The most colorful gemstones on Earth - Jeff Dekofsky

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: Man Chun Ma

On an auspicious day in November of 1986,

在 1986 年十一月的 一個黃道吉日，

5 Australian miners climbed Lunatic Hill—

五名澳洲礦工爬上了瘋狂丘——

so named for the mental state anyone would be in to dig there.

叫瘋狂丘是因為在那裡挖礦的人 精神狀態都會步向發狂。

While their competitors searched for opals at a depth of 2 to 5 meters,

競爭對手挖掘二到五公尺深 尋找蛋白石，

the Lunatic Hill Syndicate bored 20 meters into the earth.

而這個瘋狂丘團隊 向下鑽入二十公尺。

And for their audacity, the earth rewarded them

因為他們的大膽， 地球獎勵他們

with a fist-sized, record breaking opal.

破記錄的、有拳頭般大的蛋白石。

They named it the Halley’s Comet opal,

他們稱它為哈雷慧星蛋白石，

after the much larger rocky, icy body flying by the earth at that time.

因為當時有另一塊更大的 結冰石頭正飛過地球上空。

The Halley’s Comet opal is a marvel, but its uniqueness is, paradoxically,

哈雷慧星蛋白石是個奇蹟，

但矛盾的是，它的獨特性 正是它最尋常之處。

the most usual thing about it.

While diamonds, rubies, emeralds, and other precious stones

當鑽石、紅寶石、 綠寶石，及其他寶石

are often indistinguishably similar,

都相似到難以區別，

no two opals look the same,

但蛋白石卻每顆都不一樣，

thanks to a characteristic called "play of color."

原因是一項叫做「變彩」的特性。

This shimmering, dazzling, dancing display of light

這種閃爍、耀眼、飛舞的光線呈現

comes about from a confluence of chemistry, geology, and optics

會受到化學、地理、 光學三種因素的共同影響，

that define opals from their earliest moments, deep underground.

當蛋白石還在地下深處形成之初 這些因素就定義了它們的色彩。

It’s there that an opal begins its life as something surprisingly abundant: water.

蛋白石出人意料地誕生於一種 隨處可見的資源當中——水。

Trickling down through gaps in soil and rock,

水從土壤和岩石的縫隙滴下來，

water flows through sandstone, limestone, and basalt,

流過沙岩、石灰岩，以及玄武岩，

picking up a microscopic compound called silicon dioxide.

因而攜帶二氧化矽這種微小化合物。

This silica-enriched water enters the voids inside pieces of volcanic rock,

這種富含矽的水流進各種縫隙，

包括火山岩、史前河床、木頭， 甚至古生物的骨駭。

prehistoric river beds, wood and even the bones of ancient creatures.

Gradually, the water starts to evaporate,

漸漸地，水開始蒸發，

and the silica-solution begins forming a gel,

而矽溶液開始形成膠質，

within which millions of silica spheres form layer by layer

在膠質中，數百萬個矽球體 開始一層一層形成，

as a series of concentric shells.

變成同心圓式的殼。

The gel ultimately hardens into a glass-like material,

最終，膠體變硬， 成為像玻璃的材料，

and the spheres settle into a lattice structure.

球體則沉澱，成為晶格結構。

The vast majority of the time, this structure is haphazard,

大部分時候，這種結構是隨機的，

resulting in common, or potch, opals with unremarkable exteriors.

產生出普通無彩的蛋白石，

只有平凡的外觀。

The tiny, mesmerizing percentage we call precious opals

有極小比例的珍貴蛋白石

have regions where silica beads of uniform size form orderly arrays.

會在部分區域中有大小一致的 矽珠形成整齊的陣列。

So why do those structures produce such vibrant displays?

這些結構為什麼會產生 這麼鮮明的色彩呈現？

The answer lies in a principle of wave physics called interference.

