents電流 in the world世界
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世界上最強的洋流之一
從那裡自西向東穿過
09:13
coming未來 through通過 here,
flowing流動 from west西 to east.
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洶湧的洋流在那裡交匯
09:15
It's very turbulently湍流 mixed,
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09:16
because it's moving移動 over those
great big undersea海底 mountains,
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因為它們在那些巨大的海底山脈上方流動
而這個過程讓CO2和熱量在海洋和大氣間交換
09:19
and this allows允許 COCO2 and heat to exchange交換
with the atmosphere大氣層 in and out.
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形象地說 就像海洋在通過南大洋呼吸著
09:24
And essentially實質上, the oceans海洋 are breathing呼吸
through通過 the Southern南部的 Ocean海洋.
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09:28
We've我們已經 collected corals珊瑚蟲 from back and forth向前
across橫過 this Antarctic南極洲 passage通道,
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我們來來回回地在南極洲航路上收集珊瑚
在對珊瑚的鈾年代測定中 發現了一件很令人驚訝的事情
09:34
and we've我們已經 found發現 quite相當 a surprising奇怪 thing
from my uranium dating約會:
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這些珊瑚從南部遷徙到了北部
09:37
the corals珊瑚蟲 migrated遷移 from south to north
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正在這個世界處於冰河期與間冰期的轉換期的時候
09:39
during this transition過渡 from the glacial冰河
to the interglacial間冰期.
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我們不知道為什麼
09:43
We don't really know why,
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也許與食物來源有關
09:44
but we think it's something
to do with the food餐飲 source資源
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或者是海水中的氧氣含量有關
09:46
and maybe the oxygen in the water.
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所以問題來了
09:49
So here we are.
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我會說明利用那些南大洋里的珊瑚
09:50
I'm going to illustrate說明 what I think
we've我們已經 found發現 about climate氣候
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我們到底發現了什麼
09:53
from those corals珊瑚蟲 in the Southern南部的 Ocean海洋.
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我們徹底探索海底山脈
09:55
We went up and down sea mountains.
We collected little fossil化石 corals珊瑚蟲.
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收集那些小小的珊瑚化石
那是我們的證據
09:59
This is my illustration插圖 of that.
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基於對珊瑚成分的分析
10:00
We think back in the glacial冰河,
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我們認為在遙遠的冰河時期
10:02
from the analysis分析
we've我們已經 made製作 in the corals珊瑚蟲,
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南大洋深處儲存了大量的碳元素
10:04
that the deep part部分 of the Southern南部的 Ocean海洋
was very rich豐富 in carbon,
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但是有一層低密度的層覆蓋在那些碳元素上
10:07
and there was a low-density低密度
layer sitting坐在 on top最佳.
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阻止了CO2從海洋中釋放出來
10:10
That stops停止 carbon dioxide二氧化碳
coming未來 out of the ocean海洋.
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我們隨後找到了那些處於中間年齡的珊瑚樣本
10:13
We then found發現 corals珊瑚蟲
that are of an intermediate中間 age年齡,
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它告訴我們海洋在氣候變化的中期匯合
10:16
and they show顯示 us that the ocean海洋 mixed
partway中途 through通過 that climate氣候 transition過渡.
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這讓碳元素從深海中被釋放
10:20
That allows允許 carbon to come
out of the deep ocean海洋.
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10:24
And then if we analyze分析 corals珊瑚蟲
closer接近 to the modern現代 day,
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而如果我們分析現今的珊瑚成分
10:27
or indeed確實 if we go down there today今天 anyway無論如何
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也就是下到海洋里去
并測量珊瑚的化學成分
10:29
and measure測量 the chemistry化學 of the corals珊瑚蟲,
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就會發現我們處於一個碳元素可以自由交換的年代
10:31
we see that we move移動 to a position位置
where carbon can exchange交換 in and out.
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我們利用珊瑚化石
10:35
So this is the way
we can use fossil化石 corals珊瑚蟲
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幫助我們了解環境
10:37
to help us learn學習 about the environment環境.
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所以我想為你展現著最後一張幻燈片
10:41
So I want to leave離開 you
with this last slide滑動.
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是一張一開始我呈現給你們的影像中的一張截圖
10:43
It's just a still taken採取 out of that first
piece of footage鏡頭 that I showed顯示 you.
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這是一個壯觀的珊瑚王國
10:47
This is a spectacular壯觀 coral珊瑚 garden花園.
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我們恐怕再也見不到比這還美麗的事物
10:50
We didn't even expect期望
to find things this beautiful美麗.
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在幾千米的水下
10:52
It's thousands數千 of meters deep.
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有新奇的物種
10:54
There are new species種類.
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那真是一個美麗的地方
10:56
It's just a beautiful美麗 place地點.
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10:58
There are fossils化石 in amongst其中包括,
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那其中還有化石
我剛剛告訴了你們海底化石的奧秘
10:59
and now I've trained熟練 you
to appreciate欣賞 the fossil化石 corals珊瑚蟲
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11:02
that are down there.
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所以以後當你們飛越大洋
11:03
So next下一個 time you're lucky幸運 enough足夠
to fly over the ocean海洋
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11:06
or sail over the ocean海洋,
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或者在海上航行的時候
要想想——
11:08
just think -- there are massive大規模的
sea mountains down there
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你身下有巨大的海底山脈
11:10
that nobody's沒有人是 ever seen看到 before,
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沒有人層看見過它們
在山上長著美麗的珊瑚
11:12
and there are beautiful美麗 corals珊瑚蟲.
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660603
1617
11:14
Thank you.
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662244
1151
謝謝
11:15
(Applause掌聲)
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663419
4930
(鼓掌)
Translated by Zhang Shike
Reviewed by Lee Li

