Centre of the Earth 鉆穿地殼
Centre of the Earth 鉆穿地殼
By Neil Bowdler, BBC News
The last attempt to drill into the mantle, Project Mohole, was conducted in 1961. It failed, but its drill location could be the site of a new effort. Two other potential sites are being assessed, including one being actively investigated this spring
媒體英語會帶大家一起學習BBC撰稿人在報道世界大事時常用到的單詞和短語。
背景：科學家們打算首次嘗試深鉆地殼直至其下部的地幔。這些科學家們將從太平洋底部開始鉆探，以測試這次行動的可行性。他們稱深鉆至地幔的嘗試或將在2018年開始。
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They've selected prospective sites under the Pacific Ocean where the crust is at is thinnest - just six kilometres.
Dr Damon Teagle of the UK's National Oceanography Centre in Southampton, is leading the quest. He likens the bid to the retrieval of Moon rocks by the Apollo programme and says samples from the mantle will tell us how our planet was formed and how it's changing.
Dr Teagle says: "Just as the Moon rocks told us about the composition of the Moon and how that relates to the early formation of the Earth itself, so will these samples as well."
Next month, the team will begin abid to drill nearly two kilometres down through the ocean floor off the coast of Costa Rica. They say an attempt to reach the mantle could begin as early as 2018, funds and technology permitting.
Neil Bowdler, BBC News
Glossary 詞匯表 (收聽發音, 請單擊英語單詞)
- prospective可能的、預期的
- quest探索、尋求
- to liken把…比作
- retrieval取回、提取
- sample取樣、樣品
- composition構造、構成
- to relate與…有聯系
- bid嘗試
- to drill鉆、鉆探
- to permit允許、準許
