地球 独一无二的星球 Earth, a unique planet,
瞬息万变 永不休止 restless and dynamic.
大陆板块迁移碰撞 Continents shift and clash,
火山爆发 冰川凝结消融 volcanoes erupt, glaciers grow and recede--
巨大的力量不断作用 Titanic forces that are constantly at work,
留下一系列地质谜题 leaving a trail of geological mysteries behind.
这一集将探索地球上 This episode explores the incredible journey
最贵重最稳定的一种金属 of one of the most indestructible and valuable metals on the planet
黄金 gold.
产生于外太空 Created in outer space,
一场巨大的爆炸使微小的黄金颗粒 an immense explosion blasted minute particles of gold
以超过一亿千米每小时的速度 at 70 million miles per hour
冲进了组成地球的石头里 into the rocks that form our planet.
这些散落的微小黄金颗粒 How tiny pieces of scattered gold accumulate
如何形成大规模的金矿 to form massive deposits
是地球最大的谜团之一 is one of Earth's great mysteries.
为了找寻答案 To find the answer,
地质探险家筛滤古代河床 geological detectives sift through ancient riverbeds,
寻找地上地下隐藏的宝藏 hunting for hidden treasures above and below ground
研究来自外太空的自然奇迹 and investigating alien natural wonders,
找寻线索以最终揭示 finding clues that will ultimately reveal "How The Earth Was Made."
地球起源
美洲黄金
人类对黄金着迷了上千年 Gold has mesmerized man for thousands of years.
黄金是已知的最古老的贵金属 The oldest known precious metal,
在几乎所有地球文明中都有着重要角色 it plays a powerful role in almost every culture on Earth.
自从人类开始在这个星球上出现 Since humans have been on this planet,
理查德·戈德法布博士 地质学家 美国地质调查局
黄金就一直被人珍视 gold has been prized.
它是如此独特的矿物 It is such a unique mineral.
太美妙了 It is beautiful.
取一盎司[28.3克]黄金 You can take an ounce of gold
把它拉成细丝 and stretch it in a thin string,
长度可达五万六千多米 and it'll go for 35 miles.
但黄金长期保值的关键在于其稳定性 But the key to gold's enduring value is its inactivity.
除了其本身 黄金不与任何物质结合 It won't bind with anything else except itself.
黄金不会被用光 Gold doesn't get used up.
而会循环利用 It gets recycled.
你手上戒指里的黄金 The ring you're wearing may be the exact same gold
可能来自几世纪前法老们的金饰 that was in some of the gold the pharaohs wore centuries ago.
就这些属性看来 With all these properties,
自古以来人类一直珍藏黄金也不足为怪 it's no wonder gold has been treasured by man down through history.
人类开采黄金已有上千年 Man has mined gold for thousands of years
但全球却只发现了十六万吨 but found only 160,000 tons worldwide,
仅足以堆满一个四卧的房屋 enough to fit comfortably inside a 4-bed house.
物理学家发现这种奇特金属 Physicists discovered that this ultimate metal
远在地球成型之前 was created in outer space
就产生于外太空 long before planet Earth existed.
五十多亿年前 Over 5 billion years ago,
巨大的恒星 晚年爆发成为超新星 gold and other heavy-metal atoms formed
黄金及其他重金属原子就产生于这风暴中 in the maelstrom of a supernova, a giant dying star.
随着超新星的爆炸 As it exploded,
冲击波使微小的黄金颗粒 shock waves blasted minute gold particles
以超过每小时一亿千米的速度穿越宇宙 across the universe at 70 million miles per hour,
使其广泛分布在 scattering them far and wide
早期的太阳系中 throughout the early solar system.
随着碎屑聚集在一起 As this cloud of rubble compacted together,
黄金就埋在了刚刚形成的地球内部 the gold became trapped inside the rocks of the newly forming planet Earth.
分布广泛并且性质稳定 Widely dispersed and inactive,
所以直到今天 地球上大部分黄金 to this day, most of the Earth's gold
依旧是岩石中微小分散的颗粒 remains as tiny, isolated particles in the rocks.
这很讽刺 但是黄金实际上无处不在 It's ironic, but gold is around us everywhere.
它在我们后院的土壤里 It's in the soil in our backyards.
在河床的石头里 It's in these rocks here in the riverbeds.
但问题是黄金含量极低 But the problem is it's in very small amounts.
十亿单位的石头中可能只有一单位的黄金 In these rocks, the gold may be at one part per billion.
这就像大海捞针一样 That's like finding just a grain of sand in an olympic-sized swimming pool.
通常 大储量的黄金 Unusually large stashes of gold
集中在世界少数特殊的地方 are concentrated in a handful of very special places around the world.
储量最大的地方有澳大利亚南部 The largest, in southern Australia,
中国 China,
南非 South Africa,
秘鲁 Peru,
以及美国西部 and the western United States.
地质学家的工作就是找出 It is the geologists' job to find out where and why
黄金集成金矿的原因及金矿的位置 the Earth accumulates gold in large enough quantities to mine.
黄金地质勘探的先驱并不是科学家 The first pioneers of gold geology were not scientists,
而是渴望黄金 筛滤砂石的淘金者 but gold-hungry prospectors who scrutinized the rocks.
故事开始于150多年前的一次意外发现 Their story began over 150 years ago by accident.
1848年 在加州小镇科洛马 In 1848, in the small Californian town of Coloma,
科洛马
沿着美利坚河 along the American river,
詹姆斯·马歇尔为水车挖掘沟渠 James Marshall was digging a trench for a water wheel
为他的木材厂提供动力 to power his lumber mill
就在那时 他有了特别的发现 when he made an extraordinary discovery.
他白天挖渠 He was digging it down during the day
克里斯·拉尔夫 黄金记者及勘探者
晚上就用水冲刷砂石 and then using water at night to flush out the sand and gravel,
他看到河床上 and he looked, and there on the bedrock
有几个小金块 were a couple of gold nuggets.
加州河中有金子的消息燎原般迅速传开 Rumors of California's river gold spread like wildfire.
到1849年 世界各地有超过九万人 By 1849, over 90,000 people from around the world
来到加州 descended on the state.
被昵称为四九年者 Nicknamed the Forty-Niners,
这些早期的淘金者搜遍了河流 these early investigators searched the streams
希望发财致富 in a bid to find their fortune.
他们的第一个挑战是找出 Their first challenge was to figure out
河流中黄金积聚的位置 where gold accumulates in the river.
他们很快发现 And they quickly discovered
黄金并不是散布在河流各处的 that gold wasn't just strewn anywhere along its course.
黄金积聚地的一个特征 A clue to where the gold would be concentrated
就是像这里的黑砂 is black sand in areas like this.
取一些砂石 You take a sample
然后开始淘 and pan it out.
淘金者们很快发现 The Forty-Niners soon learned
如果找到较重的黑砂 if they found heavy black sand in their pan,
那就胜利在望 they were onto a winner.
淘金的过程很简单 The process of panning is a simple one.
就是把较轻和较重的物质分开 You're really trying to separate light materials from heavy material.