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Laura Robinson - Ocean scientist
Dr. Laura Robinson's scientific mission is to document and understand the processes that govern climate.

Why you should listen

Dr. Laura Robinson's research the processes that govern climate on time scales ranging from the modern day back through hundreds of thousands of years. To do this research, Robinson uses geochemical techniques, with an emphasis on radioactive elements including uranium series isotopes and radiocarbon. These elements are particularly valuable as they have a wide range of decay rates and geochemical properties and can be analyzed in geologic materials such as corals, marine sediments and seawater.

Through a combination of field work and lab work, Robinson has been tackling questions relating to: timing of Pleistocene climate change events; palaeoclimate reconstructions; deep-sea coral paleo-biogeography; impact of weathering on the ocean and climate; biomineralization; development of new geochemical proxies for past climate conditions; chemical tracers of ocean circulation.

Robinson describes the inspiration behind her work:

“When I finished my PhD, I moved to California to work with Professor Jess Adkins at Caltech on a project using deep-sea corals. Before that time, like many people, I did not know that corals lived in the deep ocean. The first thing I did was prepare for a research cruise to the North Atlantic. We took the research submarine 'Alvin' out to undersea mountains and were able to collect fossil corals from the seafloor. The start of my work in the Southern Ocean came from analysis of a single coral specimen from the Smithsonian Natural History Museum in Washington DC. They loaned us the sample, and we found that it was about 16,000 years old, just right for looking at the middle of the last global deglaciation. Being able to access and work on these specimens is a fantastic way of starting a science project. We published a paper on that sample, and then, together with a coral biologist, I wrote a proposal to fund specific expeditions to the Southern Ocean, and to the Equatorial Atlantic to gain a wider view of how the Atlantic Ocean behaved during major climate transitions.

I love the research as it combines field work, lab work and collaborations with all kinds of people including scientists, engineers as well as the ships' crews. In terms of scientists, I work with biologists, oceanographers, chemists, geologists, habitat specialists and a whole range of people who have technical expertise across these fields.”

Learn more about Robinson's current expidition in the Southern Ocean. 

More profile about the speaker
Laura Robinson | Speaker | TED.com