Our country has two exploration programs.

我們的國家有兩個探險計畫

One is NASA, with a mission to explore the great beyond,

其一是NASA太空總署，而使命是探測太空

to explore the heavens, which we all want to go to if we're lucky.

探索那個我們都想去的天堂～如果我們夠幸運的話

And you can see we have Sputnik, and we have Saturn,

你可以看到我們有史波尼克(Sputnik)衛星和農神火箭

and we have other manifestations of space exploration.

我們有其他探索太空的形式

Well, there's also another program,

此外，我們還有一個計畫

in another agency within our government, in ocean exploration.

政府有另一個機構負責探索海洋

It's in NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

也就是NOAA，國家海洋與大氣管理局

And my question is this: "why are we ignoring the oceans?"

而我的疑問是 -- 我們為什麼忽略海洋？

Here's the reason, or not the reason, but here's why I ask that question.

也許這是原因、或者這不是，但這就是我為什麼要問

If you compare NASA's annual budget to explore the heavens,

如果比較太空總署探索太空的年度預算

that one-year budget would fund NOAA's budget

這一年的預算可以支持NOAA

to explore the oceans for 1,600 years.

探索海洋一千六百年

Why? Why are we looking up? Is it because it's heaven?

為什麼？為什麼我們往上看？難道是因為天堂在上面？

And hell is down here? Is it a cultural issue?

而地獄在下面？這是因為文化的影響嗎？

Why are people afraid of the ocean?

為什麼人們害怕海洋？

Or do they just assume the ocean is just a dark, gloomy place

或他們認為海洋只是一片漆黑、又陰森的地方

that has nothing to offer?

一點貢獻也沒有

I'm going to take you on a 16-minute trip on 72 percent of the planet, so buckle up.

繫好安全帶，我將帶領你們在下面16分鐘遊遍這佔地球72％的地方

OK. And what we're going to do

好啦～我們接下來將要

is we're going to immerse ourselves in my world.

讓大家進入我的世界

And what I'm going to try -- I hope I make the following points.

我會試著 -- 我希望可以把以下幾點講清楚

I'm going to make it right now in case I forget.

我得現在講以免忘記--

Everything I'm going to present to you

每一樣各位即將看到的

was not in my textbooks when I went to school.

在我的學校課本裡面都沒有

And most of all, it was not even in my college textbooks.

更重要的是，那也沒不在我大學的課本裡

I'm a geophysicist, and all my Earth science books when I was a student --

我是地球物理學家而我當學生時的地球科學書籍

I had to give the wrong answer to get an A.

我必須填上錯誤的答案才能拿高分

We used to ridicule continental drift. It was something we laughed at.

我們曾揶揄大陸板塊飄移，讓我們笑到不行

We learned of Marshall Kay's geosynclinal cycle, which is a bunch of crap.

我們學習馬歇爾．凱(Marshall Kay)的地槽圈，那真的是鬼話連篇

In today's context, it was a bunch of crap,

今日的課本裡他才是鬼話

but it was the law of geology, vertical tectonics.

但它曾是地質學裡垂直地殼運動的定律

All the things we're going to walk through

我們即將討論的

in our explorations and discoveries of the oceans

是我們在海洋的發現與探索

were mostly discoveries made by accident.

很多是意外發現的

Mostly discoveries made by accident.

很多新發現都來自意外

We were looking for something and found something else.

我們想找某樣東西，卻發現了另一樣

And everything we're going to talk about

而我們即將要講的每件事情

represents a one tenth of one percent glimpse, because that's all we've seen.

都這只是驚鴻一瞥中的十分之一，因為我們也只看到這些

I have a characterization.

我有個描述

This is a characterization of what it would look like if you could remove the water.

是說，這是你想像中把全部的水都移開以後的樣子

It gives you the false impression it's a map.

讓你誤認這是張地圖

It is not a map.