在这缓慢的河水里 In this sluggish water,
较重的颗粒沉到淘盘底部 the heavy particles sink to the bottom of the pan.
重复这一过程 冲掉较轻的物质 And you repeat the process of washing away light materials
把较重的物质集中在底部 and then concentrating the heavies on the bottom
直到只剩黑砂 until you get down to just the black sand
幸运的话 会有一些金子 and hopefully some nice gold,
即使只是这么小的金块 even a small nugget like that.
同样的方式 In the same way,
河流川溪也分离着轻重不一的颗粒 rivers and streams separate the heavy particles from the light.
黄金和黑砂被顺流冲下 The gold and black sand are flushed downstream,
当内弯河水流速缓慢时 but as they hit the sluggish water on the inner bend,
它们就沉积下来 they drop out of the flow.
就在河流内弯的沙堆中 And it's here in the sandbanks on the inside bends of the river
淘金者们发掘出了巨大的财富 that the Forty-Niners discovered an absolute fortune.
总重超过570吨的砂金 In total, over 20 million ounces of river gold
在加州河道里被发现 were discovered in the waterways of California.
当探索河流上方的河谷两岸时 But when they investigated the valley sides above the river,
淘金者们发现了更大储量的黄金 the Forty-Niners discovered an even bigger stash of gold.
他们疑惑 And they wondered,
这些沉积的金矿 what was the deal
为何会出现在河流上游 远离水面呢 with these gold deposits that were up and away from the water?
他们仔细看了看 They took a close look at them,
发现这些石头圆润光滑 and they could see that these boulders were round and smooth.
这些圆滑的石头 These rounded boulders are identical
和在附近河里发现的石头相同 to those found in the rivers nearby.
因为这里是一个古代河床 And the reason is because it's an ancient riverbed.
黄金被水带到了这里 It's been left high and dry by the flow of the river.
河水向下流去 把这矿藏就留在了这里 The river cuts downward and leaves these deposits behind.
矿工们继续探索 The miners continued to explore,
发现有些就在河流上方很近的地方 and they found some just above the river like this,
而有些却处于高于现代河流 but they found others tens and even hundreds,
数十数百米 甚至是几百米的地方 even a thousand feet above the modern stream.
运用强力的水射流 Using powerful water jets,
淘金者在加州山上的古代河床中 the Forty-Niners blasted and flushed out a further 50 million ounces
又冲刷出1400吨砂金 of ancient river gold from California's hills,
150年后这些山上依旧留有当时的痕迹 which still bear the scars over 150 years later.
同样的砂金矿床 Similar river gold deposits
出现在世界各处 have formed all over the world,
包括已发现的最大宝库 including the greatest treasure-trove ever found--
南非的威特沃特斯兰德 Witwatersrand in South Africa.
1886年威特沃特斯兰德的发现 Its discovery in 1886
引起了新一轮疯狂的淘金热 caused another massive gold rush.
但这次的砂金并非在地面上 But this river gold is not found on the surface.
矿工们必须沿着地球最深的矿井 Miners must descend over 2 miles
深入地下三千多米 down the deepest mine shaft on Earth.
地球上一半的黄金 Half the gold on this planet
来自这个矿藏群 has been produced from that one group of deposits.
大多数地质学家相信 Most geologists believe
这个源于古代河流系统的独特矿藏群 that these unique deposits formed from ancient river systems,
由古代河流沙砾聚集而成 concentrating these in old river gravels.
数百万年前 Over millions of years,
数千条河流携带着金砂 thousands of ancient rivers carrying gold
流入一个巨大的湖泊 spilled into a huge lake,
金沙沉积形成一个庞大的金矿 dumping a massive gold deposit.
那个古代河床被埋在地下数英里处 This ancient lake bed is now buried miles underground.
到今天为止 威特沃特斯兰德 To date, Witwatersrand has produced
已开采了超过40000吨黄金 over 1.4 billion ounces of gold,
价值超过一万五千亿美元 worth over $1.5 trillion.
地质学家们认为还有同等价值的黄金 And geologists believe the same value of gold
依然未被开采 still remains untouched.
在寻找加州砂金时 In the search for California's river gold,
淘金者们发现了 Forty-Niners found
黑砂
沉重的黑砂 heavy black sand,
这是黄金沉积在河流内弯处的标志 a sign that gold is deposited on the inside bend of a river,
圆形巨石
黄金埋藏在谷壁中的圆形巨石之下 and gold buried beneath rounded boulders in the valley walls,
证明数百万年来 河流一直在沉积黄金 proof that rivers have been depositing gold for millions of years.
淘金者们怀疑 The Forty-Niners suspected
顺流而下的黄金 that rivers were carrying gold down from a source
来源于山中的母矿 somewhere in the mountain, the mother lode.
但为了探寻母矿中黄金的来源 but the quest to understand where this mother lode gold originated
地质学家需要深入地下 would take geologists deep inside the Earth
直面地球上最具毁灭性的 and face to face with some of the most destructive powers
一种力量 on the planet.
十九世纪 In the 19th century,
淘金者们从加州的溪流和古老河床中 the Forty-Niners plucked 70 million ounces of river gold
淘到了2000吨金砂 from California's streams and ancient riverbeds,
价值超过八百亿美元 valued at more than $80 billion.
轻易到手的黄金开采殆尽 But this easy gold didn't last.
人们开始竞相寻找砂金的源头 The race was on to find the source of the river gold,
也就是母矿 the mother lode,
他们走入山间进行调查 and they set off into the mountains to investigate.
这就是那些淘金者们真正要找的东西 And this is what the old-timers were really looking for--
蕴含着黄金的大型石英矿脉 A big wide vein of quartz filled with gold.
它横贯山野绵延数公里 It runs literally for miles through the countryside.
他们可以从这样的矿源中开采出 They were able to mine millions of ounces of gold
克里斯·拉尔夫 黄金记者及勘探者
数千吨的黄金 from sources just like this.
随着母矿的发现 With the discovery of mother lode gold,
黄金勘探从个人行为变成了大规模事业 prospecting changed from a solo quest to big business.
数百座金矿在加州如雨后春笋般出现 Hundreds of mines sprung up all over California,
雇佣了数千名工人 employing thousands of men.
是何种地质力量 Discovering what geological force
将黄金聚集在加州的山脉中 had concentrated gold in California's mountains was a puzzle
这个难题困扰科学家们数十年 that would bamboozle scientists for decades.
1853年 阿利盖尼金矿 In 1853, the Alleghany mine opened
阿利盖尼金矿
在加州塞拉利昂县开张 in Sierra County, California.
现在它的深度超过一千米 Today, it's over 3,300 feet deep
并有着64公里的隧道 with over 40 miles of tunnels,
都通向山中一块特殊的巨石 all leading to one special slice of rock in the mountain.
我现在正站在母矿脉的中央 Here I am, in the middle of the mother lode vein.
它肯定有大概12米厚 It must be about 40 feet thick,
并且深入地下八百米 and it goes down half a mile into the Earth.
