每天读点英美文化：那些心驰神往的文化景观 - 万水书苑-出版资源网

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(1)第. 1. 章. 景致各有千秋的美国国家公园. 美国国家公园并不是单纯的一个公园，而是一个公园体系。1872 年，随着黄石国家公园的确立，美国的国家公园体系自此开始。国家公园一般面积都在几十平方公里以上，多数人选择乘车进入，公园的景色都是天然的奇景：沙漠、冰川、湿地、峡谷等等，非常诱人。国家公园是美国文化的重要组成部分，也是对世界的重要贡献。国家公园管理体制，旨在保护一小部分珍贵的荒地，为熊、蝴蝶、野生花朵和古老森林留下原始的生长环境。它们不只是大自然的孤岛，更是人类心灵的栖息地。虽然游览其中的一些公园是对体力的巨大挑战，但你会为大自然的伟大而瞠目结舌，绝对与逛市中心精致小巧的公园感觉迥异。.

(2) 2. 黄石国家公园——世界上最古老最原始的国家公园 Yellowstone National Park, established by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant on March 1, 1872, is a national park located primarily in the U.S. state of Wyoming, though it also extends into Montana and Idaho. Yellowstone was the first national park in the world, and is known for its wildlife and its many geothermal features, especially Old Faithful Geyser, one of the most popular features in the park. It has many types of ecosystems, but the subalpine forest is dominant. Native Americans have lived in the Yellowstone region for at least 11,000 years. The region was bypassed during the Lewis and Clark Expedition in the early 1800s. Aside from visits by mountain men during the early to mid-1800s, organized exploration did not begin until the late 1860s. The U. S. Army was commissioned to oversee the park just after its establishment. In 1917, administration of the park was transferred to the National Park Service, which had been created the previous year. Hundreds of structures have been built and are protected for their architectural and historical significance, and researchers have examined more than 1,000 archaeological sites. Yellowstone National Park spans an area of 3,468 square miles (8,980 km2), comprising lakes, canyons, rivers and mountain ranges. Yellowstone Lake is one of the largest high-altitude lakes in North America and is centered over the Yellowstone Caldera, the largest supervolcano on the continent. The caldera is considered an active volcano; it has erupted with tremendous force several times in the last two million years. Half of the world's geothermal features are in Yellowstone, fueled by this ongoing volcanism. Lava flows and rocks from volcanic eruptions cover most of the land area of Yellowstone. The park is the centerpiece of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, the largest remaining, nearly intact ecosystem in the Earth's northern temperate zone. Hundreds of species of mammals, birds, fish and reptiles have been documented, including several that are either endangered or threatened. The vast forests and grasslands also include unique species of plants. Grizzly bears, wolves, and free-ranging herds of bison and elk live in the park. Forest fires occur in the park each year; in the large forest fires of 1988, nearly one third of the park burned. Yellowstone has numerous recreational opportunities, including hiking, camping, boating, fishing and sightseeing. Paved roads provide close access to the major geothermal areas as well as some of the lakes and waterfalls..

(3) During the winter, visitors often access the park by way of guided tours that use either snow coaches or snowmobile. Yellowstone National Park is the centerpiece of the 20 million Ecosystem, a region that includes Grand Teton National Park, adjacent National Forests and expansive wilderness areas in those forests. The ecosystem is the largest remaining continuous stretch of mostly undeveloped pristine land in the continental United States, and is considered to be the world's largest intact ecosystem in the northern temperate zone (although the area is mostly not temperate but subalpine, and all the national forest lands surrounding the National Park are not intact). With the successful wolf reintroduction program, which began in the 1990s, virtually all the original faunal species known to inhabit the region when white explorers first entered the area can still be found there. Yellowstone is one of the most popular national parks in the United States. Since the mid-1960s, at least 2 million tourists have visited the park almost every year. At peak summer levels, 3,700 employees work for Yellowstone National Park concessionaires. Concessionaires manage nine hotels and lodges, with a total of 2,238 hotel rooms and cabins available. They also oversee gas stations, stores and most of the campgrounds. Another 800 employees work either permanently or seasonally for the National Park Service. 黄石公园位于美国怀俄明州的西北角，并向西北方向延伸到爱达荷州和蒙大拿州，面积达 7988 平方公里。这片地区原本是印地安人的圣地，但因美国探险家路易斯与克拉克的发掘，“为了使她所有的树木、矿石的沉积物、自然奇观和其他景物都保持现有的自然状态而免于破坏”，在 1978 年被列为世界自然遗产。园内海拔从北方入口（蒙大拿州的伽德纳 Gardiner）的 5,314 英尺（1,620 米）上升到公园东南方最高点鹰峰（Eagle Peak）的 11,358 英尺（3,462 米）。在黄石公园广博的天然森林中有世界上最大的间歇泉集中地带，全球约三分之二的间歇泉都在这里。这些地热奇观是世界上最大的活火山存在的证据。黄石公园以熊为其象征。园内约有 200 多只黑熊，100 多只灰熊。黄石河、黄石湖纵贯其中，有峡谷、瀑布、温泉以及间歇喷泉等，景色壮丽，引人入胜。其中尤以每小时喷水一次的“老实泉”最著名。园内森林茂密，牧养了一些残存的野生动物，如美洲野牛等，还设有历史古迹博物馆供游人观赏。 ★. Words Tips ◆ primarily：主要地. ◆. geothermal：地热的. ◆. subalpine：亚高山带，针叶林带. ◆. architectural：建筑学的. ◆. supervolcano：超级火山. ◆. volcanic：火山. ◆. bison：北美野牛. ◆. elk：麋鹿. ◆. ecosystem：生态系统. 第. 1 章景致各有千秋的美国国家公园. acre/31,250 square-mile (8,093,712 ha/80,937 km2) Greater Yellowstone. 3.