這不是地圖

In fact, I have another version at my office

我有另一個版本在我辦公室裡

and I ask people, "Why are there mountains here, on this area here,

而我問人們：「為什麼這裡，這塊區域有山脈」

but there are none over here?" And they go, "Well, gee,

「而那邊卻沒有呢？」他們通常都會說：「嗯～天啊」

I don't know," saying,

「我不知道耶」

"Is it a fracture zone? Is it a hot spot?"

「這是地質脆弱地區嗎？它是熱點嗎？」

No, no, that's the only place a ship's been.

不不～那些地方只有船去過

Most of the southern hemisphere is unexplored.

大部分的南半球都沒有被探索過

We had more exploration ships down there

我們曾有很多探測船隻在那裡

during Captain Cook's time than now. It's amazing.

是在庫克船長的時代，比現代還多，這真叫人吃驚！

All right. So we're going to immerse ourselves

好啦～我們現在即將潛入

in the 72 percent of the planet because, you know,

這星球的另外72％是因為，你知道嗎

it's really naive to think that the Easter Bunny

如果你認為復活節的兔子

put all the resources on the continents.

會把所有的好東西都放在大陸上嗎，就太天真了

(Laughter)

（眾笑）

You know, it's just ludicrous.

你知道嗎～這真是太荒誕不羈了

We are always, constantly playing the zero sum game.

我們老是玩著零和遊戲

You know, we're going to do this, we're going to take it away from something else.

知道嗎，現在我們要試試看別的路子

I believe in just enriching the economy.

我相信這可以振興經濟

And we're leaving so much on the table, 72 percent of the planet.

我們還有很多籌碼，這72％的地球資源

And as I will point out later in the presentation,

而我會在之後演講中一一指出

50 percent of the United States of America lies beneath the sea.

美國有50％的領域在海平面以下

50 percent of our country that we own, have all legal jurisdiction,

我們國家擁有的50％，依法管轄

have all rights to do whatever we want, lies beneath the sea

而可以任意處置的，都在海洋底下

and we have better maps of Mars than that 50 percent.

而火星的地圖卻比這50%更仔細

Why? OK. Now, I began my explorations the hard way.

為什麼？好吧，剛開始探險的時候很辛苦

Back then -- actually my first expedition

在過去 -- 事實上我第一次的探險

was when I was 17 years old. It was 49 years ago.

是49年前，在我十七歲的時候

Do the math, I'm 66. And I went out to sea on a Scripps ship

算算看吧，現在我66歲。當我跟著Scripps的船出海

and we almost got sunk by a giant rogue wave,

還差點因為瘋狗浪而沉沒

and I was too young to be -- you know, I thought it was great!

當時我太年輕了 -- 你知道的，我想說這超棒的！

I was a body surfer and I thought, "Wow, that was an incredible wave!"

我用身體衝浪，還想著「哇～這個浪頭真棒」

And we almost sank the ship, but I became enraptured

而我們差點因此沉船，但是後來我漸漸為此著迷

with mounting expeditions. And over the last 49 years,

經歷很多探險活動，在後來這49年間

I've done about 120, 121 -- I keep doing them -- expeditions.

我一共經歷了120、121次探險 -- 而我還繼續的從事這項工作

But in the early days, the only way I could get to the bottom

不過，早年唯一能讓我到達海底的方式

was to crawl into a submarine, a very small submarine,

就是爬進潛水艇，非常小的潛水艇

and go down to the bottom.

一路沉到海底

I dove in a whole series of different deep diving submersibles.

在一系列的活動我藉著各式潛艇到達各種深度

Alvin and Sea Cliff and Cyana,

艾文號、海蝕崖號以及Cyana號

and all the major deep submersibles we have, which are about eight.

以及其他八艘深海潛水艇為主力

In fact, on a good day, we might have four or five human beings

事實上，天氣好的時候我們大約有四到五位人員

at the average depth of the Earth --

在海洋深處

maybe four or five human beings out of whatever billions we've got going.

大約四到五位人員正在進行任何一項探險

And so it's very difficult to get there, if you do it physically.