这就是矿工们所寻找的 This is the gold-bearing quartz vein
含金的石英脉 that the miners were seeking.
石英原本是液态的 Quartz forms from a liquid,
在凝固的过程中 and as it solidifies,
它将黄金颗粒包裹在其中 it somehow traps lumps of gold inside it.
它满载着黄金 It is loaded with gold.
如果我们将这些石英脉打碎 If we break these quartz veins open, though,
理查德·戈德法布博士 地质学家 美国地质调查局
我们就能看到 we can see...
石英中蕴含的 perhaps small amounts of gold
少量黄金 within the quartz.
这是一块神奇的石英 This is just an amazing piece of quartz.
你可以看到里面散布的黄金 You can see all the free gold in it.
它正在闪闪发光 It's just bright and glistens.
有些线索可以说明黄金 There are actually clues to how the gold got here
是如何进入这些石英石内部的 within the quartz that was deposited with the gold.
石英中有一些微小的液体泡 Trapped inside the quartz are tiny bubbles of fluid.
矿脉中曾经充满水和矿物质 They are minute remnants of a stream of water and minerals
留下了这样的痕迹 that once gushed up this vein.
对这些液泡的分析 Analysis of these fluid bubbles
揭示了创造出这些金矿岩层的极端条件 has revealed the extreme conditions that created the gold seam.
黄金是在超过三百摄氏度时沉积下来的 That gold was deposited at 600 degrees Fahrenheit.
曾有一股温度极高的热流 It was a very, very hot fluid
将黄金和石英带到这里 that brought the gold and the quartz to this location
并凝固成了矿脉 and deposited the vein.
但让人迷惑的是 But it was a mystery
到底是什么力量 what was the driving force
推动了这携带黄金的热流 creating all this hot fluid which carried the gold.
线索出现在附近的一个废弃采石场 In an old quarry nearby lies a clue.
在含金的石英脉处 The gold-bearing quartz vein,
这些棕色的岩石 here stained brown,
处在奇怪的蚀变岩层之间 is flanked by strange beds of altered rock.
以前的淘金者看到这样的石头时 When the old-timers saw rocks like this
会非常兴奋 they would get excited.
他们知道离黄金的源头 They knew they were getting close
已经不远了 to the source of the gold.
他们看到这些变了颜色的石头 They would see these rocks had changed their color.
很快就能找到 And then they would get
巨大的母矿石英脉 to the big mother lode quartz vein.
即大部分金矿的来源 The source of most of the gold ore.
石英脉被夹在 This quartz vein is sandwiched
这些蚀变岩中间 between these altered rocks.
观察这些蚀变岩 And looking at these altered rocks,
你会发现它们都变形了 有些竖了起来 you see they're all deformed. They're up on end.
有些被截断了 They're sheared up.
还有些支离破碎或层层叠叠 They're broken. They're folded.
这些矿脉以南北走向绵延数百公里 These veins run for hundreds of miles in a north-south direction.
类似的石英金矿和碎石的夹层结构 Similar sandwiches of gold quartz and broken rock
纵贯了整个加州 are found along the entire length of California,
奇怪的是 它们都与海岸线平行 and strangely, they all run parallel to the coast.
破坏这些岩石的巨大力量 Whatever immense force shattered these rocks
一定同时制造了 must also have created the hot fluid
携带并聚集这些黄金的热流 which carried and concentrated the gold.
但那是什么呢 But what was it?
该谜题最终在二十世纪五十年代得以解决 Geologists finally solved the mystery in the 1950's,
当时 革命性的板块构造理论 when the revolutionary theory of plate tectonics
揭示了加州 shed light upon how California
及其山脉的成因 and its mountains were made.
他们发现在太平洋下 They discovered that beneath the Pacific Ocean,
一个巨大的地壳板块向东移动 a giant plate of the Earth's crust moved eastwards.
并冲进了美洲大陆 It plowed into the American continent,
并在途中击碎了巨大的海床板块 crumbling huge slabs of the sea floor as it went.
如果这块大石头是古老的北美洲 If this big rock is ancient North America,
在过去的三亿年间 over the last 300 million years,
不断扩张的海床 we had a spreading ocean floor
将海底与海底沉积物 push the ocean and sediments on top of the ocean
推向北美洲大陆 against North America
同时使海床的碎片 and stack these pieces of ocean floor
以及海床上的沉积物竖立起来 and sediments on ocean floor up on end
堆积在北美洲西海岸 against western North America.
巨大的挤压使得加州露出水面 California was pushed above the waves,
大量的岩石支离破碎 竖立起来 a mountainous mass of crushed, crumpled, and upended rocks
被延伸到地壳深处的巨大裂缝分隔开 separated by huge cracks running deep into the crust,
形成的巨大地块 平行于海岸 creating a landscape compiled of giant slabs
堆叠在一起 stacked parallel to the coast.
这种巨大的造山过程 This immense mountain-building process
同样有能力制造出滚烫的热流 also had the power to create a piping-hot fluid.
被掩埋的岩石被难以承受的压力挤碎 Buried rocks were squashed under unbearable pressure.
迅速升温 They superheated,
挤压出一股超过三百摄氏度的热流 and a 600-degree fluid was squeezed from them.
就像河流中的水一样 Like water running in a river,
这股滚烫的热流 this piping-hot fluid
能将分散的黄金集中起来 had the ability to concentrate the scattered gold.
当它冲刷过岩石时 As it washed through the rock,
不断带走微小的黄金颗粒 it leached out minute particles of gold,
形成富含黄金的混合物 creating a mineral-rich soup.
通过巨大的岩石裂缝 It poured into the giant cracks,
涌向地面 which pipelined it to the surface.
当热流冷却时 As the fluid cooled,
黄金凝结 石英结晶 the gold coagulated, and the quartz crystallized,
形成了固态的含金石英矿脉 forming a solid gold-bearing quartz vein.
在当时盈利最多的一处黄金产地 In total, 35 million ounces of this mountain gold
即加州山区 were blasted out of California,
总共开采了一千吨黄金 one of the most profitable gold-mining areas of its time.
只要有大洋板块与陆地边缘 Wherever you have oceanic plates colliding
发生碰撞 with the edge of a continent,
就会形成这种热流 you're always going to create fluid,
从而将这些 you're always going to move
微量的黄金 those trace amounts of gold,
集中到大型地质断层 and that will get focused into major faults
形成大型金矿矿脉 to form large lode gold deposits.
这是造山进程的一部分 They're part of the mountain-building process.
在整个太平洋沿岸地区 Similar gold-bearing quartz veins
类似的含金石英矿脉 lie beneath the coastal mountains
在近海山脉下普遍存在 all around the Pacific rim,
在巨大的地球力量作用下 where the ocean floor has crumpled
海床在这里堆叠起来 under gigantic Earth forces.
研究加州山中金矿成因的科学家 Scientists investigating how California's mountain gold formed
发现了 have found...