(4) 4. 大峡谷国家公园——鬼斧神工下举世无双的奇景 The Grand Canyon is unmatched throughout the world for the vistas it offers to visitors standing on the rim. It is not the deepest canyon in the world-both the Barranca del Cobre in northern Mexico and Hell's Canyon in Idaho are deeper. The Grand Canyon is known for its overwhelming size and its intricate and colorful landscape. Geologically it is significant because of the thick sequence of ancient rocks that are beautifully preserved and exposed in the walls of the canyon. These rock layers record much of the early geologic history of the North American continent. The Grand Canyon is also one of the most spectacular examples of erosion in the world. The Grand Canyon was largely unknown until after the Civil War. In 1869, Major John Wesley Powell, a one-armed Civil War veteran with a thirst for science and adventure, made a pioneering journey through the canyon on the Colorado River. He accomplished this with nine men in four small wooden boats, though only six men completed the journey. His party was, as far as we know, the first ever to make such a trip. Although first afforded federal protection in 1893 as a Forest Reserve and later as a National Monument, the Grand Canyon did not achieve national park status until 1919, three years after the creation of the National Park Service. Today Grand Canyon National Park receives about five million visitors each year, a far cry from the annual visitation of 44,173 in 1919. The Colorado River rushes at the bottom of the canyons, about 1,850 feet above sea level. The sides of the canyons are made of rocks, cliffs, ridges, hills and valleys of every form. Many of the ridges have weather carved lines which make them resemble Chinese temples. Thick forests of blue spruce, fir, oaks and Ponderosa pines cover the canyon rim. Deep in the canyon's recesses, the foliage grows sparse and shorter. Pinon pines and juniper growing along the cliffs give way to dry desert scrub on the canyon floor. The north rim of the Grand Canyon rises about 1,200 feet higher than the south rim. The highest points on the rim are about 9,000 feet above sea level. Most of the 1,904 square miles of the park are maintained as wilderness. There are three distinct sections of the park; the South Rim, the North Rim and the Inner Canyon. Each section has a different climate as well as different vegetation and different experiences. The North Rim is the coldest and the wettest. It receives up to.

(5) 26 inches of precipitation a year. The South Rim only receives around 16 inches of precipitation a year. The Inner Canyon's climate is similar to a desert, as the lower you descend, the hotter and drier it becomes. The floor of the canyon, approximately a mile below the North Rim, is about 3-5℃ The colorful canyon rocks were formed millions of years ago. Their colors change with the changing light of the sun. Many layers of rock have been bared by the constant cutting force of the rushing river. The first layer of rock through which the Colorado River now cuts is black in color and is called Archean. The second layer, called Algonkian, has a brilliant red color. The next layer is a lavender-brown color and is known as Tapeats sandstone. The forth layer, the Devonian layer, consists of small deposits of lavender stone. Above this, the thick Redwall curves along the canyon. Above the Redwall lies 800 feet of red sandstone called the Supai formation. The Hermit shale, another layer of red rock covers this. On top of the Hermit shale rests the sand colored Coconino sandstone, a pale bank that lies 350 feet below the rim of the canyon. The top layer of the canyon consists of cream and gray colored Kaibab limestone. This limestone forms a rim known as the Kaibab Plateau on the north side of the canyon, and as the Coconino Plateau on the south. Scientists still haven't agreed on the how's and why's of the creation of the Grand Canyon, but there is always one constant: the Colorado River. It always was and always will be the catalyst for change in the canyon. 大峡谷国家公园位于美国西部亚利桑那州西北部的科罗拉多高原上，全长 443 公里，是世界奇景之一。峡谷由于受到科罗拉多河的强烈下切作用而形成，所以又称科罗拉多大峡谷。1919 年美国国会通过法案，将大峡谷最深最壮观的长约 170 公里的一段划为大峡谷国家公园，现公园已被联合国教科文组织列入世界自然遗产之一。峡谷的奇特景色，浩瀚气魄，举世无双。其壮观不仅在于其千姿百态的奇峰异石和峭壁石柱，还在于其色彩的变幻。由于峡谷两壁的岩石性质、所含矿物质的不同，在阳光照射下，会呈现出不同的色彩，如铁矿石会显得五彩缤纷，其他氧化物则呈现各种暗淡的色调，石英会显出白色。如此一块块鲜红、一团团黝黑、一片片铁灰、一方方深赫的色彩，使峡谷壁成为一块巨大的五彩斑斓的调色板，令人眼花缭乱，美不胜收。尤为神奇的是，谷壁的色彩还会随天气阴晴的变化而变化。在阴霾的日子，大峡谷中像是弥漫着紫色的烟雾；旭日初升或夕阳斜照时，山山水水又尽染成红色和橘色。由于峡谷天气多变，时而骄阳直射，时而风雨大作，更使峡谷风光变幻莫测，气象万千。大峡谷广阔无垠，即使在视野最好的地方，也只能看到 365.2 公里中的一小部分。尽管全球已有数千万人游览过大峡谷，但至今无人见过它的全貌。. 第. 1 章景致各有千秋的美国国家公园. hotter than the temperatures above.. 5.

