Eddy Cartaya: My glacier cave discoveries

翻译人员: Zeng David 校对人员: Coco Shen

So how many of you have ever been in a cave before?

你们之中有多少人去过岩洞？

Okay, a few of you.

当然，只有少数人。

When you think of a cave, most of you think

说起岩洞，多数人会想到

of a tunnel going through solid rock,

一个隧道，周围都是岩石。

and in fact, that's how most caves are.

实际上，大多数岩洞是这样的。

Around this half of the country,

这个国家的这半部分，

most of your caves are made of limestone.

大多数岩洞是由石灰石组成的。

Back where I'm from, most of our caves are made of lava rock,

在我的家乡，大多数岩洞是由岩浆岩组成的。

because we have a lot of volcanoes out there.

因为那里有很多火山。

But the caves I want to share with you today are made

但是我今天与你分享的岩洞是

completely of ice, specifically glacier ice

完全由冰组成的，特别是冰川冰。

that's formed in the side of the tallest mountain

位于俄勒冈州最高山——

in the state of Oregon, called Mount Hood.

胡德山的一侧。

Now Mount Hood's only one hour's drive from Portland,

只需开一个钟头就可以从波特兰开车到胡德山。

the largest city in Oregon,

波特兰是俄勒冈州最大的城市，

where over two million people live.

那里有两百万人。

Now the most exciting thing for a cave explorer

对于岩洞探险家来说，

is to find a new cave

最兴奋的事情莫过于发现新岩洞，

and be the first human to ever go into it.

并成为第一个走进去的人。

The second most exciting thing for a cave explorer

第二件兴奋的事情是

is to be the first one to make a map of a cave.

为岩洞绘制第一张地图。

Now these days, with so many people hiking around,

时下，出外远足的人是如此之多。

it's pretty hard to find a new cave,

发现一个新岩洞还真不容易。

so you can imagine how excited we were

这样你就可以想象当我们发现了三个新岩洞时

to find three new caves

是多么的兴奋。

within sight of Oregon's largest city

尤其是在俄勒冈州最大的城市发现它们

and realize that they had never been explored

还没有人探索过这些岩洞，

or mapped before.

或者绘制一幅地图。

It was kind of like being an astronaut,

我们有些像宇航员，

because we were getting to see things and go places

去探索并发现一个

that no one had ever seen or gone to before.

从来没有人见过、去过的地方。

So what is a glacier?

什么是冰川？

Well, those of you who have ever seen or touched snow,

你们中有些人摸过雪。

you know that it's really light,

雪非常轻。

because it's just a bunch of tiny ice crystals clumped together, and it's mostly air.

因为它是由冰晶体多半还是气态的时候凝集而成。

If you squish a handful of snow to make a snowball,

如果你把雪拧成雪球，

it gets really small, hard and dense.

它变得很小、很硬、很重。

Well, on a mountain like Hood, where it snows

像胡德山这样的山。

over 20 feet a year,

每年下大概二十英尺雪。

it crushes the air out of it

雪把空气压出去，

and gradually forms it into hard blue ice.

渐渐形成了坚硬的蓝色冰块。

Now each year, more and more ice stacks up on top of it,

现在每年有越来越多的雪层层叠起

and eventually it gets so heavy

它变得非常重。

that it starts to slide down the mountain

以至于由于它的重力作用

under its own weight,

而滑下山。

forming a slow-moving river of ice.

形成缓慢移动的冰体。

When ice packed like that starts to move,

我们把这种开始移动的冰体

we call it a glacier, and we give it a name.

叫做冰川，并给它命名。

The name of the glacier these caves are formed in

这三个岩洞所在的冰川是

is the Sandy Glacier.

桑迪冰川。

Now each year, as new snow lands on the glacier,

每年，新的雪落在冰川上。

it melts in the summer sun,

在夏天的太阳下融化。

and it forms little rivers of water on the flow along the ice,

形成了一条小河沿冰流过。

and they start to melt and bore their way down through the glacier,

它们一边融化，一边凿穿冰川。

forming big networks of caves,

形成大岩洞网。

sometimes going all the way down to the underlying bedrock.

有些部分深入到了伏基岩。

Now the crazy thing about glacier caves

疯狂的是，这些冰川岩洞

is that each year, new tunnels form.

每年都形成新的隧道。

Different waterfalls pop up or move around

岩洞里的不同瀑布不时喷起

from place to place inside the cave.

或从这里移动到那里。

Warm water from the top of the ice

冰体顶部的温暖水流

is boring its way down,

渐渐凿入冰体。

and warm air from below the mountain

吹过山的暖风自然上升，

actually rises up, gets into the cave,

进入岩洞。

and melts the ceilings back taller and taller.

融化岩洞的天花板，使它越来越高。

But the weirdest thing about glacier caves

但是冰川岩洞最怪诞的是

is that the entire cave is moving,

整个岩洞是移动的。

because it's formed inside a block of ice

因为它形成于冰块之中。

the size of a small city

像一个小城市那么大、

that's slowly sliding down the mountain.