液泡
古老的液泡 ancient fluid bubbles,
证明石英和黄金是在热流中沉积而来的 {\c
蚀变岩
平行排列的破碎蚀变岩 parallel beds of broken, altered rock,
证明富含黄金的热流是在山脉形成时 evidence that the gold-rich fluid was squeezed from rocks
从岩石中挤压出来 as mountains formed.
到十九世纪八十年代 By the 1880's, only 30 years
第一次淘金潮才持续了三十年 after the first gold strike,
加州山中的金矿 California's mountain gold
逐渐变得难寻踪迹 became increasingly difficult to find.
这时淘金者在旁边的内华达州 By then, gold hunters in neighboring Nevada
偶然发现了另一种类型的金矿矿藏 had stumbled upon an entirely different type of gold deposit,
但这种金矿 but it was the sort of deposit
能让人们互相残杀 that could drive men to murder.
在十九世纪 In the 19th century,
淘金者们发现了近两千吨砂金 Forty-Niners found 70 million ounces of river gold.
然后他们就开始洗劫母矿 Then they began to ransack the mother lode,
用爆破法炸出了99吨黄金 blasting out over 35 million ounces of mountain gold,
这些黄金沉积于加州形成时岩石挤出的热流中 squeezed from the rocks as California formed.
一直以来 科学家们相信 For many years, scientists believed
只有巨大的造山力量 that only the colossal forces that created mountains
才能把散落在岩石中的黄金集中到一起 had the power to concentrate gold scattered throughout the rocks.
但比邻加州的内华达州出产的黄金 But gold strikes made in neighboring Nevada
动摇了这个理论 were to shatter this theory.
在荒凉的蒿丛山中 Massive gold veins were found
人们发现了大量黄金矿脉 in the Sagebrush Hills of the desert.
淘金者们像潮水般从加州开始东行 A tidal wave of gold hunters left California heading east.
神秘荒凉的内华达州 The almost uncharted desolate state of Nevada
在淘金者们到达后 began to light up with life,
荒原被人们的生命之光照亮 as gold strikes were made across the high desert.
这里是允许持枪的狂野西部 This was the gunslinging wild West,
而这个原始的淘金小镇博迪 and the rough mining town of Bodie
有着最恶劣的名声 had one of the toughest reputations.
很难想象 It's hard to imagine
在这片弹丸之地 住着超过八千五百人 more than 8,500 people up along this stretch here,
约翰·马尔马 地质学家 纽蒙特矿业公司
目无法纪 斗殴频发 lawlessness, lots of fights breaking out.
这里有许多沙龙 毒窟和妓院 Lots of saloons, opium dens, and brothels.
据说在博迪每天都有一个人被杀 It was said that a man a day was killed in Bodie.
有一些史学家认为金矿难以预测的分布 And some historians believe the fickle geology
也许是造成奇高谋杀率的原因之一 of these gold deposits may have played a part in this murder rate.
在这里 金矿的分布更加分散而零乱 Here, the veins were much more segmented and broken up.
所以一个淘金者在一条矿脉上有所收获时 So while one miner might be mining along on the vein,
另一个淘金者也许一无所获 another miner might not be,
这有可能导致仇恨与不和 which would lead to animosity and tension
并且偶尔导致肢体冲突 and the occasional fight.
地质学家们发现 Geologists realize that,
不同于加州平行于海岸线排列的金矿 unlike California's gold seams, which ran parallel to the coast,
内华达的金矿在沙漠中随机分布 Nevada's were scattered randomly across the desert.
现在我们想要找出 The hunt was on to understand
博迪
内华达金矿分布如此不规律的原因 why Nevada's gold veins were so chaotic.
麦达斯金矿
在博迪分散矿群东北方480千米处 300 miles northeast of the cramped old mine in Bodie
坐落着麦达斯金矿 is the Midas mine.
金矿大到足以驾驶卡车进入 Large enough to drive a truck down,
纽蒙特矿业公司
这是在内华达现存为数不多的 it's one of a handful of remaining
含金石英矿场之一 gold quartz mines in Nevada,
也是地质学家的天堂 and it's a geologist's paradise.
能有地下矿场真是好极了 It's wonderful to have an underground mine,
因为你在地下的时候 because when you go underground,
可以对地质地形有一个三维的理解 you have a 3-dimensional picture of the geology.
这能帮助你分辨出重要的线索 It really helps you get a feel for what clues to be looking at.
在地表上能发现的线索 That we might see on the surface
在地下可以看得更清楚 that we might see better expressed underground.
运作中的矿场 例如麦达斯 Working mines like Midas
也作为地质实验室 have become geological laboratories
帮助地质学家解译 and are helping to unlock the mystery
内华达金矿分布如此散乱的原因 of Nevada's scattered gold veins.
每一天 采矿工人都钻开岩石表面 Every day, the miners drill the face
并加以爆破 从而露出新的石英矿脉 and pack it with explosives, exposing new networks of quartz veins.
整个流程与过去相同 只是如今有高科技 This is just like the old days but we're high-tech.
岩石表面会被钻出小洞 They're gonna drill a space out.
在其中填满炸药并引爆 Will load it with explosives and blow it up.
为了暴露出含金石英的矿脉 450 pounds of explosives are about to blow
200千克炸药即将被引爆 to reveal the gold-bearing quartz vein.
危险 爆炸物
这方法棒极了 仔细想想 That was great, and to think,
也比从前所用的方法安全多了 it's so much safer than what the old-timers had to go through.
尘埃落定 Once the dust settles,
就能更近距离地观察 it's possible to take a closer look.
这是一个相当不错的大石英矿脉 This is quite a nice big quartz vein.
如果把这里的矿脉 If I compare these quartz veins
与我在加州所见到的矿脉作对比 to the veins that I've seen in California,
它们之间的区别非常明显 they're substantially different.
首先 看看这些条纹 For one, if I look at these bands,
这里的深灰色条纹 these dark gray bands in here.
这些灰条纹 These gray bands are the first sign
是这里曾发生过特殊事件的第一线索 that something very strange has happened here.
在我凿下的样本中 In a hand sample,
可以看到很多灰色物质 I'll see that there's lots of gray material.
这些灰色物质都是银 All that gray material is silver.
更靠近些看 If I look even closer,
能看到一些闪闪发光的黄点 那就是金 I can see little fine flecks of yellow. That's gold.
形成这些矿脉的原石 The source rock that formed all of these veins
也不同于 was much different
形成加州矿脉的原石 than the source rock that caused the California veins to form.
加州的矿脉只含黄金 The California veins only have gold,
而这里的矿石却富含银 and these are loaded with silver.
而追踪内华达黄金来源的线索 And the clue to the identity of the source of Nevada's gold
就隐藏在石英矿脉的两侧 lies either side of the quartz vein.
与加州不同 这些围岩没有被挤压的痕迹 Unlike California, these wall rocks are not crushed
围岩 一定范围内 对洞身的稳定有影响的岩体
并且绝不是来自于海床 and have never been on the ocean floor.
这些围岩来自于火山 This wall rock is of a volcanic origin,
与圣海伦火山的非常相似 very similar to, like, Mount St. Helen's.