(6) 6. ★. Words Tips ◆ rim：边缘. ◆. sequence：次序. ◆. adventure：冒险. ◆ cliff：悬崖. ◆. foliage：植物. ◆. precipitation：沉淀. ◆. constant：不变的. ◆. lavender：淡紫色的. ◆. limestone：石灰岩. 大烟雾山国家公园——气候绝佳的动植物乐园 Great Smoky Mountains National Park is a United States National Park that straddles the ridgeline of the Great Smoky Mountains, part of the Blue Ridge Mountains, which are a division of the larger Appalachian Mountain chain. The border between Tennessee and North Carolina runs northeast to southwest through the centerline of the park. It is the most visited national park in the United States. On its route from Maine to Georgia, the Appalachian Trail also passes through the center of the park. The park was chartered by the United States Congress in 1934 and officially dedicated by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1940. It encompasses 814 square miles (2,108 km2), making it one of the largest protected areas in the eastern United States. The main park entrances are located along U.S. Highway 441 (Newfound Gap Road) at the towns of Gatlinburg, Tennessee and Cherokee, North Carolina. It was the first national park whose land and other costs were paid for in part with federal funds; previous parks were funded wholly with state money or private funds. Elevations in the park range from 876 feet (267 m) at the mouth of Abrams Creek to 6,643 feet (2,025 m) at the summit of Clingmans Dome. Within the park a total of sixteen mountains reach higher than 6,000 feet (1829 m). The wide range of elevations mimics the latitudinal changes found throughout the entire eastern United States. Indeed, ascending the mountains is comparable to a trip from Tennessee to Canada. Plants and animals common in the country's Northeast have found suitable ecological niches in the park's higher elevations, while southern species find homes in the balmier lower reaches. During the most recent ice age, the northeast-to-southwest orientation of the Appalachian mountains allowed species to migrate southward along the slopes rather than finding the mountains to be a barrier. As the climate warms, many northern species are now retreating upward along the slopes and withdrawing northward, while southern species are expanding. The park normally has very high humidity and precipitation, averaging from 55 inches (1,400 mm) per year in the valleys to 85 inches (2,200 mm) per year on the peaks. This is more annual rainfall.

(7) than anywhere in the United States outside the Pacific Northwest and parts of Alaska. It is also generally cooler than the lower elevations below, and most of the park has a humid continental climate more comparable to locations much farther north, as opposed to the humid subtropical acres (760 km2), is estimated by the Park Service to be old growth forest with many trees that predate European settlement of the area. It is one of the largest blocks of deciduous, temperate, old growth forest in North America. The variety of elevations, the abundant rainfall, and the presence of old growth forests give the park an unusual richness of biota. About 10,000 species of plants and animals are known to live in the park, and estimates as high as an additional 90,000 undocumented species may also be present. Park officials count more than 200 species of birds, 66 species of mammals, 50 species of fish, 39 species of reptiles and 43 species of amphibians, including many lungless salamanders. The park has a noteworthy black bear population, numbering at least 1,800. An experimental re-introduction of elk (wapiti) into the park began in 2001. Over 100 species of trees grow in the park. The lower region forests are dominated by deciduous leafy trees. At higher altitudes, deciduous forests give way to coniferous trees like Fraser Fir. In addition, the park has over 1,400 flowering plant species and over 4,000 species of non-flowering plants. 这座美国著名的国家公园，建立于 1934 年，公园面积达 52 万英亩（约 21 万公顷），它位于美国东部的阿巴拉契亚山脉（Apalachian Mountains）南端的蓝色山脊上（Blue ridge）。景色十分优美，平均每年可吸引 1 千多万游人，是美国参观人数最多的国家公园。由于未被人类破坏，所以公园为植物提供了一个相对有利的生长环境。大雾山早在古生代时期便形成了。第四纪冰川时期，北美洲植物大量繁殖于此，如今在公园里仍存有大片北极第三纪孑遗植物。大雾山国家公园 95％以上的面积被森林覆盖，这里保存着世界上最完好的温带落叶林，也是哥伦布发现美洲之前密布的森林的幸存者。由于土壤肥沃、降水丰富，这里拥有 1520 种花卉、130 种树木、50 种哺乳动物和 27 种活蜥蜴。许多物种是世界上绝无仅有的。它也代表了大约 300 百万年前地球发展历史上一个重要的时期，这里的地貌特征、生物演化和物种多样性都使这个公园成为最好的自然保护区。 ★. Words Tips ◆. encompass：包含. ◆ latitudinal：纬度的. ◆. niches：生态位，栖位. ◆ migrate：迁徙. ◆. humid：潮湿的. ◆. biota：生物群. ◆. ◆. straddle：跨立. deciduous：落叶的. 第. 1 章景致各有千秋的美国国家公园. climate in the lowlands. The park is almost 95 percent forested, and almost 36 percent of it, 187,000. 7.

(8) 8. 查科文化国家历史公园——美国最大的考古废墟遗址 Chaco Culture National Historical Park is a United States national historical park hosting the densest and most exceptional concentration of pueblos in the American Southwest. The park is located in northwestern New Mexico, between Albuquerque and Farmington, in a remote canyon cut by the Chaco Wash. Containing the most sweeping collection of ancient ruins north of Mexico, the park preserves one of the United States' most unique cultural and historic areas. Between AD 900 and 1150, Chaco Canyon was a major center of culture for the Ancient Pueblo Peoples. Chacoans quarried sandstone blocks and hauled timber from great distances, assembling 15 major complexes which remained the largest buildings in North America until the 19th century. Evidence of archaeoastronomy at Chaco has been proposed, with the Sun Dagger petroglyph at Fajada Butte a popular example. Many Chacoan buildings may have been aligned to capture the solar and lunar cycles, requiring generations of astronomical observations and centuries of skillfully coordinated construction. Climate change is thought to have led to the emigration of Chacoans and the eventual abandonment of the canyon, beginning with a 50-year drought in 1130. Composing a UNESCO World Heritage Site located in the arid and sparsely populated Four Corners region, the Chacoan cultural sites are fragile; fears of erosion caused by tourists have led to the closure of Fajada Butte to the public. The sites are considered sacred ancestral homelands by the Hopi and Pueblo people, who maintain oral accounts of their historical migration from Chaco and their spiritual relationship to the land. Though park preservation efforts can conflict with native religious beliefs, tribal representatives work closely with the National Park Service to share their knowledge and respect the heritage of the Chacoan culture. Immense complexes known as "Great Houses" embodied worship at Chaco. As architectural forms evolved and centuries passed, the houses kept several core traits. Most apparent is their sheer bulk; complexes averaged more than 200 rooms each, and some enclosed up to 700 rooms. Individual rooms were substantial in size, with higher ceilings than Anasazi works of preceding periods. They were well-planned: vast sections or wings erected were finished in a single stage, rather than in increments. Houses generally faced the south, and plaza areas were almost always.

