Why are scientists obsessed with the Black Sea? - Helen Farr and Jon Adams

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: Helen Chang

It's midnight on September 16th, 2017,

2017 年九月十六日午夜，

60 kilometers off the Bulgarian coast

在保加利亞海外六十公里，

and 2 kilometers beneath the Black Sea’s surface.

黑海海面底下 2 公里處，

A remotely operated vehicle surveys the seabed,

一台遠端遙控的裝置在調查海床，

transmitting video to researchers above as it goes.

隨時將拍攝的影片 傳輸給海上的研究者。

Suddenly, it discerns another ghostly vessel in the gloom.

突然，它察覺到在暗處 還有另一台鬼魂般的船隻。

But this is a relic from another age.

但它是另一個時代留下的遺物。

It's an undoubtedly ancient shipwreck,

毫無疑問，它是古老的沉船殘骸，

but its mast, rowing benches, and some of its upper deck remain eerily intact.

但它的桅杆、划船坐椅，

以及部分上甲板都完好到 讓人毛骨悚然的程度。

It might be an ancient Roman ship, but its appearance doesn’t quite match.

它可能是古羅馬的船，

但外觀卻不太相符。

Notably, its splayed rudder blade more closely resembles

可以注意到，它的舵葉張開，

比較符合更古老的希臘 花瓶上所描繪的模樣。

those depicted on an even older Greek vase.

To get a definitive answer, the research team takes three samples from the wreck

為了得到肯定的答案，研究團隊 從殘骸上取了三個樣本，

and radiocarbon dating confirms its ancient origins.

放射性碳定年法 確認了它的古老來源。

The ship is dated to between 350 and 410 BCE.

這艘船的年代介於西元前 三百五十年到四百一十年間。

It is, in fact, the oldest intact shipwreck ever found.

事實上，所有被發現的 完好船隻當中最古老的。

This ancient Greek vessel traversed the Black Sea’s coasts

這艘古希臘船隻穿過了黑海的海岸，

during the time of Aristotle and has since rested in its depths,

時間是在亞里斯多德的年代，

自此之後就在海底長眠。

unseen and undisturbed, for almost 2,500 years.

近兩千五百年來都 沒人發現、沒被打擾。

This was just one of 65 shipwrecks a research team discovered

2015 到 2017 年間， 研究團隊在黑海底部

at the bottom of the Black Sea between 2015 and 2017.

發現了六十五艘船的殘骸， 這只是其中之一。

Others date from the Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman empires.

其他船隻的年代包括羅馬、 拜占庭，以及土耳其帝國。

And despite the centuries, they’ve all survived in remarkable condition.

儘管經過數世紀， 它們都保存得非常好。

So, why does the Black Sea contain so many well-preserved shipwrecks?

所以，為什麼黑海中會有 這麼多保存良好的船隻殘骸？

In prehistoric times,

在史前時代，

the land surrounding the Black Sea hosted early human settlements.

圍繞黑海的陸地上 有人類早期的定居地，

Eventually, it became a hub for trade, battle, and empire-building

後來成了貿易、戰役， 和帝國建築的中心，

because of its strategic position

因為它的戰略位置

between eastern and western Eurasian civilizations.

就在東方和西方的歐亞文明之間。

For thousands of years, it was traversed by merchants, pirates, and warriors.

數千年來，商人、海盜， 以及戰士穿梭這裡。

And with sustained seafaring activity came inevitable losses.

而長久持續的航海活動 帶來了無可避免的損失。

But unlike other bodies of water in the region,

但，不像該地區的其他水體，

the Black Sea is a particularly deep, semi-enclosed basin.

黑海是特別深且半閉鎖式的海灣。

Seasonal changes usually cause the layers within a contained body of water

季節變化通常會造成 海灣內水體中的各層

to mix together, oxygenating the water.

混合在一起，讓水中充滿氧氣。

But because the Black Sea is fed with fresh water from European rivers,

但，因為黑海的水包含 來自歐洲河流的淡水

and saltwater from the Mediterranean Sea, it contains two distinct layers.

以及來自地中海的鹹水，

因此黑海會有兩層。

The denser saltwater flows beneath the freshwater,

密度較高的鹹水在淡水底下流動，

where it remains permanently,

且會永遠待在下面，

making the Black Sea the world’s largest meromictic— or un-mixing— basin.

讓黑海成為世界上最大的

局部循環——不完全對流——海灣。

Oxygen doesn’t reach its lower, saltier zone,

氧氣不會到達黑海中 比較低、比較鹹的區域，

which creates the ideal environment for preservation,

讓這類區域成為理想的保存環境，

and is why the Black Sea has been called “the world’s biggest pickle jar.”

這就是為什麼黑海被稱為 「世界上最大的醃漬罐」。

In other bodies of water, marine organisms decompose materials over time.

在其他水體中，海洋有機體 會隨時間分解材料。

Had the ancient Greek ship sunk in the Mediterranean, for example,

假使這艘古希臘船隻 在地中海沉沒，

there would likely be no organic material left today.

很可能現今就不會 留下任何有機材料。

But in the depths of the Black Sea,

但在黑海深處，

only anaerobic bacteria— those that don’t require oxygen— can survive.

只有厭氧細菌——

不需要氧氣的細菌——能生存。

This is why ancient ships can still be found carrying their original cargo,

這就是為什麼找到古老船隻時， 還會帶著原始的貨物，

with carvings in their wood, and their rigging still assembled.

木頭上還有刻字， 索具也仍然裝配在船上。

Among the recent findings was a medieval Italian merchant ship,

最近的其中一項發現 是一艘中世紀的義大利商船，

likely from around the time Italy had a virtual monopoly over Black Sea trade.

很可能是來自義大利 實際壟斷黑海貿易的時期。

Venetian traveler Marco Polo would’ve probably been familiar

威尼人旅行者馬可波羅

很可能就很熟悉這種船。

with this kind of ship.

Although vessels like this one helped to modernize Europe,

雖然像這類船隻協助將歐洲現代化，

contemporary scholars had never before seen such a complete example.

當代學者以前卻從來沒有 見過這種完整的例子。

And it was largely intact—

且它大致上都完好——

a ship’s boat still lying on its deck,

連小船都還在它的甲板上，

even though some seven centuries had passed.

雖然經過了七百多年，

Many of the 65 ships that were recently uncovered

最近發現的六十五艘船當中有許多

have retained their original forms.

都保有它們的原始外形。

But while there are far fewer degradative forces at play in the Black Sea’s depths,

雖然在黑海深處很少有 會造成降解的因素存在，

anaerobic bacteria do gradually weaken organic materials.

厭氧細菌確實會漸漸削弱有機材料。

When researchers lifted a plank from the ancient Greek wreck for dating,

當研究者從殘骸取下 一片木板來鑑定年份時，

it broke under its own weight.

木板的重量讓它自己破裂了。

While the ships are exceptionally well-preserved, they're also fragile.

雖然這些船隻保存得非常好， 它們卻也很脆弱。

This makes it impossible to bring them to the surface intact.

因此無法將它們完好地帶到海面上。

Scientists may carefully remove and study select objects from the wreckages.

科學家可以小心地移動和研究 從殘骸中挑選出來的物件。

But the sunken ships will remain protected where they are,

但沉沒的船隻會被保護在 它們現存的地方。

perhaps among thousands of others—

可能還有數千艘其他船隻在那裡——

deep beneath us, suspended in time, at the bottom of the Black Sea.

在我們底下深處，

暫停在時間裡，躺在黑海的海底。