慢慢从山上滑下的冰块。

Now this is Brent McGregor,

这是Brent McGregor，

my cave exploration partner.

我岩洞探险的搭档。

He and I have both been exploring caves a long time

他和我都探索过很长时间的岩洞，

and we've been climbing mountains a long time,

爬过很长时间的山。

but neither one of us had ever really explored a glacier cave before.

但我们谁都没有真正探索过一个冰川洞穴。

Back in 2011, Brent saw a YouTube video

2011年，Brent在You Tube上看到一个视频。

of a couple of hikers that stumbled across the entrance to one of these caves.

一对徒步旅行者蹒跚走过上述三个岩洞之一的洞口。

There were no GPS coordinates for it,

那里没有GPS坐标。

and all we knew was that it was somewhere

我们只知道它是Sandy冰川

out on the Sandy Glacier.

的某个地方。

So in July of that year, we went out on the glacier,

那年七月，我们去了冰川上，

and we found a big crack in the ice.

发现了一道裂缝。

We had to build snow and ice anchors

我们要定好锚。

so that we could tie off ropes and rappel down into the hole.

这样就可以顺着绳子垂直降入洞中。

This is me looking into the entrance crevasse.

这是我从裂缝入口望到的。

At the end of this hole, we found a huge tunnel

在这个洞的尾端，我们发现了一个大隧道。

going right up the mountain

向上通入山中，

underneath thousands of tons of glacier ice.

在数千吨冰川冰的下面。

We followed this cave back for about a half mile

我们沿着这个岩洞往后半英里，

until it came to an end,

直到最深处。

and then with the help of our survey tools

然后在我们的勘测工具的帮助下，

we made a three-dimensional map of the cave

我们在出洞的路上做了一张

on our way back out.

洞穴的三维地图。

So how do you map a cave?

那么怎样去制作一张地图？

Well, cave maps aren't like trail maps or road maps

洞穴地图不像一个步道地图或路线图。

because they have pits and holes going to overlapping levels.

因为洞穴有坑和洞在不同层交叠。

To make a cave map, you have to set up

为了做一张洞穴地图，

survey stations every few feet inside the cave,

你要在洞中每几英尺设一个勘测台。

and you use a laser to measure the distance between those stations.

用激光测出勘测台之间的距离。

Then you use a compass and an inclinometer

然后用指南针和测斜仪

to measure the direction the cave is headed

测量洞穴的朝向

and measure the slope of the floor and the ceilings.

和岩顶与地面的坡度。

Now those of you taking trigonometry,

现在你要用三角函数。

that particular type of math is very useful

这种特别的数学知识

for making maps like this

在做一张岩洞地图的时候特别有用。

because it allows you to measure heights and distances

因为它可以让你在不走过去的情况下

without actually having to go there.

衡量高度和距离。

In fact, the more I mapped and studied caves,

实际上，我越画地图研究洞穴

the more useful I found all that math

我越发现在学时痛恨的数学其实很有用

that I originally hated in school to be.

So when you're done surveying,

当你做完这些勘测，

you take all this data and you punch it into a computer

你把这些数据都放进电脑里。

and you find someone that can draw really well,

找画画很好的人，

and you have them draft up a map

让他们画逼真的地图。

that looks something like this,

看起来就像这样

and it'll show you both a bird's-eye view of the passage

它展示给你鸟瞰图

as well as a profile view of the passage,

和像蚂蚁农场一般的剖面图。

kind of like an ant farm view.

We named this cave Snow Dragon Cave

我们把这个岩洞叫做雪龙洞。

because it was like a big dragon sleeping under the snow.

因为它就像一只睡在雪下面的龙。

Now later this summer, as more snow melted off the glacier,

今年夏末，随着更多的雪融入冰川。

we found more caves, and we realized they were all connected.

我们发现了更多的岩洞，它们都是连通的。

Not long after we mapped Snow Dragon,

我们给雪龙洞画地图后不久，

Brent discovered this new cave not very far away.

Brent在不远的地方发现了这个新洞穴。

The inside of it was coated with ice,

洞里表面覆盖着冰，

so we had to wear big spikes on our feet called crampons

我们在脚上穿了叫做冰爪的长钉。

so we could walk around without slipping.

这样移动的时候就不打滑。

This cave was amazing.

这个洞很神奇。

The ice in the ceiling was glowing blue anad green

洞顶的冰发着蓝色和绿色的光。

because the sunlight from far above

因为远上处的日光

was shining through the ice and lighting it all up.

穿过冰层映亮了它。

And we couldn't understand why this cave

我们不明白为什么这个洞

was so much colder than Snow Dragon

比雪龙洞冷得多。

until we got to the end and we found out why.

直到我们走到洞尾才发现了原因。

There was a huge pit or shaft called a moulin

那里有一个大坑或轴叫冰川锅穴。

going 130 feet straight up to the surface of the glacier.