(9) girt with edifices of sealed-off rooms or high walls. Houses often stood four or five stories tall, with single-story rooms facing the plaza; room blocks were terraced to allow the tallest sections to compose the pueblo's rear edifice. Rooms were often organized into suites, with front rooms larger Pueblo Bonito Ceremonial structures known as kivas were built in proportion to the number of rooms in a pueblo. One small kiva was built for roughly every 29 rooms. Nine complexes each hosted an oversized Great Kiva, each up to 63 feet (19 m) in diameter. T-shaped doorways and stone lintels marked all Chacoan kivas. Though simple and compound walls were often used, Great Houses were primarily constructed of core-and-veneer walls: two parallel load-bearing walls comprising dressed, flat sandstone blocks bound in clay mortar were erected. Gaps between walls were packed with rubble , forming the wall's core. Walls were then covered in a veneer of small sandstone pieces, which were pressed into a layer of binding mud. These surfacing stones were often placed in distinctive patterns. The Chacoan structures altogether required the wood of 200,000 coniferous trees, mostly hauled—on foot—from mountain ranges up to 70 miles (110 km) away. 查科文化国家历史公园是美国最大的考古废墟遗址，也是保存最完好的考古遗址。它包括了大量的 1020 年至 1110 年间查科文化达到顶盛时期的遗址。查科文化已具备了城市系统结构，周围拥有许多村庄和纵横交错的道路，被列入《世界遗产目录》。据第一批发现遗址的人记载，他们当时看到这个村落时，感觉当年村民们的搬迁决定似乎做出得很突然，就像是刚刚被人遗弃的一样，房间里的一切犹如古代居民在前一天刚刚离去。木石结构的屋子安然无恙，屋子里还有保存完好的用丝兰植物做成的便鞋和工艺精湛的漆器，有的漆罐中还装满了玉米。查科峡谷地区较小的文物遗址至少还有 2400 多个，从几千年前猎户篝火遗迹到近期延伸的安纳萨吉峡谷村落和崖屋，数不胜数。这些区域的村落中，最宏大的当属波尼托村落。这一座座大大小小的石屋，每座屋子都用上万块石头堆砌而成，仅仅做横梁的松树木、针枞木就多达 2 万多根。在牲畜和轮子等运输工具尚未在美洲出现的年代，要从 40 多公里外的采石场和伐木场将巨石和大树运到险峻陡峭的山谷，确是一件令人赞叹不已的惊天动地的伟事。. ★. Words Tips ◆. pueblos：印第安人村落的居民. ◆ timber：木材. ◆. archaeoastronomy：考古天文学. ◆. petroglyph：岩石雕刻. ◆. sparsely：稀疏的. ◆. trait：特性. ◆. kiva：大地穴. ◆ plaza：广场 ◆. mortar：用灰泥涂抹. 第. 1 章景致各有千秋的美国国家公园. than rear, interior, and storage rooms or areas.. 9.

(10) 10. 大沼泽国家公园——从内陆流向大海的绿地之河 Everglades National Park is a national park in the U.S. state of Florida that protects the southern 25 percent of the original Everglades. It is the largest subtropical wilderness in the United States, and is visited on average by one million people each year. It is the third-largest national park in the lower 48 states after Death Valley and Yellowstone. It has been declared an International Biosphere Reserve, a World Heritage Site, and a Wetland of International Importance, only one of three locations in the world to appear on all three lists. Unlike most U.S. national parks, Everglades National Park was created to protect a fragile ecosystem instead of safeguarding a unique geographic feature. The Everglades are wetlands created by a slow-moving river originating in Lake Okeechobee, fed by the Kissimmee River, and flowing southwest at about 0.25 miles (0.40 km) per day into Florida Bay. The park protects an interconnected network of marshland and forest ecosystems that are maintained by natural forces. Thirty-six species designated as threatened or protected live in the park, including the Florida panther, the American crocodile, and the West Indian manatee. The park protects the largest U.S. wilderness area east of the Mississippi River, is the most significant breeding ground for tropical wading birds in North America and contains the largest mangrove ecosystem in the western hemisphere. More than 350 species of birds, 300 species of fresh and saltwater fish, 40 species of mammals and 50 species of reptiles live within Everglades National Park. All of South Florida's fresh water, which is stored in the Biscayne Aquifer, is recharged in the park. Although humans have lived in the Everglades for thousands of years, not until 1882 did the region begin to be drained for agricultural or residential use. In the 20th century the natural water flow from Lake Okeechobee was controlled and diverted to the explosive growth of the South Florida metropolitan area. The park was established in 1934 to protect the quickly vanishing Everglades and dedicated in 1947, the same year massive canal-building projects across South Florida began to divert water away from the park. The ecosystems in Everglades National Park have suffered significantly from human activity, and the repair and restoration of the Everglades is a politically charged issue in South Florida. At the turn of the 20th century common concepts of what should be protected in national parks invariably included formidable geologic features like mountains, geysers or canyons. As Florida's population began to grow significantly and urban areas near the Everglades were developed,.

