A way to predict sinkholes under spas near the Dead Sea

[摘自The Economist December 16th 2017]

THE Dead Sea is, as its name implies, far too salty to be of use to fishermen or farmers. But its mineral-rich waters are valued by the owners of the spas that thrive along its shores in Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian territory of the West Bank. The spa industry, however, faces a threat from a plague of sinkholes that have struck in recent years. These have damaged roads and buildings at Ein Gedi beach, in Israel, and hit the Mineral Beach Spa in Mitzpe Shalem, an Israeli settlement in the West Bank, so hard that it is unusable.

Until now, it has been impossible to predict more than a few weeks in advance where a sinkhole will appear. But, as he reports in Geology, Meir Abelson of the Geological Survey of Israel thinks he can change that. Employing buried monitoring devices, he believes he can forecast where such holes will form several years before they actually do so.

Most of the more than 6,000 sinkholes that have struck the west coast of the Dead Sea recently are the result of that sea being starved of water as the rivers flowing into it have their contents extracted for human use. This has caused the sea’s level to fall and the pressure it exerts to diminish. That drop in pressure is felt in the surrounding rocks, which are often porous and water-filled. The rocks are a battleground between salt water from the lake and fresher water from elsewhere—a battle that, because of the pressure drop, the fresher water is winning.

When this incoming water makes contact with the extensive underground rock- salt formations that surround the Dead Sea, it dissolves them. That creates cavities which, if they grow too large, eventually fail to support the rock layers above. The consequence is the sudden collapse of those layers into a hole in the ground, taking anything on the surface with them. A technique called interferometric synthetic-aperture radar can give a few weeks’ notice of such a collapse. It permits researchers to spot subtle signs of subsidence that often presage a sinkhole’s formation. This grants enough time to evacuate the site, but not enough to plan the relocation of an extensive spa facility. Dr. Abelson, though, speculated that the disintegration of the rock-salt formations which creates the holes might cause minor tremors well in advance of a collapse.

To determine whether this was so, he and a team of colleagues drilled, in 2012, five small boreholes around Mineral Beach. They then placed sensors into each borehole, at depths ranging from 11 to 25 metres. These sensors, called geophones, recorded movements of the earth and transmitted their data regularly to a nearby monitoring station.

During the two months in which they operated Dr. Abelson’s geophones detected 82 seismic events, of which 75 came from the surface layers rather than being a result of the movement, deeper underground, of tectonic plates. Crucially, he and his colleagues were able to use the slightly staggered arrival times at different geophones of these tiny tremors to locate each tremor’s epicentre. This let them make a map of Mineral Beach that showed where the crust was beginning to buckle because of cavity formation below. They then waited and watched, to see if the epicentres were at places where sinkholes subsequently formed.

The first such collapse was in 2014, a little more than two years after the team had detected a series of small tremors emanating from that very spot. Seven additional sinkholes formed in 2016. Again, they were in places where the researchers had detected clusters of tremors during their two months of monitoring. Not all of the tremors they recorded have yet been followed by the formation of sinkholes. But, crucially, all the sinkholes that have formed so far have been at the epicentres of tremors.

That observation argues for the installation of permanent geophone networks in tourist areas around the Dead Sea. Indeed, tracking changes in the rate and strength of tremors, before any distortion of the ground detectable by radar shows up, may provide information about when a sink-hole might be expected to form, as well as where. That would give building owners more notice of problems, permitting them to move facilities in good time.

Nor is the Dead Sea the only place where Dr. Abelson’s system has the potential to do good. Several states in America, including Florida and Missouri, have large swathes of land sitting on top of rock salt and other materials that easily wash away and generate sinkholes as a result. Indeed, southern Missouri has seen over a hundred sinkhole collapses since 2007, and would benefit greatly from having means in place to detect when and where they are likely to happen.

文章精读：

Geology and tourism-- Pillars of salt

A way to predict sinkholes under spas near the Dead Sea

文章简介：地质学是雅思考试阅读常涉足的主题。本文是与死海有关的文章，标题为地质与旅游业--盐之支柱，通过本文可以把地质文章基本结构及常见的单词熟悉一下。

黄色为重点单词/词组

绿色为学科单词

The Dead Sea is, as its name implies, far too salty to be of use to fishermen or farmers. But its mineral-rich waters are valued by the owners of the spas that thrive along its shores in Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian territory of the West Bank. The spa industry, however, faces a threat from a plague of sinkholes that have struck in recent years. These have damaged roads and buildings at Ein Gedi beach, in Israel, and hit the Mineral Beach Spa in Mitzpe Shalem, an Israeli settlement in the West Bank, so hard that it is unusable.

· imply v.暗示，意指

The Dead Sea is, as its name implies, far too salty to be of use to fishermen or farmers.