答案在於波的物理原則——干涉。

For the sake of simplicity,

為了簡單解釋起見， 看看當單一顏色的光——

let’s look at what happens when a single color of light—

green, with a wavelength of 500 nanometers— hits a precious opal.

綠色，波長五百奈米——

射中珍貴的蛋白石時會如何。

The green light will scatter throughout the gemstone

綠光會在寶石內部四散，

and reflect back with varying intensities—

並以不同的強度反射回來，

from most angles suffused, from some entirely dimmed,

大部分角度是分散的光線， 有些則是非常暗淡，

and others dazzlingly bright.

其他則是耀眼奪目。

What’s happening is, some of the green light reflects off of the top layer.

實際的狀況是，

有些綠光被最上層反射。

Some reflects off of the layer below that.

有些則是被再下面一層 反射，以此類推。

And so on.

When the additional distance it travels from one layer to the next, and back,

如果光從一層到下一層 再回來所走的額外距離

is a multiple of the wavelength— such as 500 or 1000 extra nanometers—

剛好是波長的倍數——

比如額外的五百或一千奈米——

the crests and valleys of the waves match each other.

波峰和波谷就會配對上。

This phenomenon is called constructive interference,

這個現象叫做相長（建設性）干涉，

and it amplifies the wave, producing a brighter color.

它會把波放大，產生更亮的顏色。

So if you position your eye at the correct angle,

所以，如果你把眼睛放在對的角度，

the green light reflecting from many layers adds together.

從許多不同層反射 出來的綠光會合在一起。

Shift the angle just a bit,

稍微調整一下角度，

and you change the distance the light travels between layers.

就會改變光在兩層之間行走的距離。

Change it enough, and you’ll reach a point where the crests match the valleys,

改變得夠多，就會達到某個點，

讓波峰對上波谷，

making the waves cancel each other out— that’s destructive interference.

讓波彼此抵消——

那就是相消（破壞性）干涉。

Different colors have different wavelengths,

不同顏色的光有不同的波長，

which translates to varying distances they have to travel

也就意味著它們若要產生相長干涉，

to constructively interfere.

會需要走不同的距離。

That’s why colors roughly correspond to silica bead sizes.

那就是為什麼顏色大致上 會和矽珠大小有相應的關係。

The spaces between 210 nanometer beads are just right to amplify blue light.

兩百一十奈米矽珠之間的空間

正好適合放大藍光。

For red light, with its long wavelengths,

紅光的波長很長，

the silica beads must be close to 300 nanometers.

因此矽珠必須要隔開約三百奈米。

Those take a very long time to form, and because of that,

那要花非常多的時間才能形成，

因此，紅色是最罕見的蛋白石顏色。

red is the rarest opal color.

The differences in the arrangements of the gel lattices

同一塊蛋白石內的膠質 晶格的排列不同

within a particular stone result in a wide range of color patterns—

會造成不同的顏色圖案——

everything from broad flash to pin-fire to the ultra-rare harlequin.

從各種潑彩，到星火，

到超稀有的彩紋都有。

The circumstances that lead to the formation of precious opal

形成珍貴蛋白石的條件非常罕見，

are so uncommon that they only occur in a handful of places.

以至產出的地方屈指可數。

About 95% come from Australia,

95% 來自澳洲，

where an ancient inland sea created the perfect conditions.

那裡古老的內海創造了完美的條件。

It was there that the Halley’s Comet opal formed some 100 million years ago.

哈雷慧星蛋白石就是 一億年前左右在那裡形成的。

Which raises the question: in the next 100 million years,

這就帶出了一個問題： 在接下來的一億年，

silica-rich water will percolate through the nooks and crannies

富含矽的水會浸透

一些人類文明廢棄文物的角落和裂縫。

of some of the discarded artifacts of human civilization.

What opalescent plays of light will one day radiate

這些被我們遺忘在黑暗中的東西，

將來有一天會散發出 什麼樣的蛋白石變彩？

from the things we forget in the darkness?