(11) proponents of the park's establishment faced difficulty in persuading the federal government and the people of Florida that the subtle and constantly shifting ecosystems in the park was established in 1947, it became the first area within the U.S. to protect flora and fauna native to a region as opposed to geologic scenery. The National Park Service currently recognizes nine distinct interdependent ecosystems within the park that constantly shift in size due to the amount of water present and other environmental factors. The busiest season for visitors is from December to March, when temperatures are lowest and mosquitoes are least active. The park features four visitor centers: on the Tamiami Trail, (part of U. S. Route 41) directly west of Miami, is the Shark Valley Visitor Center. A fifteen-mile (24 km) round trip path leads from this center to a two-story observation tower. Tram tours are available during the busy season. Closest to Homestead on State Road 9336 is the Ernest F. Coe Visitor Center, where a 38-mile (61 km) road begins, winding through pine rockland, cypress, freshwater marl prairie, coastal prairie and mangrove ecosystems. Various hiking trails are accessible from the road, which runs to the Flamingo Visitor Center and marina, open and staffed during the busier time of the year. The Gulf Coast Visitor Center is closest to Everglades City on State Road 29 along the west coast. The Gulf Coast Visitor Center gives canoers access to the Wilderness Waterway, a 99-mile (160 km) canoe trail that extends to the Flamingo Visitor Center. The western coast of the park and the Ten Thousand Islands and the various key islands in Florida Bay are accessible only by boat. 大沼泽地国家公园建于 1974 年，面积约 6097 平方公里（140 万英亩）。它位于佛罗里达州南部尖角位置，是美国本土上最大的亚热带野生动物保护地。它的建立是为了保护脆弱的生态系统，而不仅仅是维护一项地理特征。这个美得超乎常人想象的国家公园有非常珍贵的，很多别的地方再也找不到的水陆生态品种，园内栖息有 300 多种鸟类，其中像苍鹭、白鹭这些美丽的鸟类得到了很好的保护。美洲鳄、海牛和佛罗里达黑豹也受到了良好的照顾。这些陆生和水生动植物族群相互依存，并很好地适应了这里夏天湿润、冬天干燥的气候。但是对它们生存至关重要的生态因素——水流，却因南佛罗里达的发展而受到严重的破坏。1993 年 12 月，大沼泽国家公园被列入濒危的世界遗产名录中，以便提醒人们对湿地环境所遭遇的种种威胁予以更加密切的关注。在每年 1300 万美元的财政预算、230 名全日制永久员工、科学家群体以及美国国内和国际赞助的共同努力下，2007 年，世界遗产大会宣布：“鉴于保护工作卓有成效，将美国大沼泽地国家公园从‘濒危’世界遗产名单上去除。”. 第. 1 章景致各有千秋的美国国家公园. Everglades were just as worthy of protection. When the. 11.

(12) 12. ★. Words Tips ◆. subtropical：亚热带的. ◆ marshland：沼泽地. ◆. fragile：脆弱的. ◆. crocodile：鳄鱼. ◆. metropolitan：大都会的. ◆. geyser：间歇泉. ◆. urban：城市的. ◆. fauna：动物群. ◆ marina：散步道. 红杉树国家公园——世界上最庞大生物的保护地 The Redwood National and State Parks (RNSP) are located in the United States, along the coast of northern California. Comprised of Redwood National Park (created 1968) and California's Del Norte Coast, Jedediah Smith and Prairie Creek Redwoods State Parks (dating from the 1920s), the combined RNSP parks contain 133,000 acres (540 km2). Located entirely within Del Norte and Humboldt Counties, the four parks, together, protect 45% of all remaining Coastal Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) oldgrowth forests, totaling at least 38,982 acres (157.75 km2). These trees are the tallest and one of the most massive tree species on Earth. In addition to the redwood forests, the parks preserve other indigenous flora, fauna, grassland prairie, cultural resources, portions of rivers and other streams, and 37 miles (60 km) of pristine coastline. It is estimated that old-growth redwood forest once covered close to 2,000,000 acres (8,100 km2) of coastal northern California. 96% of all old-growth redwoods have been logged, and almost half (45%) of the redwoods remaining are found in Redwood National and State Parks. The parks protect 38,982 acres (157.75 km2) of old-growth forest almost equally divided between federal 19,640 acres (79.5 km2) and state 19,342 acres (78.27 km2) management. Redwoods have existed along the coast of northern California for at least 20 million years and are related to tree species that existed 160 million years ago. The native range of coast redwood is from the northern California coast north to the southern Oregon Coast. The tree is closely related to the Giant Sequoia of central California, and more distantly to the Dawn Redwood which is indigenous to the Sichuan, Hubei region of China. Coast redwoods are the tallest trees on Earth; as of September, 2006, the tallest tree in the park was Hyperion at 379.1 feet (115.5 m), followed by Helios and Icarus which were 376.3 feet (114.7 m) and.

(13) 371.2 feet (113.1 m) respectively. Before September, 2006, the tallest living specimen known was the Stratosphere Giant, outside the park in Humboldt Redwoods State Park, which was 370 feet (110 m) in 2004. Redwoods State Park and within the RNSP was measured at 367.8 feet (112.1 m), but the top 10 feet (3.0 m) of the tree was reported to have died in the 1990s. One tree that fell in 1991 was reported to be 372.04 feet (113.40 m). Only the Giant Sequoia has more mass. The largest redwood by volume is the 42,500 cubic foot (1,205 m2) Lost Monarch, located in Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park. Mature Coast redwoods live an average of 500－700 years and a few are documented to be 2,000 years old, making them some of the longest-living organisms on earth. They are highly resistant to disease, due to a thick protective bark and high tannin content. Redwoods prefer sheltered slopes, slightly inland and near water sources such as rivers and streams. Redwood trees develop enormous limbs that accumulate deep organic soils and can support tree-sized trunks growing on them. This typically occurs above 150 feet (46 m). Scientists have recently discovered that plants which normally grow on the forest floor also grow in these soils, well above ground. The soil mats provide homes to invertebrates, mollusks, earthworms and salamanders. During drought seasons, some treetops die back, but the trees do not die outright. Instead, redwoods have developed mechanisms to regrow new trunks from other limbs. These secondary trunks, called reiterations, also develop root systems in the accumulated soils at their bases. This helps transport water to the highest reaches of the trees. Coastal fog also provides up to one-third of their annual water needs. The ecosystems of RNSP preserve a number of rare animal species. Numerous ecosystems exist, with seacoast, river, prairie and densely forested zones all within the park. The Brown Pelican and Tidewater Goby are federally listed endangered species that live near the Pacific coastline. The Bald Eagle, which usually nests near a water source, is listed as a threatened species, a designation which includes vulnerable, endangered, and critically endangered species, by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; the state of California lists it as endangered. The Chinook Salmon, Northern Spotted Owl, and Steller's Sea Lion are a few of the other animal species that are threatened. In recognition of the rare ecosystem and cultural history found in the parks, the United Nations designated them a World Heritage Site on September 5, 1980 and an International Biosphere Reserve on June 30, 1983. 红杉树国家公园位于旧金山北部太平洋海岸的群山中，占地 42,930 公顷。由于靠近海洋，冬季降雨丰富，夏季雾霭沉沉，这一气候条件为巨型红杉的生长创造了极为有利的条件。. 第. 1 章景致各有千秋的美国国家公园. For many years, one specimen simply named Tall Tree in Prairie Creek. 13.

