2022年12月19日 VOA慢速英语：研究:汤加火山将颗粒和水喷射到大气中

 

New research shows that the Tonga volcano sent large amounts of particles and water vapor into the upper reaches of Earth's atmosphere.
新的研究表明，汤加火山将大量颗粒和水蒸气送入地球大气层的上游。
 
Scientists used satellite equipment to measure the plume created by the Hunga Tonga Hunga Ha'apai undersea volcano. The blast, or eruption, of the volcano happened in January in the South Pacific near the island nation of Tonga.
科学家们使用卫星设备测量了 Hunga Tonga Hunga Ha'apai 海底火山产生的羽流。火山爆发或喷发于 1 月发生在岛国汤加附近的南太平洋。
 
The 10-minute eruption caused a series of large ocean waves, known as a tsunami, to hit areas around the world. The huge plume the volcano created included smoke, gas and water vapor.
10 分钟的喷发引发了一系列被称为海啸的巨大海浪袭击了世界各地。火山产生的巨大羽流包括烟雾、气体和水蒸气。
 
Researchers at Britain's University of Oxford studied the size of the plume and examined data showing how high it reached into the sky. They reported in a recent study in the publication Science the volcano produced the highest-ever reported plume.
英国牛津大学的研究人员研究了羽流的大小，并检查了显示它升入天空的高度的数据。他们在最近发表在《科学》杂志上的一项研究中报告说，这座火山产生了有史以来最高的羽流。
 
The plume was the first to have broken through to the "mesosphere" level, or layer, of Earth's atmosphere, the scientists said.
科学家们说，羽流是第一个突破到地球大气层“中间层”水平或层的。
 
The mesosphere is the third-highest layer of Earth's atmosphere above the stratosphere and the troposphere, which starts at the Earth's surface. The mesosphere rises to 85 kilometers high. Meteors burn up within this layer.
中间层是地球大气层中第三高的层，高于平流层和对流层，从地球表面开始。中间层上升到 85 公里高。流星在这一层内燃烧殆尽。
 
The Oxford scientists said images captured by satellites suggested the volcano's plume reached 57 kilometers into the sky. They said the previous record holder was Mount Pinatubo, which erupted in 1991. That volcano created a plume recorded as high as 40 kilometers.
牛津大学的科学家说，卫星拍摄的图像表明，火山的羽流高达 57 公里。他们说，之前的记录保持者是 1991 年喷发的皮纳图博火山。那座火山产生的羽流高达 40 公里。
 
"It's the first time we've ever recorded a volcanic plume reaching the mesosphere," said Simon Proud, a scientist at Oxford and Britain's scientific research center RAL Space.
“这是我们第一次记录到到达中间层的火山羽流，”牛津和英国科学研究中心 RAL Space 的科学家西蒙普劳德说。
 
Proud added that the only other volcanic plume that might have reached the mesosphere might have been released in the eruption in 1883 of Krakatau, a small volcanic island in Indonesia. "But we didn't see that in enough detail to confirm," he said.
Proud 补充说，唯一可能到达中间层的火山羽流可能是在 1883 年印度尼西亚的一个小火山岛 Krakatau 喷发时释放的。 “但我们没有看到足够的细节来确认，”他说。
 
The researchers said progress in observational technology helped them reach their findings. The team used a method known as the "parallax effect" to measure the volcano's plume.
研究人员表示，观测技术的进步帮助他们得出了自己的发现。该团队使用一种称为“视差效应”的方法来测量火山的羽流。
 
The parallax effect describes a difference in the apparent position of an object when it is seen along two different lines of sight. The scientists said they used the parallax effect to examine the images captured from above by satellites.
视差效应描述了当沿两条不同的视线观察物体时物体的表观位置的差异。科学家们说，他们使用视差效应来检查卫星从上方捕获的图像。
 
Proud said his team was helped by satellites that recorded images every 10 minutes after the eruption, permitting them to document quick changes in the plume's movements.
Proud 说他的团队得到了卫星的帮助，这些卫星在喷发后每 10 分钟记录一次图像，使他们能够记录羽流运动的快速变化。
 
"Thirty years ago, when Pinatubo erupted, our satellites were nowhere near as good as they are now," he said. "They could only scan the earth every 30 minutes. Or maybe even every hour."
“三十年前，当皮纳图博火山爆发时，我们的卫星远没有现在那么好，”他说。 “他们只能每 30 分钟扫描一次地球。甚至可能每小时扫描一次。”
 
In a separate study, NASA researchers reported in August that the Tonga volcano also blasted a huge amount of water vapor into Earth's atmosphere.
在另一项研究中，美国宇航局研究人员在 8 月份报告说，汤加火山还向地球大气层喷射了大量水蒸气。
 
The space agency researchers said the vapor reached into the stratosphere, which stretches 50 kilometers high. But the amount of water vapor blasted into the atmosphere would have been enough to fill more than 58,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
航天局研究人员说，蒸汽进入了 50 公里高的平流层。但喷射到大气中的水蒸气量足以填满 58,000 多个奥林匹克规格的游泳池。
 
"We've never seen anything like it," said Luis Millán, an atmospheric scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California.
“我们从未见过这样的事情，”加州美国宇航局喷气推进实验室的大气科学家路易斯·米兰说。
 
Millán examined data from an instrument on NASA's Aura satellite, which measures atmospheric gases, including water vapor. After the Tonga volcano erupted, NASA scientists started seeing extremely high vapor readings.
Millán 检查了来自 NASA Aura 卫星仪器的数据，该卫星测量大气气体，包括水蒸气。汤加火山爆发后，美国宇航局的科学家们开始看到极高的蒸气读数。
 
The NASA study, published in Geophysical Research Letters, estimated the plume injected an amount of vapor equal to about 10 percent of the water that already existed in the stratosphere. That was nearly four times the amount of water vapor scientists estimate the Mount Pinatubo eruption sent into the stratosphere, the researchers said.
NASA 发表在《地球物理研究快报》上的研究估计，羽流注入的水蒸气量相当于平流层中已经存在的水量的 10% 左右。研究人员说，这几乎是科学家估计皮纳图博火山喷发进入平流层的水蒸气量的四倍。
 
NASA said the large amount of water vapor could have been enough to temporarily affect Earth's average temperature. This is because water vapor traps heat. However, the team noted that this effect would disappear over time when the extra water vapor "cycles out" of the stratosphere. This means the presence of the water vapor would not be enough to greatly affect climate change.
美国宇航局表示，大量的水蒸气可能足以暂时影响地球的平均温度。这是因为水蒸气会吸收热量。然而，该团队指出，当额外的水蒸气“循环出”平流层时，这种影响会随着时间的推移而消失。这意味着水蒸气的存在不足以对气候变化产生重大影响。