09 天文和地理-2022-2023 高中高三英语阅读理解专项训练(含答案).docxVIP

09天文和地理

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Earth’sgeologicages—timeperiodsdefinedbyevidenceinrocklayers—typicallylastmorethanthreemillionyears.We’rebarely11,500yearsintothecurrentage,theHolocene.Butanewpaperarguesthatwe’vealreadyenteredanewone—theAnthropocene,or“newman”,age.

Thenameisn’tbrand-new.NobelPrizewinnerPaulCrutzen,aco-authorofthepaper,coineditin2002toreflectthechangessincetheindustrialrevolution.Thepaper,however,ispartofnewpushtoformalizetheAnthropoceneage.

Recenthumanimpactshavebeensogreatthatthey’llresultinanobviousboundary(界限)inEarth’srocklayers,theauthorssay.“WearesoskilledatusingenergyandexploitingtheenvironmentthatwearenowadefiningforceinthegeologicalprocessonthesurfaceoftheEarth,”saidco-authorJanZala,ageologistwiththeUniversityofLeicesterintheU.K.Evenso,itcouldtakeyearsorevendecadesfortheInternationalUnionofGeologicalSciencestoformalizethenewage.

IftheconceptoftheAnthropoceneageistobeformalized,scientistswillfirsthavetoidentifyanddefineaboundaryline,ormarker,that’ssetinstone.“Thekeythingisthinkingabouthow—thousandsofyearsinthefuture—geologistsmightcomebackandactuallyrecognizeinthedepositrecordthebeginningoftheAnthropocene,”explainedAlanHaywoodoftheUniversityofLeedsintheU.K.“It’snotasstraightforwardasyoumightthink.Themarkerhastobeveryprecise,andithastoberecognizedinmanydifferentpartsoftheworld,”saidHaywood,whowasn’tinvolvedinthenewstudy.

Onecandidateforthemarkeristhedistinctiveradioactivesignatureleftbyatombombtests,whichbeganin1945.“Thefallout(沉降)isbasicallyacrosstheworld,”Haywoodsaid.Inasimilarway,scientistsusedtracesoftheelementiridium(铱)leftbyshootingstarstrikestohelpdefinetheboundarybetweentheCretaceousandTertiaryperiods—thetimeofthegreatdinosaurextin