(14) 14. 公园内有世界上现存面积最大的红杉树林，其中百年以上的老林区有 170 多平方千米。近海处是大面积的海岸红杉，向内陆延伸后则以山脉红杉为主。公园南北绵延近 600 千米，成熟的红杉树树干高大，可达 70～120 米，树龄 800～3000 年，是世界上最高最壮观的树种，也是世界上罕见的植物景观。红杉树生命力极强，生长神速，成活率高，甚至把它的树根切成碎片也能长出新树来，所以也被认为是世界上最有价值的树种。在绵延 56 千米的海岸线上，沙滩、悬崖和草木纵横交错。临近这一带的树木，除了红杉以外，还有道格拉斯杉。国家公园内生活着的海洋生物和陆地生物同样引人注目，特别是海狮、秃鹰和濒临灭绝的加利福尼亚褐色塘鹅。1980 年，联合国教科文组织将红杉树国家公园作为自然遗产，列入《世界遗产名录》。 ★. Words Tips ◆. acre：英亩. ◆. pristine：原始的. ◆. coastal：沿海的. ◆. indigenous：土著的. ◆. cubic：立方的. ◆. tannin：单宁酸. ◆. mollusk：软体动物. ◆. salamander：火蜥蜴. ◆. vulnerable：脆弱的. 猛犸洞国家公园——令人难以置信的自然奇迹 Mammoth Cave National Park is a U.S. National Park in central Kentucky, encompassing portions of Mammoth Cave, the longest cave system known in the world. The official name of the system is the Mammoth-Flint Ridge Cave System, for the ridge under which the cave has formed. The park was established as a national park on July 1, 1941. It became a World Heritage Site on October 27, 1981, and an international Biosphere Reserve on September 26, 1990. Mammoth Cave developed in thick Mississippian-aged limestone strata capped by a layer of sandstone, making the system remarkably stable. It is known to include more than 367 miles (591 km) of passageway; new discoveries and connections add several miles to this figure each year. Mammoth Cave National Park was established to preserve the cave system. The upper sandstone member is known as the Big Clifty Sandstone: thin, sparse layers of limestone interspersed within the sandstones give rise to an epikarstic zone, in which tiny conduits (cave passages too small to enter) are dissolved by the natural acidity of groundwater. The epikarstic zone concentrates local flows of runoff into high-.

(15) elevation springs which emerge at the edges of ridges. The resurgent water from these springs typically flows briefly on the surface before sinking underground again at elevation of the contact between the sandstone caprock and the underlying massive limestones. It is in these underlying The limestone layers of the stratigraphic column beneath the Big Clifty, in increasing order of depth below the ridge tops, are the Girkin Formation, the St. Genevieve Limestone, and the St. Louis Limestone. For example, the large Main Cave passage seen on the Historic Tour is located at the bottom of the Girkin and the top of the St. Genevieve Formation. Each of the primary layers of limestone are divided further into named geological units and subunits. One area of cave research involves correlating the stratigraphy with the cave survey produced by explorers. This makes it possible to produce approximate three-dimensional maps of the contours of the various layer boundaries without the necessity for test wells and extracting core samples. The upper sandstone cap rock is relatively hard for water to penetrate: the exceptions are where vertical cracks occur. This protective role means that many of the older, upper passages of the cave system are very dry, with no stalactites, stalagmites, or other formations which require flowing or dripping water to develop. However, the sandstone caprock layer has been dissolved and eroded at many locations within the park, such as the Frozen Niagara room. The "contact" between limestone and sandstone can be found by hiking from the valley bottoms to the ridge tops: typically, as one approaches the top of a ridge, one sees the outcrops of exposed rock change in composition from limestone to sandstone at a well-defined elevation. At one valley bottom in the southern region of the park, a massive sinkhole has developed. Known as "Cedar Sink," the sinkhole features a small river entering one side and disappearing back underground at the other side. Mammoth Cave is home to the endangered Kentucky cave shrimp, a sightless albino shrimp. The bats that inhabit the caverns are the following: Indiana bat (Myotis sodalis), Gray bat (Myotis grisescens), Little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus), Big brown bat (Eptesicus fuscus), and the Eastern pipistrelle bat (Pipistrellus subflavus). All together, these and more rare bat species such as the Eastern Small-footed Bat had estimated populations of 9-12 million just in the Historic Section. While these species still exist in Mammoth Cave, their numbers are now no more than a few thousand at best. Ecological restoration of this. 第. 1 章景致各有千秋的美国国家公园. massive limestone layers that the human-explorable caves of the region have naturally developed.. 15.

