评论
打印
落基山国家公园 位于科罗拉多州的落基山国家公园成立于1915年，占地415平方英哩，三分之一的园区位在林线以上，并且包括了78个海拔超过12000尺的山峰；其中最高的是久久峰(Longs Peak)，高达14255尺。公园里自成一个完整的生态体系，不论海拔高低，到处都可见到野生动物的踪迹，像是麋鹿、长耳鹿(mule deer)、土狼(coyote)、角鹿和大角羊等等。此外贯穿大峡谷的科罗拉多河，也是在此地发源。
Seventy million years ago, a great inland sea disappeared and the Rocky Mountains emerged from the seafloor. Sixty million years ago, they reached their peak height, twice what it is today. Then for millions of years, the Rockies slowly eroded away to half their original height until 3 million years ago, another dramatic chapter in their story began that would transform them into the Mountains we know today.
Geologist and photographer Bob Anderson takes to the air. He is looking for clues that will tell him how the Mountains have evolved. First he flies over Boulder Canyon in the Colorado Rockies. It is an area that has remained almost unchanged over millions of years.
"So this is Boulder Canyon we are flying up right now. And you can see how the river has in size maybe a few hundred feet down into otherwise relatively rolling terrain."
The mountain peaks that existed on the young Rocky Mountains were rounded off as rivers and streams eroded the rock.
"It's this rolling terrain that the landscape look like in the aftermath of the mountain building event that ended about 50 million years ago."
But as Anderson climbs higher to Longs Peak in the Rocky Mountain National Park, the terrain changes. Instead of rolling hills, there are rugged mountains with steep and jagged cliffs. It's evidence that another force has been at work.
The most famous of these cliffs is the Diamond. Named for its shape, it's a vertical wall with a sheer 900 foot drop. The summit about 45,000 square feet is the same size as a football field.
"Well, we are flying beside, ur, Longs Peak, one of the biggest climbing challenges in the Rockies. For a century, it's been a climbing Mecca. It's a gorgeous, intact piece of rock."
This awesome wall is the most difficult climb in the whole of the Rockies. And since it was officially open to climbers in 1960, has claimed over 50 lives.
小编有约：一切的事物不论是人也好，还是事情也好，总是在变动，究竟是我们改变了时间，还是时间改变了我们，谁也说不清，道不明？一切事物存在，必有它的理由，一件事物消亡，也有它的原因，所以总是有人对这个世界的一切充满了疑问，想要一探究竟。那么今天我们去的落基山国家公园里面，会有什么大自然的鬼斧神工出现。
课后题目：究竟是什么样的原因使得这里看起来就像是在50万年前洛基山脉经历灾难之后的样子？