翻译：死海，如名字所言，意指对于渔民或农民来说太咸而没法使用。

衍生词：

implication n.暗示，含意

e.g. The law bans organized protests and, by implication, any form of opposition.

这一法令禁止有组织的抗议，言下之意就是禁止任何形式的反对活动。

· mineral-rich 富含矿物质的 territory n.领地，领土

But its mineral-rich waters are valued by the owners of the spas that thrive along its shores in Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian territory of the West Bank.

翻译：但是死海富含矿物质的水对spa的老板们还是有价值的，而这些spa在死海在以色列，约旦以及巴勒斯坦西岸地区的海滨非常兴盛。

相关词：

mine 矿

territorial adj.领地的,领土的

· plague n.灾祸，麻烦

The spa industry, however, faces a threat from a plague of sinkholes that have struck in recent years.

然而，最近几年Spa行业面临沉洞的困扰。

plague 是多义词 还有‘瘟疫’的意思，比如1665年发生在伦敦的Great Plague.

e.g. The plague caused 100,000 deaths in London alone in the 1600s.

17 世纪，鼠疫仅在伦敦一地就造成了10万人死亡。

此外，plague还有动词意思

plague v.折磨，使困扰

Financial problems continued to plague the company.

资金问题持续困扰着该公司。

Until now, it has been impossible to predict more than a few weeks in advance where a sinkhole will appear. But, as he reports in Geology, Meir Abelson of the Geological Survey of Israel thinks he can change that. Employing buried monitoring devices, he believes he can forecast where such holes will form several years before they actually do so.

· monitoring devices 监控设备 forecast v.预测

Employing buried monitoring devices, he believes he can forecast where such holes will form several years before they actually do so.

翻译：他相信利用掩埋的监控设备就能提前几年预测这些沉洞的形成。

Most of the more than 6,000 sinkholes that have struck the west coast of the Dead Sea recently are the result of that sea being starved of water as the rivers flowing into it have their contents extracted for human use. This has caused the sea’s level to fall and the pressure it exerts to diminish. That drop in pressure is felt in the surrounding rocks, which are often porous and water-filled. The rocks are a battleground between salt water from the lake and fresher water from elsewhere—a battle that, because of the pressure drop, the fresher water is winning.

· be starved of 缺少

· extract v.提取，获取

Most of the more than 6,000 sinkholes that have struck the west coast of the

Dead Sea recently are the result of that sea being starved of water as the rivers flowing into it have their contents extracted for human use.

翻译：最近在死海西海岸出现的6000多个沉洞大部分都是死海极度缺水的结果，因为流入死海的河流被人类抽取使用了。

· exert v.施加

This has caused the sea’s level to fall and the pressure it exerts to diminish.

翻译：这导致死海的平面下降，从而它所施加的压力也变小。

相关词组：

exert an influence on…对…施加影响

· porous adj.多孔的

That drop in pressure is felt in the surrounding rocks, which are often porous and water-filled.

翻译：从周围的石头中可以感受到压力的下降，(因为)这些石头通常多孔而且充满水的。

相关词：

pore n.孔隙

When this incoming water makes contact with the extensive underground rock- salt formations that surround the Dead Sea, it dissolves them. That creates cavities which, if they grow too large, eventually fail to support the rock layers above. The consequence is the sudden collapse of those layers into a hole in the ground, taking anything on the surface with them. A technique called interferometric synthetic-aperture radar can give a few weeks’ notice of such a collapse. It permits researchers to spot subtle signs ofsubsidence that often presage a sinkhole’s formation. This grants enough time toevacuate the site, but not enough to plan the relocation of an extensive spa facility. Dr. Abelson, though, speculated that the disintegration of the rock-salt formations which creates the holes might cause minor tremors well in advance of a collapse.

· makes contact with 与…接触

· dissolve v.溶解

When this incoming water makes contact with the extensive underground rock- salt formations that surround the Dead Sea, it dissolves them.

翻译：当流进来的水与包围着死海的地下岩盐层接触时，就会将它们溶解。

· cavity n.孔洞

· eventually ad.最终

That creates cavities which, if they grow too large, eventually fail to support the rock layers above.

翻译：那会产生一些孔洞，而一旦这些孔洞变大，最终将无法支撑上面的岩石层。

相关词：

cave 山洞

eventually=ultimately

· collapse n.塌陷

· interferometric synthetic-aperture radar 干涉合成孔径雷达

· subsidence n.沉降，沉陷

· presage v.预示，警示

A technique called interferometric synthetic-aperture radar can give a few weeks’ notice of such a collapse. It permits researchers to spot subtle signs of subsidence that often presage a sinkhole’s formation.