(16) 16. portion of Mammoth Cave, and facilitating the return of bats, is an ongoing effort. Not all bat species here inhabit the Cave; the red bat (Lasiurus borealis) is a forest-dweller, found underground only rarely. In addition, some surface animals may take refuge in the entrances of the caves but do not generally venture into the deep portions of the cavern system. 别误会，猛犸洞里没有猛犸象。猛犸是一种长毛巨象，如今已绝种，猛犸洞穴与猛犸没有什么关系，在这是借用此名来形容洞穴庞大而已。猛玛洞穴国家公园位于肯塔基州，是世界上最大的由石灰石构成的天然洞穴群和地下长廊。它为多种植物和动物，尤其是为濒临灭绝的物种提供了良好的生活环境。1981 年 10 月 27 日被联合国教科文组织认定为世界遗产，1990 年 9 月 26 日又被列入世界生物圈保护区名单。猛犸洞穴形成于一亿年前，拥有已经探明的 350 多英里的通道和其他尚未探明的通道，因而成为世界上最为庞大的洞穴体系。地表和地下充沛的水源与地质上沉积的石灰岩，共同创造出这个被称作“万洞之地”的地下洞穴网。水渗入洞穴形成的石钟乳、石笋和石膏晶体装点着洞室和通道。林立的石笋和多姿的石钟乳遍布洞中，洞内景象壮观，有两个湖、三条河和八处瀑布。洞里还有一条 20～60 英尺宽，5～20 英尺深的回音河，洞中还有地下暗河通过。洞穴已发现生活着 200 种以上的动物，其中 1/3 的动物一直与世隔绝，仅靠河水的养分生存，有五种是世界上绝无仅有的珍稀动物，如盲鱼、无色蜘蛛等，都以令人难以置信的自然奇迹向人类已有的认知提出了挑战。 ★. Words Tips ◆. portion：部分. ◆. strata：岩层. ◆. sandstone：砂岩. ◆. flow：流动. ◆. stratigraphic：地层的. ◆. cap rock：冠岩. ◆. ridge：山脉，山脊. ◆. pipistrelle：伏翼属动物. 奥林匹克国家公园——在同一时地感受四季气候 Olympic National Park is located in the U.S. state of Washington, in the Olympic Peninsula. The park can be divided into three basic regions: the Pacific coastline, the Olympic Mountains, and the temperate rainforest. U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt originally created Olympic National Monument in 1909 and after Congress voted to authorize a redesignation to National Park status, President Franklin Roosevelt signed the legislation in 1938. In 1976, Olympic National Park became an International Biosphere Reserve, and in 1981 it was designated a World Heritage Site. In 1988, Congress designated 95 percent of the park as the Olympic Wilderness. Within the center of Olympic National Park rise the Olympic Mountains whose sides and.

(17) ridgelines are topped with massive, ancient glaciers. The mountains themselves are products of accretionary wedge uplifting related to the Juan De Fuca Plate subduction zone. The geologic composition is a curious mélange of basaltic and oceanic sedimentary rock. The western half of the Olympus receives a large amount of snow, and consequently has the greatest glaciation of any non-volcanic peak in the contiguous United States outside of the North Cascades. It has several glaciers, the largest of which is the Hoh glacier, nearly five kilometers in length. Looking to the East, the range becomes much drier due to the rain shadow of the western mountains. Here, there are numerous high peaks and craggy ridges. The tallest summit of this area is Mount Deception, at 7, 788 feet (2,374 m). The western side of the park is mantled by a temperate rain forest, including the Hoh Rain Forest and Quinault Rain Forest, which receive annual precipitation of about 150 inches, making this perhaps the wettest area in the continental United States (the island of Kauai in the state of Hawaii gets more rain). Because this is a temperate rainforest, as opposed to a tropical one like the Amazon Rainforest in South America, it is dominated by dense coniferous timber, including Sitka Spruce, Western Hemlock, Coast Douglas-fir and Western redcedar. Mosses coat the bark of these trees and even drip down from their branches in green, moist tendrils. Valleys on the eastern side of the park also have notable old-growth forest, but the climate is notably drier. Sitka Spruce is absent, trees on average are somewhat smaller and undergrowth is generally less dense and different in character. Immediately northeast of the park is a rather small rainshadow area where annual precipitation averages about 16 inches. Because the park sits on an isolated peninsula, with a high mountain range dividing it from the land to the south, it developed many unique plant and animal species (like the Olympic Marmot) that can't be found anywhere else in the world. The southwestern coastline of the Olympic Peninsula is also the northernmost non-glaciated region on the Pacific coast of North America, with the result that - aided by the distance from peaks to the coast at the Last Glacial Maximum being about twice what it is today－it served as a refuge from which plants colonized glaciated regions to the north. It also provides habitat for many species (like the Roosevelt elk) that are native only to the Pacific Northwest coast. Because of this importance, scientists have declared it to be a biological reserve, and study its unique species to better understand how plants and animals evolve. The park contains an estimated 366,000 acres (1,480 km2) of old-growth forests.. 第. 1 章景致各有千秋的美国国家公园. range is dominated by the peak of Mount Olympus, which rises to 7,965 feet (2,428 m). Mount. 17.

(18) 18. 奥林匹克国家公园坐落于华盛顿州的西北角，奥林波斯山（2428 米高）雄踞其中，公园因此而得名。公园内景色多变，生态系统多种多样，岩石垒垒的海边生长着许多海洋生物，美洲鹿倘佯其间的山谷中长着巨大的针叶树森林，崎岖的山巅覆盖着约 60 处活动冰川。它由雪山、温带雨林和海滨三部分组成，从海边的温暖潮湿到高山上的严寒，人们可以在同一次游历中体会一年四季的气候以及相应的不同自然生态。由于公园在整个区域内结合了海岸、群山及雨林三种截然不同的极端地面景观，因此被称作“三处合而为一的公园”，堪称为美国西北最值得一游的国家公园。暴风山脊（Hurricane Ridge）是公园内最美丽也是最不容错过的景点，在山顶可眺望那白雪覆盖、峰峰相连的奥林匹克山脉的壮丽景致。从奥林匹亚山上发源的 11 条主要河流为当地的溯河产卵鱼类提供了良好的栖息环境。公园内还有 100 千米长的沿海原野保留地，这是美国最长的未开发海岸地带。在这片原野保留地内生活着大量当地特有的动植物，包括濒危的北部斑点猫头鹰、斑海雀和海鳟等。 ★. Words Tips ◆. temperate：温带的. ◆ glacier：冰川. ◆. redesignation：重新指定. ◆. subduction：俯冲. ◆. craggy：多峭壁的. ◆. redcedar：红桧. ◆. moss：苔藓植物. ◆. refuge：庇护所. 夏威夷火山国家公园——熔岩奔腾翻涌的瑰丽火宫 Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, established in 1916, is a United States National Park located in the U.S. State of Hawaii on the island of Hawaii. It displays the results of hundreds of thousands of years of volcanism, migration, and evolution－processes that thrust a bare land from the sea and clothed it with complex and unique ecosystems and a distinct Ancient Hawaiian culture. Kīlauea, one of the world's most active volcanoes, and Mauna Loa, the most massive, offer scientists insights on the birth of the Hawaiian Islands and visitors' views of dramatic volcanic landscapes. In recognition of its outstanding natural values, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park was designated as an International Biosphere Reserve in 1980 and a World Heritage Site in 1987. The park includes 505.3 square miles (1,309 km2) of land. Over half of the park is designated the Hawaii Volcanoes Wilderness area and provides unusual hiking and camping opportunities. The park encompasses diverse environments that range from sea level to the summit of the Earth's most.

