Volcanoes

Volcanoes, written by Chuck Garofano.

《火山》，查克·加洛法诺著

The eruption of Vesuvius. Few people in the Roman city of Pompeii cared about the earthquakes in AD 79. No one connected them with the smoke coming from nearby Mount Vesuvius. The volcanic mountain was covered with trees, flowers, and grass. It had been 1 ,000 years since the volcano volcano had last erupted, most people thought Mount Vesuvius was dormant or extinct. But everything changed on August 24th, around one o 'clock in the afternoon. A huge explosion shook the ground. Dust, ash, and melted rock blew out of the top of the volcano, darkening the sky. Stones began to rain down on the city. Rocks and ash covered the ground as far away as 16 kilometers, 10 miles from the mountain. By three o 'clock lava, melted rock, began pouring from the volcano, destroying everything in its path. By 32 kilometers, 20 miles high. The ash kept falling, covering the ground to a depth of one meter, 3 .3 feet. Buildings collapsed under the weight of the stones and ash.

维苏威火山喷发事件。 公元79年，罗马庞贝城几乎没人在意那场地震。 没人将地震和附近维苏威火山冒出的烟联系起来。 这座火山上长满了树木、花朵和青草。 这座火山距离上一次喷发已经过去一千年，大多数人都认为维苏威火山已经休眠，甚至彻底熄灭了。 但一切都在8月24日下午一点左右彻底改变了。 一声剧烈爆炸震得地面摇晃。 灰尘、火山灰和熔岩从火山顶喷涌而出，把天空染得漆黑。 石块像雨点一样砸向城市。 岩石和火山灰覆盖了远至距离火山16公里（也就是10英里）的区域。 到三点钟，熔岩也就是熔化的岩石开始从火山涌出，摧毁了沿途的一切。 烟柱冲到了32公里（20英里）的高空。 火山灰不停飘落，在地面堆积出一米（3.3英尺）深的覆盖层。 建筑在石块和火山灰的重压下坍塌了。

People tried to flee as the volcano destroyed their homes and farms, but the ash was so deep and hot that many people died as they tried to walk through it. Stones falling from the dark sky killed others, and many people choked to death on the ash and dust -clogged air. Around midnight, the situation became even worse. The massive cloud of ash, poisonous gas, glowing hot dust, and smoke had become too heavy to stay in the air. The cloud collapsed, falling down the mountain at speeds of up to 500 kilometers per hour, 310 miles per hour.

火山摧毁了人们的家园和农场，大家争相逃跑，可火山灰又深又烫，很多人在穿行的时候就丧命了。 还有人被从漆黑天空落下的石块砸死，更多人被塞满火山灰和尘埃的空气呛死。 午夜前后，情况变得更糟糕了。 裹挟着火山灰、毒气、炽热尘埃和烟雾的巨大云团，重到没办法继续悬浮在空中。 云团崩塌后沿着山坡冲下，速度最高可达每小时500公里，也就是每小时310英里。

Within moments, people in the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum were burned and buried by Mount Vesuvius' first surge cloud. As more dust and ash poured from the volcano, more surge clouds followed. When the eruption ended, two cities were completely buried and wiped off the face of the earth. They would not be uncovered again for more than 1 ,000 years.

没过多久，庞贝和赫库兰尼姆两座城市的居民就被维苏威火山的第一波涌流云烧伤、掩埋。 更多火山灰和尘埃从火山喷出，一波又一波涌流云接踵而至。 喷发结束后，两座城市被彻底掩埋，从地球表面消失了。 它们过了一千多年才被重新发掘出来。

What you just read is a true story. But how did it happen? What could cause such a violent explosion? The answer lies in how different kinds of volcanoes form. Where and why volcanoes form? Earth's hard surface, or crust, is made of huge sheets of rock called plates. Some plates make up the continents, others make up the ocean floors. Just under the plates, Earth is extremely hot, so hot that rock melts into a liquid called magma. Sometimes the magma flows to the surface and pours out through cracks in Earth's crust.

你刚刚读到的是一个真实发生的故事。 可它为什么会发生呢？ 是什么引发了这么剧烈的喷发呢？ 答案藏在不同火山的形成方式里。 火山在哪里形成？又为什么会形成呢？ 地球坚硬的表层也就是地壳，由很多大块的岩石板块构成。 有些板块构成了大陆，另一些板块构成了洋底。 板块下方的地球内部温度极高，热到岩石熔化成叫做岩浆的液体。 有时候岩浆会向上流到地表，从地壳的裂缝里喷出来。

Volcanoes usually form at the edges of the plates. The plates float on top of the thick liquid magma, but the different plates move in different directions. Plates can crash into, pull away from, or grind past each other. The pressure released by the moving plates causes earthquakes, which create large cracks in the crust. Magma sometimes breaks through these cracks to form volcanoes.

火山通常都形成在板块的边缘。 板块漂浮在浓稠的岩浆上方，不同板块的移动方向各不相同。 板块之间会相互碰撞、分离，或是错动摩擦。 板块移动释放出的压力会引发地震，还会在地壳上造出巨大裂缝。 岩浆有时会从这些裂缝冲出，形成火山。