親身去做這些工作非常的辛苦

But I was enraptured, and in my graduate years

但我深深著迷，而在我畢業的那幾年

was the dawn of plate tectonics. And we realized

正是板塊構造學說的啟蒙時期，而我們已經知道

that the greatest mountain range on Earth lies beneath the sea.

最偉大的山脈其實躺在海洋底下

The mid-ocean ridge runs around like the seam on a baseball.

大西洋中洋脊就像棒球上的縫線一般跨越地球

This is on a Mercator projection.

這是在麥卡托投影下的地圖

But if you were to put it on an equal area projection,

如果你把放在等區域投影地圖上

you'd see that the mid-ocean ridge covers 23 percent

你會發現中洋脊佔據相當於23％

of the Earth's total surface area.

地球上陸地的面積

Almost a quarter of our planet is a single mountain range

幾乎四分之一的地球被一個山脈佔據

and we didn't enter it until after Neil Armstrong

而我們一直等到尼爾．阿姆斯壯(Neil Armstrong)

and Buzz Aldrin went to the moon.

和巴茲．艾德林(Buzz Aldrin)上了月球之後才發現

So we went to the moon, played golf up there,

我們上了月球，在上面玩了一下高爾夫

before we went to the largest feature on our own planet.

在這之前我們卻沒有去過我們星球上最大的一個地貌

And our interest in this mountain range, as Earth scientists in those days,

當時的地球科學家們對於這山脈的最大興趣

was not only because of its tremendous size, dominating the planet,

不只是因為山脈在這星球上佔據極大面積

but the role it plays in the genesis of the Earth's outer skin.

而是山脈在地球外層形成時所扮演的角色

Because it's along the axis of the mid-ocean ridge

因為他是中洋脊的軸線

where the great crustal plates are separating.

大型地殼向兩邊分離開來

And like a living organism, you tear it open,

像是有機體一般，當你把它撕開

it bleeds its molten blood, rises up to heal that wound

它將會流出古老的熔岩之血，來癒合這個傷口

from the asthenosphere, hardens, forms new tissue and moves laterally.

岩漿來自軟流圈，硬化形成新的組織，向側面擴散

But no one had actually gone down

但是從來沒有人真正到下面去

into the actual site of the boundary of creation as we call it --

到這我們稱作「創造的邊界」的地方

into the Rift Valley -- until a group of seven of us

進入這個裂谷 -- 直到我們七人小組

crawled in our little submarines in the summer of 1973, 1974

在1973～1974年夏天爬近我們小小的潛水艇

and were the first human beings to enter the Great Rift Valley.

而這是人類史上第一次抵達大裂谷

We went down into the Rift Valley.

我們下到這個裂谷

This is all accurate except for one thing -- it's pitch black.

一切描述都十分正確，除了一件事情 -- 下面一片漆黑

It's absolutely pitch black, because

完全沒有任何光線

photons cannot reach the average depth of the ocean,

因為光子不能到達這麼深的海洋

which is 12,000 feet. In the Rift Valley, it's 9,000 feet.

一萬兩千英呎(3,657.6公尺)，而裂谷則位於九千英呎(2,743.2公尺)

Most of our planet does not feel the warmth of the sun.

地球大部分地方都感受不到太陽的溫暖

Most of our planet is in eternal darkness.

大部分永遠都在黑暗中

And for that reason, you do not have photosynthesis in the deep sea.

因此，在深海沒有辦法行光合作用

And with the absence of photosynthesis

由於缺乏光合作用

you have no plant life, and as a result,

所以沒有植物，因此

you have very little animal life living in this underworld.

在這個世界裡很少有生物生活

Or so we thought. And so in our initial explorations,

至少我們是這麼認為的，在最初的幾次探險中

we were totally focused on exploring the boundary of creation,

我們全部心力都放在探索這正在形成的邊界

looking at the volcanic features running along that entire 42,000 miles.