一项叫做干涉合成孔径雷达的技术能够在一次崩塌之前几周给出预警。这使得研究人员能够发现在沉洞形成之前警示沉陷的微小信号。

· grant v.准许

· evacuate v.撤空

This grants enough time to evacuate the site, but not enough to plan the relocation of an extensive spa facility.

这给予足够的时间来撤离地点，但是不足以为新的spa设备重新选址。

· speculate v.推断，猜测

e.g. Some scientists speculate that water may have evaporated into the atmosphere and the rest trapped beneath the surface in the form of ice.

一些科学家推测，水可能曾被蒸发到大气中，而其余的则以冰的形式被截留在表面之下。

· disintegration n.瓦解，崩解

相关词：

integrate v.使…成为一体

integral n.整数 adj.不可或缺的

· tremor n.轻微小震

相关词：

tremble 颤抖

To determine whether this was so, he and a team of colleagues drilled, in 2012, five small boreholes around Mineral Beach. They then placed sensors into each borehole, at depths ranging from 11 to 25 metres. These sensors, called geophones, recorded movements of the earth and transmitted their data regularly to a nearby monitoring station.

· drill v.钻孔

· borehole 井眼

· transmit v.传送

These sensors, called geophones, recorded movements of the earth and transmitted their data regularly to a nearby monitoring station.

翻译：这些名为地音探听器的传感器记录了地球运动的信息并将这些数据定期传送到附近的监测站。

During the two months in which they operated Dr. Abelson’s geophones detected 82seismic events, of which 75 came from the surface layers rather than being a result of the movement, deeper underground, of tectonic plates. Crucially, he and his colleagues were able to use the slightly staggered arrival times at different geophones of these tiny tremors to locate each tremor’s epicentre. This let them make a map of Mineral Beach that showed where the crust was beginning to buckle because of cavity formation below. They then waited and watched, to see if the epicentres were at places where sinkholes subsequently formed.

· seismic adj.地震的

相关词：

seismic wave 地震波

seismology 地震学

· tectonic plates 构造的板块

相关词：plate tectonics 板块构造说

· stagger v.摇晃

· epicentre n.震中

· crust n.地壳

· subsequently adv.随后

They then waited and watched, to see if the epicentres were at places where sinkholessubsequently formed.

翻译：他们等待并仔细观察，以确定震中是否在沉洞随后形成的地方。

The first such collapse was in 2014, a little more than two years after the team had detected a series of small tremors emanating from that very spot. Seven additional sinkholes formed in 2016. Again, they were in places where the researchers had detected clusters of tremors during their two months of monitoring. Not all of the tremors they recorded have yet been followed by the formation of sinkholes. But, crucially, all the sinkholes that have formed so far have been at the epicentres of tremors.

· emanate v.发射

The first such collapse was in 2014, a little more than two years after the team had detected a series of small tremors emanating from that very spot.

翻译：次崩塌发生于2014年，研究小组检测到一系列微小震动从那个点发出的两年多之后。

· clusters of 聚集的，成群的

That observation argues for the installation of permanent geophone networks in tourist areas around the Dead Sea. Indeed, tracking changes in the rate and strength of tremors, before any distortion of the ground detectable by radar shows up, may provide information about when a sink-hole might be expected to form, as well as where. That would give building owners more notice of problems, permitting them to move facilities in good time.

· installation n.安装

相关词: install v.

· track v.追踪

· distortion n.扭曲，不正常现象

Indeed, tracking changes in the rate and strength of tremors, before any distortion of the ground detectable by radar shows up, may provide information about when a sink-hole might be expected to form, as well as where.

翻译：在地表雷达显示可察觉的异常之前，追踪微震的频率及强度的变化确实能够提供沉洞有可能形成的时间以及地点的信息。

Nor is the Dead Sea the only place where Dr. Abelson’s system has the potential to do good. Several states in America, including Florida and Missouri, have large swathes of land sitting on top of rock salt and other materials that easily wash away and generate sinkholes as a result. Indeed, southern Missouri has seen over a hundred sinkhole collapses since 2007, and would benefit greatly from having means in place to detect when and where they are likely to happen.

· swathes of 成片的

Several states in America, including Florida and Missouri, have large swathes of land sitting on top of rock salt and other materials that easily wash away and generate sinkholes as a result.

翻译：美国的几个州，包括佛罗里达州及密苏里州，已有成片的土地坐落在岩盐上，以及其他同样容易冲掉从而形成沉洞的地区。

本文作者简介：

王少娟

上海新航道雅思主讲，上海外国语大学教育技术学硕士。对综合英语的阅读教学有深入的研究，教授了数百名学生均取得了优异的英语成绩。讲解细致、逻辑清晰、课堂活跃，丰富的教学经验能帮助学生在学习中和练习中能够更有效的提高英语能力。