所以把金银矿石集中到这个矿脉的 So it wasn't mountain-building
不是形成山脉的地壳运动 that concentrated the gold and silver in this vein.
而是火山运动 It was a volcanic process.
也许麦达斯金矿曾是一个巨大的火山 Perhaps the Midas mine was once a giant volcano.
地质学家们并没有在矿场内部寻找线索 Geologists went looking for clues not inside the mine,
而是在矿场正上方 but directly above it.
在麦达斯金矿上方 Everywhere above the Midas mine,
随处可见奇形怪状的裸露岩层 we see these strange outcrops.
它们顶部平整如桌面 They're flat on the top like a table,
如果靠近些观察 and if I look closer,
可以看到清晰的层次与条纹 I can see fine little bands and layers.
这些岩层由不足3.2毫米的单岩层构成 The outcrop is made of thin layers less than 1/8 inch Thick.
上千单岩层叠在一起 And there are thousands stacked on top of each other
就像一叠扑克牌 like a deck of cards.
有棕色 黄色 白色与紫色的 You've got browns and yellows, whites, and purples.
了解此类裸露岩层的构造 Understanding outcr1ops like this
有助于了解黄金是如何沉积在 will help us understand why gold is deposited
距地面很近的麦达斯金矿中 at such shallow depths within the Midas mine.
这些层次分明的岩石并非由火山本身形成 These distinctive layered rocks are not formed by a volcano,
而是来自于一种至今仍然可见的火山运动 but another type of volcanic process that can still be seen today
格拉克
在内华达西北的格拉克 in Gerlach, northwest Nevada.
一片干燥的黑岩荒漠中间 In the middle of the dry blackrock desert,
他们发现了一处神秘绿洲 they found a mysterious oasis,
一处壮观的彩色温泉 and rising out of the landscape
从地面喷涌而出 a spectacular multicolored hot spring,
这是内华达三百余座温泉之一 one of over 300 in Nevada.
这个地质奇观 This bizarre geological wonder
45年前才开始形成 began to form just 45 years ago.
地表下方的火山运动加热了地下水 Volcanic processes beneath the earth heat the groundwater.
地下水从地表喷出 It spills out at the surface,
就像装满沸水的茶壶一般 and like a boiling teakettle,
水中的矿物沉积成层 dumps a layer of mineral scale.
水流正在缓缓流过这些岩层的表面 The water is slowly running over the tops of these terraces.
然后矿物沉积成为细密的岩层 It's depositing minerals in fine little sheets,
就像一叠扑克 或者一本竖立的书 kind of like a deck of cards or a book on end.
这块从温泉处采集的岩石 This rock, from over there,
有清晰的层次结构 has fine laminations or layers.
同样的岩石与岩层 Rocks like these and terraces like those
可以在麦达斯金矿上方被找到 are found right above the Midas mine,
这说明麦达斯金矿曾是一处巨型温泉 which tells me that Midas was once an enormous hot spring.
地质学家们认为 Geologists realized it was
正是温泉将金银石英矿 hot springs that brought the gold and silver quartz veins
带到了内华达的地表 to the surface in Nevada.
金银颗粒散布在地心深处的熔岩中 Gold and silver particles are scattered in molten rocks deep inside the Earth.
富含金银的溶液自熔岩中溢出 This hot rock released a gold and silver rich fluid.
当雨水渗入地下 As rainwater soaked into the ground,
并接触到地壳下方炙热的岩石 it reached the scorching rocks deep in the crust
被立刻加热到500摄氏度 成为过热液体 and superheated to 900 degrees Fahrenheit.
过热 是指液体被加热到沸点以上的温度而不沸腾
受热膨胀的水开始上升 Hot and buoyant, the water began to rise,
并且在上升过程中带走金银粒子 sucking up the gold and silver soup as it went.
在接近地表时 As it neared the surface,
水沸腾气化 在这复杂的温泉通道中 the water boiled and dumped bands of silver and flecks of gold
留下银条纹与黄金斑点 in the chaotic fractured pipework of the hot spring.
想象一千五百万年前的这片土地 Imagine this landscape 15 million years ago
目之所及处尽是火山 volcanoes as far as the eye could see,
地表四处都点缀着温泉 hot springs dotting the landscape here and there.
黄金就在那时世界各地的温泉中出现 Gold is forming at this moment in hot springs all over the world.
即使在黄石国家公园 水中也有黄金 Even Yellowstone has traces of gold in its water.
世界上最大也是盈利最多的金矿之一 One of the world's biggest and most profitable gold mines,
秘鲁北部的雅那科察 Yanacocha, northern Peru,
就是一个金银沉积处 is a gold and silver deposit
这片土地从八百年前的印加时代起 which man has plundered since the rule of the Inca
就被人们开采 800 years ago.
矿场坐落于安第斯火山高处 High in the volcanic Andes,
面积约1400平方米 it's a massive 535 square miles
已经产出了价值超过五十亿美元的黄金 and has produced over $5 billion worth of gold,
而这一切都始于冒着气泡的温泉之下 all of it originating beneath a bubbling hot spring.
在内华达研究金银矿形成的科学家们 Scientists investigating how gold-silver veins formed in Nevada
所发现的火山围岩 have found volcanic wall rock,
火山围岩
证明了这些含金量颇高的液体源自于熔岩 proof that the gold-rich fluid came from molten rock,
层状裸露岩层
而彩色的层次分明的地表裸露岩层 and a multicolored layered outcrop,
表明早期的温泉使黄金沉积在内华达 evidence that ancient hot springs deposited gold in Nevada.
内华达的温泉沉积黄金 Nevada's hot-spring gold deposits
约为1100吨 yielded over 40 million ounces of gold
并且还蕴藏了14000吨的银 and 500 million ounces of silver,
但是到了1920年 but by 1920,
内华达州的黄金开采活动不再有利可图 nevada's gold seams were increasingly uneconomical to mine.
沙漠里遍布无人居住的死城 The desert became littered with ghost towns.
在美国 黄金矿藏像是被开采殆尽了 It looked like America had run out of gold.
但在1961年 人们发现了一种新型矿藏 But in 1961, a new type of deposit was found.
然而它既难见到也难触碰 它是隐形的 But it couldn't be seen or touched. It was invisible.
这个发现成为了美国黄金开采史上 It would become the biggest strike in the history
最大的一次变革 of America's gold.
位于美国土地上的金矿 America's gold was concentrated
是通过巨大的造山力形成的 by incredible mountain-building forces
这种力量同时形成了加州 that formed California...
以及位于内华达温泉底部的火山运动 and volcanic processes deep beneath Nevada's hot springs.
但是当这些矿藏开采殆尽时 But as the deposits became exhausted,
地质学家热切地 geologists frantically searched
寻找新的矿藏资源 for new stashes of gold.
1961年 地质学家兼淘金者约翰·利沃摩尔 Then in 1961, geologist and gold prospector John Livermore
在内华达州中部发现了一条长约80千米 noticed a suspicious 50-mile-long crack
可疑地壳裂缝 in the middle of Nevada
卡林走向
取名为卡林走向 并着手调查 called the Carlin Trend and set out to investigate.
