科学美国人60秒 SSS 2014-09-26
时间：2018-12-24 作者：英语课 分类：2014年Scientific American(九)月
英语课
Today's early warning systems for earthquakes give you at most a few minutes to prepare for the hit. That's because today's systems rely on detecting the first early rumbles 1 of an actual earthquake before sending the alarm.
Now researchers say that following the chemistry of groundwater could sound a long-term quake alarm. They tracked samples from an artesian well in Iceland for five years and identified changes in the ratios of hydrogen isotopes 2 and a spike 3 in sodium 4 levels, four to six months before two 5+ magnitude quakes.
The chemical clues suggest mixing between groundwaters—so the researchers deduce that rocks may be fracturing, linking up underground aquifers 5, before the quake. The results are in the journal Nature Geoscience.
Investigations 6 like this one have been plodding 7 along for 40 years, and some studies—like one following the deadly Kobe quake in 1995—have found similar correlations 8. But study author Alasdair Skelton, a professor of geochemistry at Stockholm University, says the unpredictable study subject makes it tough to get funding, "because you can in no way guarantee a result. So I get three years of money but if there's no earthquake, there's no result."
And even if we do accumulate more results like this and researchers sound a six-month alarm, what next? "If we're gonna ever predict earthquakes, we want something sort of intermediate term. Not years, and not minutes or days. So weeks or months is probably the most useful time scale—but the sheer practicality of it, what you do about it, I'm thankful I'm not the person who has to resolve that." Judging by the way leaders have responded to scientists' warnings about another issue , we might still be left ducking under the nearest table.
1 rumbles
隆隆声，辘辘声( rumble的名词复数 )
- If I hear any rumbles I'll let you know. 我要是听到什么风声就告诉你。
- Three blocks away train rumbles by. 三个街区以外，火车隆隆驶过。
2 isotopes
n.同位素；同位素( isotope的名词复数 )
- the many isotopes of carbon 碳的诸多同位素
- Tritium is one of the mildest radioactive isotopes. 氚是最和缓的放射性同位素之一。 来自《简明英汉词典》
3 spike
n.长钉，钉鞋；v.以大钉钉牢，使...失效
- The spike pierced the receipts and held them in order.那个钉子穿过那些收据并使之按顺序排列。
- They'll do anything to spike the guns of the opposition.他们会使出各种手段来挫败对手。
4 sodium
n.（化）钠
- Out over the town the sodium lights were lit.在外面，全城的钠光灯都亮了。
- Common salt is a compound of sodium and chlorine.食盐是钠和氯的复合物。
5 aquifers
n.地下蓄水层，砂石含水层( aquifer的名词复数 )
- And in Africa, the aquifers barely recharge at all. 非洲的地下水开采以后几乎得不到补充。 来自时文部分
- Aquifers have water contents over 30%. 含水层的水含过30％。 来自辞典例句
6 investigations
（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究
- His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
- He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。
7 plodding
a.proceeding in a slow or dull way
- They're still plodding along with their investigation. 他们仍然在不厌其烦地进行调查。
- He is plodding on with negotiations. 他正缓慢艰难地进行着谈判。
8 correlations
相互的关系( correlation的名词复数 )
- One would expect strong and positive correlations between both complexes. 人们往往以为这两个综合体之间有紧密的正相关。
- The correlations are of unequal value. 这些对应联系的价值并不相同。