Sometimes, it feels like it goes on forever...days...weeks...months...millions of years?

有時候這痛苦的情緒就像會持續好幾天、好幾週、好幾個月，甚至好幾百萬年？

Just ask Pangaea.

問問盤古大陸吧！

Plate tectonics.

板塊構造學說。

It's not your fault if you take it for granted.

如果你認為這是理所當然的，那不是你的問題。(譯註：granite 是花崗岩，音似 granted)

The concept that the Earth's crust moves around, rubs together, and pulls apart seems obvious now.

板塊移動時相互碰撞、分離的概念，在現今看來都再正常不過。

I mean just look at it.

你自己看看。

But as recently as 50 years ago, thinking the continents had ever actually moved from their current locations would have gotten you laughed out of any serious scientific meeting.

但如果你 50 年前這麼認為的話，可是會在嚴肅的科學會議中被嘲笑。

The notion of moving continents all started with Alfred Wegener.

大陸漂移的想法是源於阿爾弗雷德．韋格納。

He noticed the continents appeared to fit together, almost perfectly, like a jigsaw puzzle.

他發現大陸就像拼圖一樣，似乎可以完美地拼在一起。

And if they used to fit together, that means they must have somehow moved apart.

如果以前大陸是一整塊的，那就代表他們以某種方式分開了。

This led him to introduce a new idea: continental drift.

這讓韋格納產生了一個新的想法：大陸漂移。

The snug fit of coastlines wasn't the only evidence that the continents were all once joined together in a giant landmass, all nice and cozy.

大陸間契合的海岸線讓他推測：所有大陸曾經是安安穩穩地聚在一起的一大塊陸地。而且這並不是唯一的證據。

Wegener noticed fossils of certain animals had been found in Antarctica, India, and Africa.

韋格納還發現一些特定生物的化石可以同時在南極洲、印度和非洲發現。

How did the same animal end up all over the world?

同一種生物怎麼會出現在世界各地？

Before, geologists thought land bridges had connected the continents, and were now submerged or eroded away.

以前地質學家認為連接大陸的陸橋已經沒入大海或被侵蝕殆盡。

Or else, they swam.

或也有可能這些生物會游泳。

Remains of an ancient fern had also been found on five continents.

但古代蕨類的殘骸也在五個大陸被發現。

And ferns definitely can't swim.

而蕨類沒辦法游泳。

It just didn't make sense.

所以這就不合理了。

That wasn't all.

還有其他證據。

The same types of rocks and mountains lined up continuously between continents.

不同的大陸上，也可見同類型的岩層和山脈呈現連續性分布。

It was a convincing body of evidence suggesting the continents moved around during Earth's history.

這也是各個大陸在地球發展的歷史上曾經移動過的有力證據。

So obviously Wegener was celebrated and awarded for this brilliant idea, right?

這樣看來，韋格納天才的想法應該會受到肯定並讓他聲名遠播，對吧？

More like the opposite.

他面臨的多半是反對的聲浪。

One paleontologist called his theory "Germanic pseudoscience".

一位古生物學家就稱他的理論為「德國的偽科學」。

He was ridiculed around the world for his "delirious ravings."

他因為他的「瘋言亂語」受到奚落、嘲笑。

The reason for all the hate was no one could see how continents might move.

會有這樣的反對是因為沒有人能夠看到大陸如何移動。

Did the rotation of the Earth create enough centrifugal force to move them?

地球自轉能夠提供大陸足夠的離心力來移動嗎？

Was it the tides?

還是潮汐的緣故呢？

These forces weren't strong enough to move entire continents.

這些力都不足以移動大陸。

Wegener was never able to convince other scientists before he died on an expedition to Greenland in 1930 at only 50 years old.

1930 年，年僅 50 歲的韋格納死於格陵蘭的探險中，至死他都無法說服其他科學家相信自己。

He never knew the fate of his ideas.

他一輩子都不知道他的理論正確與否。

In 1929, Arthur Holmes showed thermal convection in the mantle could create enough of a current to move the continental crust on top of it, an idea he originally got from Wegener.

1929 年，阿瑟．赫爾姆斯指出地函的熱對流可以產生足夠的流動力，帶動上方的大陸地殼移動，這個想法最初就是源自韋格納的學說。

In 1962, geologist Harry Hess found a strange magnetic pattern along a seafloor ridge.

1962 年，地質學者哈里．赫斯發現中洋脊兩側的磁場有奇怪的變化。

Earth's magnetic field has flipped hundreds of time over the planet's history.

地球的磁場在歷史中已經翻轉了好幾百次。

Magnetic minerals deep in the Earth, in hot magma, preserved this magnetic fingerprint as they cooled and hardened into rock.

那些深在地球岩漿的磁性礦物在冷卻並形成岩石後，保留了磁場翻轉的紀錄。

Just like planetary tree rings, geologists could analyze the rock on either side of the ridge to retrace its history.

它們就像行星的年輪，地質學家能夠藉由分析中洋脊兩側的變化來回溯它的歷史。

The seafloor was spreading apart at these ridges, where new rock was oozing up from the hot mantle.

海床向中洋脊兩側擴張，湧出的炙熱地函又形成新的地殼。

Geologists finally had proof that earth's crust wasn't static.

地質學家終於證實了地殼會移動的想法。

It was constantly changing.

而且是不斷在移動。

They're even moving right now.

就連此時此刻也是。

Can't you tell?

你感覺得到嗎？

Probably not.

可能沒辦法吧。

Every year, the spreading at the Mid-Atlantic ridge pushes the Eurasian plate and North American plate just 2.5 centimeters farther apart.

大西洋洋中脊的擴張讓歐亞板塊和北美板塊每年以 2.5 公分的速度向兩方分離。

But over millions of years, that really adds up.

但過了好幾百萬年積累起來後，這也非常可觀。

Spreading between plates also happens on land.

板塊擴張也會發生在陸地上。

The African plate and the Arabian plate are actually splitting the continent in two.

非洲板塊和阿拉伯板塊就是將大陸一分為二的例子。

These deep rift valleys will eventually become an ocean and create a new separate African landmass.

這些裂谷最終會變成海洋，非洲也會形成獨立的大陸。

The "Ring of Fire" is where denser oceanic crust is moving underneath the less dense continental crust.

環太平洋火山帶底部分布著許多活躍的海洋板塊，大陸板塊相對較少。

90% of the world's earthquakes and most major volcanoes occur along this margin.

世界上 90% 的地震以及大規模的火山爆發都在此發生。

Monstrous eruptions and destructive earthquakes change our world everyday and influence the lives of humans all over it.

猛獸般的火山爆發和極具毀滅性的地震天天都在改變世界的面貌並影響人類的生活。

Just like the surface of our dynamic planet, the story of plate tectonics shows us it can take a little while before earth-shaking ideas change the world.

板塊構造學說的發展就如同不斷變化的地球表面，在這驚天動地的想法改變世界之前，總是會需要花上一段時間。

If you catch my drift.

你懂我的意思吧！

Stay curious!

保持一顆好奇的心！