约翰·利沃摩尔来到这片山区 John Livermore came to these hills following up a theory
他所依据的理论是 that gold deposits would be aligned
金矿会处在地壳深裂缝的上方 directly above a deep crack in the Earth's crust.
约翰·蒙特博士 地质学家 内华达州立大学雷诺分校
他看到了类似这样的裸露岩体 He'd come up to outcrops like this,
并想继续探究下去 and he would go ahead and want to look at them.
这些石头是一种奇特的泥土和石英混合物 The rocks are a strange mixture of mud and quartz,
一种在热流中产生的物质 a mineral created in hot fluid
这说明金矿可能就在周围 and a good clue that gold might be deposited nearby.
根据他的经验 Based on his experience,
他知道大量热流已从裂缝中涌出 he knew a lot of hot fluid had come up this crack.
然而他却不能找到任何金矿存在的证据 However, he couldn't see any evidence of gold,
没有石英矿脉 没有可见的黄金 no quartz veins, no visible gold.
但是出于直觉 他给岩石取样 But on a hunch, he sampled this rock,
带回了检测室 took it back to the assay lab
想看看其中是否蕴含黄金 to see if there was any gold in it.
在检测室 In assay labs,
这些岩石被压碎成粉 rocks are crushed and blasted
在熔炉中加热到1000摄氏度 in a furnace to over 1,800 degrees.
当液化的岩石冷却后 And as the liquid rock cools,
内部的金属开始分离出来 the minerals begin to separate.
整个过程结束时 At the end of this process,
奇特的一幕发生了 something extraordinary has happened.
一块看似普通的岩石中的确含有一粒金子 An ordinary-looking rock actually contained a grain of gold
约为在地球上普通岩石中 at a concentration of about 5,000 times
黄金含量的5000倍 you would normally see in the Earth.
虽然看起来不多 It doesn't look like much,
但是这就是他们整日开采的东西 but this is what they mine every day.
利沃摩尔的预感得到了回报 Livermore's hunch paid off.
约80公里长 8公里宽 50 miles long and 5 miles wide,
现今卡林型金矿 the Carlin Trend is now
已成为世界上最大的采矿区之一 one of the largest mining districts in the world.
这个巨大的人造矿坑可在太空中看到 This vast man-made pit is big enough to be seen from space.
这是贝泽-帕斯特矿坑 This is the Betze-post pit,
世界上最大的金矿之一 one of the world's largest gold mines.
蕴含着1300吨黄金 It contains 45 million ounces of gold.
每十吨矿石可以冶炼出约30克金子 They have to mine 10 tons of rock in order to get one ounce out.
如你所见 它巨大无比 As you can see, it's huge--
3.2公里长 1.6公里宽 2 miles long, a mile wide,
约600米深 2,000 feet deep.
由于黄金贵重稀有 Because gold is so valuable,
每日如此大规模的开采 the extraction of just a few thousand ounces a day
只能冶炼出几十千克的黄金 pays for this extraordinary mining operation.
搬运这些矿石也费时费力 And removing the gold ore requires drastic action.
那就是约十八万公斤炸药爆炸的效果 That's what 400,000 pounds of explosives looks like.
巨型挖掘机24小时运转 Giant diggers work 24 hours a day
每年挖掘矿石重量达九千万吨 excavating over 90 million tons of rock a year,
足以将中央公园覆盖在17米的瓦砾之下 Enough to cover Central Park in 55 feet of rubble.
但是在这未加工的矿石中 But within this raw gold ore,
我们的肉眼看不到黄金 not a speck of gold has ever been seen with the naked eye.
神奇之处在于 The mystery is,
黄金在哪 where's the gold?
你不能看到它 You can't see it.
石头看起来也很普通 The rocks look really ordinary.
黄金藏于何处的线索 The clue to where this gold is hidden
就在这种岩石的内部结构中 is in the internal structure of this rock.
放大500倍 Magnified 500 times,
黄金依然难觅踪迹 the gold is still invisible.
这种石头有特殊的网格状结构 But this rock is an extraordinary lattice
石英和泥土中出现了奇怪的孔洞 of quartz and mud perforated with strange cavities.
看起来就像是蜂窝 It looks like a honeycomb,
就像被什么东西腐蚀过一样 like something's eaten away at it.
可以肯定 一些奇特的地质过程 Clearly some strange geologic process
将金子聚集起来 并隐藏在岩石当中 has concentrated and hidden the gold in the rock.
科学家们意识到 如果想解开 Scientists realized if they were going to solve the puzzle
金子如何藏身于岩石这一难题 of how gold came to be hiding in these rocks,
首先要搞清这些岩石的来源 first they would have to understand where the rocks came from.
十九世纪 在内华达州东部 A clue was found in the 19th century
农场主阿伯萨勒·李曼发现了一条线索 by cattle rancher Absalom Lehman in the eastern reaches of Nevada.
李曼洞穴
1885年 李曼偶然发现了一个地洞 In 1885, Absalom Lehman stumbled upon a hole in the ground,
借助绳子和马灯 他深入地表以下 and with rope and lantern, he lowered himself in the earth
并发现了这美丽的洞穴系统 and discovered this beautiful cave system
这里有世界上最壮观的地穴构造 with some of the most spectacular cave formations in the world.
洞穴坚固的基础 The solid foundations of this cave
是成分复杂的泥浆 are made of a messy mixture of mud
以及碳酸钙外壳 and calcium carbonate shells.
它们是微小海洋生物的遗体 They are the remains of tiny sea creatures,
说明古时候 内华达州曾是热带海洋 evidence that Nevada was once covered by an ancient tropical sea.
在数百万年前 For millions and millions of years,
具有碳酸钙外壳的生物 creatures with shells composed of calcium carbonate
在海洋中大量出现 began to rain down through the ocean and
形成海底的钙质积聚物 accumulate on the sea floor forming this calcareous ooze.
之后 这些聚集物硬化成一种沉积岩 Later, this ooze hardened into a sedimentary rock
名叫石灰石 called limestone.
这个洞穴里特殊构造的形成原因 These extraordinary structures in the cave were formed
是水进入内华达州地下 when water eroded the huge limestone bed
侵蚀了巨大的石灰岩床 that sits underneath Nevada.
李曼洞穴
回到之前提到的卡林型金矿 And back over at the Carlin Trend,
卡林型金矿
科学家们发现金矿石 scientists noticed that the gold ore
是由结构相似的岩石构成 was made of a very similar type of rock.
他们指出 李曼洞穴里的石灰石 They figured out that the Lehman Cave limestone
与卡林型金矿里的矿石曾是同种岩石 and Carlin Trend gold ore must once have been the same rock.
这是新开采的石灰石 This is fresh limestone.
这是黄金矿石 This is gold ore.
很明显 某种作用使这块岩石 Clearly something happened to change this rock
变成了这块海绵结构的含金矿石 into this spongy gold-bearing ore.
