Farewell to Arms - 普特英语听力.PDF

普特英语听力 免费学习英语 When Continents Collide:The HistoryOfOurPlanet When Continents Collide:The HistoryOfOurPlanet WWhheenn CCoonnttiinneennttssCCoolllliiddee::TThheeHHiissttoorryyOOffOOuurrPPllaanneett 大陆相撞：我们星球的历史 It was one of the Earth’s momentous times. Continents collided. Volcanoes erupted. Ocean currents shifted. Species ranamok. Twenty million years ago, North and SouthAmerica were arranged innearly the same positions as they are today. The big difference being, they were separated by a deep open channel called the Central American Seaway. There was no Panama and no need for a Panama Canal because there was clear sailing from theAtlantic tothe Pacific. But the Earth is a geologically active planet with shifting crustal plates. During the time period between twenty and three million years ago, the Pacific Plate collided with the Caribbean Plate, pushing magma to the surface to make islands in the sea, and eventually creating a land bridge between the two continents. The movement not only changed the land, it disrupted ocean currents, openeda door tospecies migrations andprobablyaltered the world’s climate. When the land bridge closed, equatorial waters could no longer mix. The Atlantic became saltier and the Pacific more dilute, creating a gradient that moves water in a giant loop around the globe today. Warm Atlantic water that used to pass through the gap moved northward, becoming the Gulf Stream. Scientists believe these changes created a warmer Europe and contributed to our recentcyclic ice ages. The land bridge also opened the way for species to cross from one continent to the other. Deer, horses, raccoons, bears and the camel ancestors of llamas moved south across the bridge. Anteaters, porcupines, opossums and armadillos moved north. Unfortunately, many large South America species couldn’t compete with the North American an