深130英尺直到冰川表面。

Cold air from the top of the mountain

山顶的冷空气

was flowing down this hole and blasting through the cave,

沿着这个洞流下，吹进洞穴。

freezing everything inside of it.

让里面的东西都结了冰。

And we were so excited about finding this new pit,

我们很高兴发现这个凹洞。

we actually came back in January the following year

我们事实上第二年一月才回来。

so we could be the first ones to explore it.

这样我们就是第一个探索洞穴的人之一。

It was so cold outside,

外面非常冷。

we actually had to sleep inside the cave.

我们要在洞里睡觉。

There's our camp on the left side of this entrance room.

这是我们在这个（不会翻）左侧的帐篷。

The next morning, we climbed out of the cave

第二天早上，我们爬出了洞

and hiked all the way to the top of the glacier,

徒步走到冰川的顶部。

where we finally rigged and rappelled this pit

走到我们难忘的第一次

for the very first time.

操作和垂降到这个洞穴的地方。

Brent named this cave Pure Imagination,

Brent把这个洞穴叫做“纯洁幻境”。

I think because the beautiful sights we saw in there

我猜是因为我们在洞里见到的美景

were beyond what we could have ever imagined.

远远超出了我们的想象。

So besides really cool ice, what else is inside these caves?

这些洞穴里除了冰块还有什么？

Well not too much lives in them because they're so cold

里面生物很少，因为非常冷。

and the entrance is actually covered up with snow

入口一年中有大约八个月

for about eight months of the year.

是雪覆盖起来的。

But there are some really cool things in there.

那里确实有些新奇的事情。

There's weird bacteria living in the water

水中生活着一种奇怪的菌

that actually eat and digest rocks

食用和消化岩石

to make their own food

作为它们在冰层下的食物

to live under this ice.

In fact, this past summer, scientists collected

这个夏天，科学家收集了

samples of water and ice

这些水和冰的样本。

specifically to see if things called extremophiles,

特别是想看看叫做极端微生物的

tiny lifeforms that are evolved to live in completely hostile conditions,

进化到在极端环境中生存的微小生命

might be living under the ice,

是否能在冰下生存。

kind of like what they hope to find on the polar icecaps of Mars someday.

就像他们期望某天在火星冰帽上发现的生物

Another really cool things is that,

另外一件非常酷的事情是，

as seeds and birds land on the surface of the glacier and die,

种子和鸟类落在冰川上死亡后，

they get buried in the snow

它们被埋入雪中。

and gradually become part of the glacier,

渐渐成为冰川的一部分。

sinking deeper and deeper into the ice.

在冰中越沉越深。

As these caves form and melt their way up into the ice,

这些岩洞形成时融入了进入冰中的通道。

they make these artifacts rain down from the ceiling

这些艺术品从洞顶降下

and fall onto the cave floor, where we end up finding them.

落在岩洞地面上，我们最后在那里发现它们。

For example, this is a noble fir seed we found.

例如，这是我们发现的一个宝贵的冷杉种子。

It's been frozen in the ice for over 100 years,

它在冰中冻了超过100年。

and it's just now starting to sprout.

现在刚刚开始发芽。

This mallard duck feather

这是野鸭羽毛。

was found over 1,800 feet in the back of Snow Dragon Cave.

在雪龙洞背1800英尺处发现的。

This duck died on the surface of the glacier long, long ago,

这只野鸭很久很久以前死在冰川表面上。

and its feathers have finally made it down through over 100 feet of ice

它的羽毛在落入洞穴之前

before falling inside the cave.

在冰中下降了100英尺。

And this beautiful quartz crystal

这个漂亮的石英晶体

was also found in the back of Snow Dragon.

也是在雪龙洞背发现的。

Even now, Brent and I find it hard to believe

甚至现在，Brent和我觉得很难相信

that all these discoveries were essentially in our own backyard,

所有这些发现实质上就在我们自己的后院里。

hidden away, just waiting to be found.

深深地隐藏着，等待着被发现。

Like I said earlier, the idea of discovering

像我早前说过的，

in this busy world we live in

在我们生存的忙碌的世界里发现一些东西，

kind of seems like something you can only do with space travel now,

你似乎只能通过太空旅行了。

but that's not true.

但这不是事实。

Every year, new caves get discovered

每一年都有新的洞穴被发现。

that no one has ever been in before.

从来没有人去过的洞穴。

So it's actually not too late for one of you

对于你们中的某个人来说还不是太晚

to become a discoverer yourself.

来成为一个发现者。

You just have to be willing to look

只要你愿意

and go where people don't often go

看和去人经常不去的地方。

and focus your eyes and your mind

集中你的目光和意识

to recognize the discovery when you see it,

来辨认出新的发现。

because it might be in your own backyard.

因为它可能就在你家后院。

Thank you very much.

谢谢。

(Applause)

（鼓掌）