线索就在这块石灰石的化学反应中 Well, the clue is in the chemical reactivity of this limestone.
如果我将稀盐酸 If I put dilute hydrochloric acid
滴在石灰石上 on this limestone,
注意它是如何起泡的 note how it fizzes.
非常剧烈 Very reactive.
盐酸在腐蚀这块岩石 The acid is eating away at the rock.
现在我将盐酸滴在海绵状黄金矿石上 Now if I put the acid on the spongy gold ore...
毫无反应 no reaction.
液体像进入海绵一般进入了石头 The fluid is soaking into the rock like a sponge.
科学家们得出结论 Scientists concluded the reason
卡林型金矿里的矿石遇酸无反应 Carlin Trend gold ore did not fizz
是因为它已被酸性液体侵蚀过 is that it had already been attacked by an acid.
卡林型金矿内的石灰岩床下方 Beneath the bed of limestone at Carlin
是一条巨大的垂直裂缝 is a gigantic vertical crack.
地质学家们认为 Geologists now believe
一股富含黄金的酸性热流 that a blast of hot, acidic gold-rich fluid
曾受迫从地球深处涌出 was once forced upwards from deep within the Earth.
液体经地质裂纹涌出 It streamed through the crack,
覆盖在了石灰石上 drenching the limestone.
酸液腐蚀渗入其中 The acid ate into it,
致使石灰石内部形成海绵状的结构 leaving a spongelike muddy framework behind.
在这些空穴中 And in the cavities,
留下了石英以及极其微量的黄金 it dumped quartz and the most minute sprinklings of gold.
直至今日 It's only been very recently
科学家们能使用 that scientists have been able
更先进的成像设备 显微镜 to use even more sophisticated imaging equipment--microscopy--
来对单个原子进行成像 to image down to the scale of individual atoms.
放大十万倍后 Magnified 100,000 times,
可看到嵌于岩石内部的微小斑点 tiny specks of submicroscopic gold can be seen
这是亚微观黄金颗粒 embedded in the rock.
进一步放大到惊人的四百万倍 Zooming in further a staggering 4 million times,
黄金颗粒终于显现 the gold particle is finally revealed.
这个黄金颗粒直径5纳米 This fleck of gold is only 5 nanometers in diameter,
相当于针头的百万分之一 one-millionth the size of a pinhead,
每个微小的白点都是一个金原子 and each tiny white dot is an individual gold atom.
从这些看似普通的岩石中 These ordinary-looking rocks
已开采出约1800吨黄金 have produced 65 million ounces of gold
均来自这个名为卡林型金矿的裂缝中 from a single crack in the Earth known as the Carlin Trend,
同时造就了美国 and it's made the United States
世界第四大黄金生产国的地位 the fourth largest gold producer in the world.
科学家们在关于 Scientists' investigating
内华达州黄金矿石如何形成的研究 how Nevada's gold ore formed
发现了海绵状的岩石结构 have found a spongelike rock structure,
海绵状岩石
揭示了一些物质腐蚀了石灰石 suggesting that something ate away at the limestone,
遇酸无反应矿石
以及不与酸进行反应的金矿石 and gold ore not reacting with acid,
证明已有一种酸性液体 evidence that an acidic fluid
腐蚀过石灰岩 had already attacked the limestone,
并带来了微小黄金颗粒 showering it with minute particles of gold.
类似的卡林型金矿 Similar Carlin type deposits
相继被发现 have since been discovered
总黄金产量预计将达到990吨 yielding a further 35 million ounces of gold.
然而这些发现 Yet these discoveries
可能只是冰山一角 may only be the tip of the iceberg.
地质学家采用了最先进的设备 Geologists are now using state-of-the-art equipment,
希望能开启埋藏在内华达沙漠深处 hoping to unlock millions of ounces of American gold
那上千吨的黄金宝藏 trapped deep beneath the Nevada desert.
纵观世界历史 Throughout world history,
人类迄今开采的黄金量 over 5 billion ounces of gold
高达14万吨 have been recovered by man,
而其中有大约十分之一 and almost 1/10th of this
出自加利福尼亚州和内华达州 has been found in California and Nevada,
总价值高达2800亿美元 adding up to a staggering $280 billion worth of bounty.
人人都在猜目前还剩余多少黄金 How much remains is anyone's guess.
理查德·戈德法布博士 地质学家 美国地质调查局
我们有理由去设想现存的黄金 There is no reason not to assume as much gold exists
和过去开采的一样多 as has been mined in the past.
但地质学家 勘探者们 But geologists, prospectors,
找到了容易被发现的黄金 explorationists have found the easy gold.
地质学家和勘探家们从前通过 In the past, prospectors and geologists homed in
暴露在表面的地质线索 on this easy gold by following geological clues
找到了这种易于发现的黄金 exposed on the surface.
但内华达州被侵蚀的山体 But vast areas of Nevada
产生的深深的泥土和碎石 are covered in a deep layer of mud and gravel
将大部分地区埋下了地下 that has been eroded from the surrounding mountains.
地质学家认为这层碎石下 Geologists believe hoards of gold still lie
仍然隐藏着大量的黄金 concealed beneath this layer of gravel,
几百万年来从未被人发现 unseen by anyone for millions of years.
要在这片28万平方公里的地区 Finding all this buried gold
找到所有埋在地底的黄金 in an area covering 110,000 square miles
并非易事 is no easy task.
但有一个人通过使用先进科技 But one man has the ability to see under the ground,
拥有了透视地面的能力 using pioneering technology.
韦德·霍奇斯 地质学家 内华达勘探公司
我曾经找到了周围山里的黄金 I've got gold in the hills around me.
我有很好的理由去相信 I've got good reason to believe
在我所处的岩石下方也有黄金 that there's gold beneath me in the rocks,
如果我可以透视沙地和碎石的话 if I could just see through this sand and gravel.
我相信这件小小的设备 This little piece of equipment,
可以帮我做到这一点 I believe, is going to help me figure that out.
这根地质探针不是钻取岩石 The geo-probe is drilling not for rocks,
而是地下水 but for groundwater,
地下60米的地下水 200 feet below the surface,
就是这地下水 and it's this groundwater
包含了寻找内华达州隐藏黄金的关键 that holds the key to finding Nevada's hidden gold.
如果沙子与碎石中 If there's a gold deposit
隐藏有金矿床 concealed by the sand and gravel,
地下水会与之反应 the groundwater will interact with it,
然后你就可以找到线索 and you'll pick up clues.
与黄金伴生的示踪金属渗入地下水 Traces of metals associated with gold seep into the groundwater,
这些线索将引导霍奇斯找到 clues that will lead Hodges to the secret location
地下金矿的秘密所在 of the gold deposit deep below the surface.
想象一根铁棒在一桶水中生锈 Imagine an iron bar rusting in a bucket of water.
生锈的铁棒会落下碎屑 The trace metals are going to come out of that rusted iron bar
并通过地下水传播 and are going to be disseminated in the groundwater,
所以你可以通过检测地下水 and you would be able to sample that groundwater
来看看附近是否有铁棒 and tell that there was an iron bar somewhere nearby,
同理 我们可通过检测这里的地下水 just as we're going to be able to sample this groundwater
来得知附近是否有金矿 and know that there's a gold deposit somewhere nearby.