在42000英哩(67,592公里)的海裏找尋著火山地形

Running along this entire 42,000 miles

在這42000英哩的地方有著

are tens of thousands of active volcanoes.

成千上萬的活火山

Tens of thousands of active volcanoes.

成千上萬的活火山

There are more active volcanoes beneath the sea

而海平面之下有更多的活躍的火山

than on land by two orders of magnitude.

強度比陸地還大兩倍

So, it's a phenomenally active region,

它是完全是個活躍區

it's not just a dark, boring place. It's a very alive place.

而不是一個漆黑又無聊的地方，充滿了生命

And it's then being ripped open.

而且正被撕裂著

But we were dealing with a particular scientific issue back then.

不過我們當時正著手於特定的科學研究

We couldn't understand why you had a mountain under tension.

不懂為什麼在這個充滿張力的地方有高山

In plate tectonic theory, we knew that if you had plates collide,

在板塊構造理論裏我們知道，如果地殼碰撞

it made sense: they would crush into one another,

會相互的擠壓，這還蠻可以理解

you would thicken the crust, you'd uplift it.

這會使地殼變厚，然後把它抬高

That's why you get, you know, you get seashells up on Mount Everest.

這就是為什麼海裡的貝殼會出現在聖母峰上

It's not a flood, it was pushed up there.

不是因為洪水，而是被擠壓到那裡

We understood mountains under compression,

我們了解山脈是由擠壓產生

but we could not understand why we had a mountain under tension.

但我們不明白為什麼山脈會在拉扯中形成

It should not be. Until one of my colleagues said,

不該是這樣，直到一位我的同事說

"It looks to me like a thermal blister, and the mid-ocean ridge

「看起來像是在高溫下產生的水泡，在這中洋脊上」

must be a cooling curve." We said, "Let's go find out."

「一定是一個冷卻的過程」我們說，「去看看吧」

We punched a bunch of heat probes. Everything made sense,

我們把地熱探針插進去，一切真相大白

except, at the axis, there was missing heat. It was missing heat.

除了在軸線以外，其他地方都不夠熱，熱量不見了

It was hot. It wasn't hot enough.

那很熱，但不足以融化

So, we came up with multiple hypotheses:

因此我們想出很多個假設

there's little green people down there taking it;

在那個下面一定有小綠人在掌控著

there's all sorts of things going on.

所有在那裡發生的事情

But the only logical [explanation] was that there were hot springs.

不過，最合理的假設是下面一定有熱泉

So, there must be underwater hot springs.

所以一定是海底熱泉

We mounted an expedition to look for the missing heat.

我們開始一趟尋找失落的熱度之旅

And so we went along this mountain range, in an area along Galapagos Rift,

沿著加拉巴哥斷層的山脈邊緣尋找

and did we find the missing heat.

而我們的確發現了那失落的熱度

It was amazing. These giant chimneys, huge giant chimneys.

看起來很驚人，這些巨大的煙囪，龐然巨物般的煙囪

We went up to them with our submersible.

我們駕著潛艇靠近他們

We wanted to get a temperature probe, we stuck it in there,

想把溫度探針伸進去，卻卡住了

looked at it -- it pegged off scale.

仔細一看 -- 溫度探針破表了

The pilot made this great observation: "That's hot."

潛艇駕駛有了大發現：「它好燙」

(Laughter)

（眾笑）

And then we realized our probe was made out of the same stuff --

突然之間我們都明白了，探針跟噴出物是同一種物質

it could have melted. But it turns out the exiting temperature

它被融化了，不過測出的實際溫度

was 650 degrees F, hot enough to melt lead.

是華式650度(攝氏343度)，熱得可以將鉛融化

This is what a real one looks like, on the Juan de Fuca Ridge.

這是皇安德富卡(Juan de Fuca)斷層實際的樣子

What you're looking at is an incredible pipe organ

你看到的是那不可思議的管風琴

of chemicals coming out of the ocean.

