Deep secrets revealed

If you have seen the movie Journey to the Center of the Earth, you may be impressed by the underground forest world. Now, it has become a reality.
如果你看过电影《地心历险记》，可能会对里面的地下森林世界印象深刻。现在，这个世界变成现实了。

In May, a team of Chinese scientists found a giant sinkhole in Leye county, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. It is 306 meters long, 150 meters wide and 192 meters deep.
今年5月，国内一支科考探险队在广西壮族自治区乐业县发现了一个巨大的天坑，长306米，宽150米，（最大）深度达192米。

According to Xinhua News Agency, Leye county is called the “the museum of sinkholes”, where people have found 30 sinkholes so far. These sinkholes are formed because of the unique karst landscape. Karst is an area of land made up of limestone, which is a soft rock that dissolves in water. When rainwater flows through little cracks in the bedrock, the cracks slowly grow into tunnels and then big caves. Over time, a cave can get too big and its ceiling then falls slowly, opening up huge sinkholes. What’s astonishing is the giant size of China’s sinkholes.
据新华社报道，乐业县被誉为“世界天坑博物馆”，至今已发现天坑30个。这些天坑因独特的喀斯特地貌形成。喀斯特地貌指的是由石灰岩构成的地区，这种岩石易溶于水且材质较软。雨水从基岩的小裂缝中流过时，裂缝会慢慢形成隧道，然后形成大的洞穴。随着时间推移，洞穴会变得过大，其顶部会慢慢下沉，形成巨大的天坑。中国塌陷型天坑规模奇大，令人惊讶。

“Because of local differences in geology, climate and other factors, the way karst appears at the surface can be dramatically different,” US researcher George Veni told Live Science. “In China you have this incredibly visually spectacular karst with enormous sinkholes. In other parts of the world ... sinkholes might be quite subdued, only a meter or two in diameter.”
“由于当地地质、气候和其他因素的差异，地表出现的喀斯特地貌可能会有巨大差异。”美国研究人员乔治·维尼在接受《生活科学》杂志采访时表示，“在中国，你会看到这种出现巨大天坑的喀斯特地貌，视觉上极其壮观。而在世界的其他地方……天坑可能很平缓，直径只有一、两米。”

Apart from looking cool, sinkholes also play an important role in ecology. Many of them are isolated from the exterior environment and are home to ancient plant, animal and microbe life.
天坑除了视觉上极具冲击力，在生态中也扮演着重要角色。许多天坑与外部环境隔绝，因而成为古老植物、动物和微生物的家园。

According to Xinhua, the newly found sinkhole harbors a “well-preserved primitive forest” at the bottom, spanning nearly three soccer fields in length. In this “lost world”, researchers found prehistoric-seeming trees up to 40 meters high and undergrowth which came up to their shoulders.
据新华社报道，乐业的新天坑底部保存着“完好的原始森林系统”，长约三个足球场。在这个“失落的世界”，研究人员发现了高达40米的古树和高度及肩的林下灌丛。

Besides, sinkholes are also like nature’s water pipes to aquifers, which provide water source to 700 million people worldwide.
此外，天坑也是自然界通往地下蓄水层的水管，为全球7亿人提供水源。

In fact, sinkholes are a gift from nature. “Lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets,” Chinese President Xi Jinping said when expressing his thought on ecological civilization.
事实上，天坑是大自然的礼物。习近平总书记对生态文明建设作出重要指示，提出了“绿水青山就是金山银山”的理念。

To build a shared future for all life on Earth, Xi said the harmonious coexistence between nature and human beings is the top priority.
习近平强调，构建人与自然生命共同体，要坚持人与自然和谐共生。

“All beings flourish when they live in harmony and receive nourishment from nature,” Xi said in 2021 when addressing the leaders’ summit of COP15.
2021年10月12日，习近平在《生物多样性公约》第十五次缔约方大会领导人峰会上发表主旨讲话时指出：“万物各得其和以生，各得其养以成。”

以上文章内容选自《21世纪学生英文报高中版》，详情请见《21世纪学生英文报高中版》高二874期