从某种角度来看 就像是金矿 So in a sense, it's like the deposit of gold
散发出一种气味 is creating a scent.
如果霍奇斯嗅到了一点点气味 If Hodges can latch on to a whiff of this scent,
他就可以追踪到黄金的位置 he can track it back to find the gold.
当钻机达到一定深度 Once the drill is deep enough,
霍奇斯便抽取出地下水 Hodges pumps out the groundwater.
好了 我觉得样品已经够了 Ok. I think I've got enough sample now.
我相信我们能在这桶浑浊的泥水中 Somewhere in this bucket of muddy water,
找到一些线索 I believe we've got some clues.
这不是一辆普通的小卡车 This is no ordinary pickup truck.
这是一个先进的移动实验室 It's a state-of-the-art mobile laboratory.
霍奇斯测量了地下水中示踪金属的含量 Hodges measures how many trace metals are in the groundwater,
这里的气味很强烈 and the scent here is particularly strong.
它说明我也许能测量到 And it's telling me that I've likely got
更多示踪金属 a lot more trace metals.
砷 锑 汞 Arsenic, antimony, mercury,
铜 铅 锌这些示踪金属 copper, lead, zinc are the kinds of trace metals
常与金矿联系到一起 that are often associated with gold deposits.
在我看来 And it looks to me like we're
我们走对方向了 moving in the right direction.
就像老一辈们 In the same way the old-timers
在山里追寻黄金一样 traced the gold up into the mountains,
霍奇斯在地下水中寻找示踪金属 Hodges tracks the increasing concentration of trace metals
观察含量变化 in the groundwater.
这就像是小孩子的捉迷藏游戏一样 It's like a little childhood game of hide-and-go-seek.
冷热游戏 离被藏物品远则冷 反之则热
我是更热了 Am I getting hotter,
还是更冷了 or am I getting colder?
现在游戏成了科学 And that makes it a science.
金矿的搜索范围一步步缩小 The net is tightening around the gold deposit.
在十平方公里的目标地区内气味最强烈 The scent is strongest in this 4-square-mile target zone.
但如果要开始试钻黄金 But it's still too large an area
这范围还是太大 to begin test-drilling for gold.
如果要进一步缩小范围 To focus in further,
霍奇斯真得要透视地球了 Hodges needs to literally see inside the Earth.
这个仪器是比重计 Well, this instrument here is a gravitometer,
它可以测量 and it has the ability to measure
这一点下方的岩石密度 how dense the rocks are beneath this point.
正如在我背后的 Just as there's a landscape
视野内有各种地貌 here on the horizon behind me,
我脚下的基岩下方也有不同的地貌 there's a landscape in the bedrock underneath me.
不同地点测出的不同读数 Multiple readings from the gravitometer
创造出一个掩埋在地表碎石下的 create a secret treasure map of the terrain submerged
秘密藏宝图 beneath the surface gravel.
根据这张岩石密度地图 From this rock density map,
霍奇斯可以定位出金矿可能的地点 Hodges can pinpoint the likely location of the gold deposit.
他在地下76米处 He has found a suspect gash
找到一个可疑的裂缝 in the Earth over a mile long
长度超过1.6公里 and 250 feet below the surface.
这是一个很好的征兆 因为金矿 It's a good sign, as gold is often found deposited
常会出现在深缝中 in deep cracks.
是时候开始钻取黄金了 It's time to start drilling for gold.
金刚钻钻入深缝 The diamond-studded drill
提取出一条圆柱形基岩 probes the crack and extracts a cylinder of bedrock.
这是沿裂缝进行的一系列试钻中的第一钻 This is the first in a sequence of test drills along the crack,
人们迫切想知道结果 and the results are tantalizing.
在四处跋涉后 After all this traveling around,
我终于可以第一次看到这些岩石了 I'm finally able to see the rocks for the first time.
几百万年来这些岩石不见天日 These rocks have been out of view for millions of years,
对我来说 这是这项工作 and to me, it's one of the most exciting things
最让人激动的事情之一 about this line of work.
我可以成为最早看到它们的人 I get to look at these rocks before anybody else has ever seen them,
我可以把它们跟我在山里其他地方 and I could compare them with the rocks
见到过的岩石进行对比 that I've seen elsewhere in the mountains.
在这块岩芯里 In this piece of core,
我看到几种不同的岩石成分 I see several different kinds of fragments of rocks.
有些是石英 Some of them are quartz.
我们知道石英中很有可能含有黄金 Quartz we know is good for gold.
霍奇斯可能离一个巨大金矿不远了 Hodges could be on the verge of a massive gold strike,
目前他已发现了总计930吨黄金 adding to his tally of 30 million ounces discovered so far.
深入土地 Reaching down into the Earth,
抽取出来的样品中发现了黄金 pulling out a sample that says there's gold in it
然后发觉你成功了 and realizing that you've done it.
某种程度上 你和老一辈们的 And in a sense, it connects you with those old-timers,
西部精神联系在一起 the same spirit of the old west.
太让人兴奋了 It's exciting.
正是霍奇斯这样的地质学锋 It's pioneering geologists like Hodges
才会找到美国剩下的黄金 who will find what's left of America's gold.
科学家和勘探家们 Scientists and prospectors investigating
在世界各地调查黄金聚集原因 how gold is concentrated around the world have found
黑砂
在沉重的黑砂中找到了黄金 gold in heavy black sands,
证明了黄金会在河流内弯沉积 evidence that rivers concentrate gold on the inside bends...
圆石
气泡
蚀变岩
一层层平行的破碎蚀变岩 Parallel beds of broken, altered rock,
证明了富含黄金的液体 proof that gold-rich fluid was squeezed
被挤入加州山脉 from California's mountains...
火山岩墙
层叠的裸露岩石
彩色的层状裸露岩石 Multicolored layered outcrops
说明古代温泉形成了 show that ancient hot springs
内华达州的含金石英脉 deposited gold quartz veins in Nevada...
海绵状的岩石
以及海绵状的金矿石 And spongy gold ore,
证明了酸溶液可以让微量的黄金 evidence that an acid dumped minute sprinklings of gold
渗透并散布至岩石中 in the rock.
地球不会轻易拱手让出她的宝藏 The Earth does not relinquish her gold treasure easily.
人类对金子无法抗拒的欲望 Man's irresistible urge to find gold is the driving force
是地质学发展的动力 which helped pioneer the science of geology.
调查黄金是如何在世界各地形成 Investigating how gold is concentrated across the world
并不只是金属和采矿的故事 is not just the story of metal and mining...
它是一部书写地球历经巨变 It's an epic tale that has revealed how the Earth is
变为今日摸样的史诗 dynamically changing to this day,
记载了地球几十亿年的历史 and over billions of years of the planet's history,
它是地球永不停息的生动证明 living proof that the Earth is never at rest.