從海洋中噴發出各種化學物質

Everything you see in this picture is commercial grade:

每一樣你在畫面中看到的都具有商業價值

copper, lead, silver, zinc and gold.

銅、鉛、銀、鋅和黃金

So the Easter Bunny has put things in the ocean floor,

所以我們知道復活節兔子真的有放東西在海底

and you have massive heavy metal deposits

而且是大量的金屬蘊藏

that we're making in this mountain range.

是在這個山脈發現的

We're making huge discoveries of large commercial-grade ore

還有更巨大的發現，以及大量具有商業價值的礦物

along this mountain range, but it was dwarfed by what we discovered.

在這個山脈地區，不過跟我們整體所發現的相比，這只是一小塊

We discovered a profusion of life,

我們發現了豐富的生命

in a world that it should not exist [in]. Giant tube worms, 10 feet tall.

根本不應該在這個地方出現，巨大的管蟲，10英呎(3公尺)高

I remember having to use vodka -- my own vodka -- to pickle it

我記得我們用伏特加來保存它 -- 我自己喝的伏特加

because we don't carry formaldehyde.

因為我們並沒有帶福馬林

We went and found these incredible clam beds

然後我們發現不可思議的蚌群

sitting on the barren rock. Large clams,

附在這不毛的岩石上 -- 巨大的蚌類

and when we opened them, they didn't look like a clam.

當我們打開他的時候，看起來又不像蚌類

And when we cut them open, they didn't have the anatomy of a clam.

解剖時發現它們根本沒有蚌類的構造

No mouth, no gut, no digestive system.

沒有嘴、沒有內臟、沒有消化系統

Their bodies had been totally taken over

他們的身體完全被另一種有機體接管

by another organism, a bacterium, that had figured out

一種細菌，而這種細菌

how to replicate photosynthesis in the dark,

學會了怎麼在黑暗中行光合作用

through a process we now call chemosynthesis.

經過一個叫化學合成的過程

None of it in our textbooks. None of this in our textbooks.

這根本就不曾在我們的教科書中出現

We did not know about this life system.

我們根本不了解這種生物系統

We were not predicting it.

也不可能憑空臆測出來

We stumbled on it, looking for some missing heat.

而是在搜尋熱源的時候，不經意的撞上了它

So, we wanted to accelerate this process.

為了深入研究這個過程

We wanted to get away from this silly trip, up and down on a submarine:

我們想結束這愚蠢的潛艇上上下下的程序

average depth of the ocean, 12,000 feet;

平均海洋深度將近12000英呎

two and half hours to get to work in the morning;

早上花兩到兩個半小時來上班

two and half hours to get to home. Five hour commute to work.

兩到兩個半小時回家，花五個小時通勤

Three hours of bottom time, average distance traveled -- one mile.

只在海底待三個小時，平均移動距離 -- 一英哩(1.6公里)

(Laughter)

（眾笑）

On a 42,000 mile mountain range. Great job security, but not the way to go.

要探索42000英哩的海底山脈，這工作真有保障，但是這樣不是辦法

So, I began designing a new technology of telepresence,

因此我開始設計一種新的遠端臨場科技

using robotic systems to replicate myself,

使用機器人來代替我自己

so I wouldn't have to cycle my vehicle system.

這樣就不用一直重複減壓過程

We began to introduce that in our explorations,

我們開始在探險中使用它

and we continued to make phenomenal discoveries

而持續有重大發現

with our new robotic technologies. Again, looking for something else,

應用我們新的機器人科技，再一次尋找某些東西

moving from one part of the mid-ocean ridge to another.

在這中洋脊移過來、移過去

The scientists were off watch and they came across incredible life forms.

這些科學家遇到、也看到不可思議的生物

They came across new creatures they had not seen before.

他們發現了從來沒有看過的新物種

But more importantly, they discovered

更重要的是他們在下面發現

edifices down there that they did not understand.

無法理解的高樓大廈

That did not make sense. They were not above a magma chamber.

這不合理，那位於岩漿庫底下