Researchers Just Discovered A Lost Continent Under Europe
Researchers have discovered a long-hidden continent — a gigantic mass the size of Greenland that has remained mostly buried under Southern Europe for almost 140 million years.
研究人員發現了一個隱藏已久的巨大大陸，它與格陵蘭島大小相仿，在南歐地下埋藏了將近1.4億年。
The hidden continent — dubbed "Greater Adria" by its finders at Utrecht University in the Netherlands — apparently separated from North Africa and ended up largely underwater.
這片被荷蘭烏得勒支大學的發現者稱為「大阿德裡亞」的隱藏大陸，明顯與北非脫離，末端大部分沉入水下。
It was discovered when the researchers were reconstructing the complex geology of the Mediterranean as it evolved.
這是研究人員在重建地中海演化過程中的複雜地質結構時發現的。
The research was published this month in the scientific journal "Gondwana Research."
這項研究本月發表在科學雜誌《岡瓦納研究》(Gondwana research)上。
The researchers said it is possible that many people have unknowingly set foot on Greater Adria.
研究人員稱，很多人可能在不知不覺中就進入了大阿德裡亞。
"Forget Atlantis," Douwe van Hinsbergen, study author and professor of global tectonics and paleogeography at Utrecht University, told the news outlet."Without realizing it, vast numbers of tourists spend their holiday each year on the lost continent of Greater Adria."
烏得勒支大學全球構造和古地理教授、研究作者杜韋·范·欣斯伯根在接受新聞媒體採訪時表示:「亞特蘭蒂斯也不過如此。」「每年有大量的遊客在失落的大阿德裡亞大陸度假，但沒有人意識到這種情況的存在。」
While most of Greater Adria is underwater, much of the hidden continent's sedimentary pieces were scraped off during its great migration.
雖然大阿德裡亞大部分都在水下，但其大部分沉積碎片在大遷移期間被刮掉了。
Those scrapings now comprise European mountain belts, including parts of the Alps, Greece and Turkey.
這些沉積碎片現在遍布歐洲山區，其中包括阿爾卑斯山、希臘和土耳其的部分地區。
"It is quite simply a geological mess.Everything is curved, broken and stacked," van Hinsbergen said."Compared to this, the Himalayas, for example, represent a rather simple system."
「這完全是地質性混亂。一切都是彎曲，破碎的和堆疊的。」範辛斯伯格表示。「舉個例子，與此相比，喜馬拉雅山代表了相當簡單的一個系統。」
The researchers found that Greater Adria started to become its own continent during the Triassic period some 240 million years ago.
研究人員發現，大亞得裡亞海在大約2.4億年前的三疊紀時期開始形成自己的大陸。
"From this mapping emerged the picture of Greater Adria, and several smaller continental blocks too, which now form parts of Romania, North Turkey or Armenia," Van Hinsbergen said.
範·欣斯伯根稱：「從這張地圖上可以看到大阿德裡亞和幾個較小的大陸板塊，它們現在構成了羅馬尼亞、土耳其北部或亞美尼亞的部分區域。」
"The deformed remnants of the top few kilometers of the lost continent can still be seen in the mountain ranges.The rest of the piece of continental plate, which was about 100 kilometers thick, plunged under Southern Europe into the Earth's mantle, where we can still trace it with seismic waves up to a depth of 1,500 kilometers."
「在山脈中仍然可以看到失落大陸頂部幾公裡的變形遺蹟。大陸板塊的其餘部分，大約100公裡(62英裡)厚，墜入南歐的地幔之下，在那裡我們仍然可以用地震波追蹤到1500公裡(932英裡)的深度。」
This isn't the first time a lost continent has been discovered.
這不是人類第一次發現失落的大陸。
In January 2017, researchers announced the discovery of a lost continent left over from the supercontinent Gondwana, which began disintegrating 200 million years ago.
2017年1月，研究人員宣布發現了岡瓦納超大陸遺留下來的失落大陸，岡瓦納大陸在2億年前開始解體。
And in September 2017, another research team found the lost continent of Zealandia through ocean drilling in the South Pacific, where it sits two-thirds of a mile under the sea.
在2017年9月，另一個研究小組通過在南太平洋的海洋鑽探發現了失落的紐西蘭大陸，它位於海下三分之二英裡處。