(19) massive volcano, Mauna Loa at 13,677 feet (4,169 m). Climates range from lush tropical rain forests, to the arid and barren Kaū Desert. Active eruptive sites include the main main entrance to the park is from the Hawaii Belt Road. The Chain of Craters Road, as the name implies, leads past several craters from historic eruptions to the coast. It used to continue to another entrance to the park near the town of Kalapana, but that portion is now covered by a lava flow. Kīlauea and its Halema'uma'u caldera were traditionally considered the sacred home of the volcano goddess Pele, and Hawaiians visited the crater to offer gifts to the goddess. In 1790, a party of warriors (along with women and children who were in the area) were caught in an unusually violent eruption. Many were killed and others left footprints in the lava that can still be seen today. The first western visitors to the site, English missionary William Ellis and American Asa Thurston, went to Kīlauea in 1823. Ellis wrote of his reaction to the first sight of the erupting volcano: "A spectacle, sublime and even appalling, presented itself before us. We stopped and trembled. Astonishment and awe for some moments rendered us mute, and, like statues, we stood fixed to the spot, with our eyes riveted on the abyss below." The volcano became a tourist attraction in the 1840s, and local businessmen such as Benjamin Pitman and George Lycurgus ran a series of hotels at the rim. Lorrin A. Thurston, the American missionary Thurston's grandson, was one of the driving forces behind the establishment of the park after investing the hotel from 1891 to 1904. William R. Castle first proposed the idea in 1903. Thurston, who then owned the Honolulu Advertiser newspaper, printed editorials in favor of the park idea. In 1907, the territory of Hawaii paid for fifty members of Congress and their wives to visit Haleakala and Kīlauea. It included a dinner cooked over lava steam vents. In 1908, Thurston entertained Secretary of the Interior James Rudolph Garfield, and in 1909, another congressional delegation. Governor Walter F. Frear proposed a draft bill in 1911 to create "Kilauea National Park" for $50,000. Thurston and local landowner William Herbert Shipman proposed boundaries, but ran into some opposition from ranchers. Thurston printed endorsements from John Muir, Henry Cabot Lodge and former President Theodore Roosevelt. After several attempts, the legislation introduced by delegate Jonah Kūhiō Kalaniana'ole finally passed to create the park. House Resolution 9525 was signed by Woodrow Wilson on August 1, 1916. It was the 11th National Park in the United States, and the first in a Territory. Within a few weeks, the National Park Service Organic Act would create the National Park Service to run the system. Originally called "Hawaii National Park", it was split from the HaleakalāNational Park on September 22, 1960.. 第. 1 章景致各有千秋的美国国家公园. caldera of Kīlauea and a more active but remote vent. The. 19.

(20) 20. 夏威夷火山国家公园以拥有世界上最活跃的两个活火山——冒纳罗亚火山（海拔 4,170 米）和基拉韦厄火山（海拔 1,250 米）而闻名。冒纳罗亚火山是夏威夷岛上第一大火山，它倾泻出的大量熔岩使山体不断增大，有“伟大的建筑师”之称。1950 年，在冒纳罗亚火山的一声巨响后，一条巨大的火河沿着一条宽阔而浅平的斜坡奔向大海。在它与海水接触的一瞬间，海水马上沸腾起来，一片新的海峡形成了。它最近的一次喷发是 1984 年，大喷发前，巨大的热浪在火山上空形成滚滚乌云，以至出现了下雪天气。基拉韦厄火山体积较小，是岛上的第二大火山。1960 年火山爆发，那次喷发给夏威夷岛增添了 200 余公顷新土地，从此它便成为活火山，向空中不断喷射出一股股间歇火泉。它们溢出的奔腾汹涌的橘红色火山熔岩，汹涌澎湃，景象十分壮观，是夏威夷火山公园最具特色的景观。在岩浆冷却凝结的时候，一簇簇稀奇古怪的熔岩石笋随之雕成。但使人感到惊奇的是，从这两座火山里喷出的熔岩，上冒的速度只有每小时 24 千米，喷出的气体也较缓和，不会突然从空中撒下一阵流石雨来，人们可以在火山周围安全地游览。 ★. Words Tips ◆. thrust：推挤. ◆. dramatic：激动人心的. ◆. lush：苍翠繁茂的. ◆. arid：干旱的，不毛的. ◆. caldera：火山喷口. ◆. lava：火山岩浆. ◆. violent：猛烈的. ◆. mute：沉默. ◆. delegation：委托. 阿拉斯加－朗格尔和冰川湾国家公园——迷人的冰川与高峰 Kluane/Wrangell-St. Elias/Glacier Bay/Tatshenshini-Alsek is an international park system located in Canada and the U.S., at the border of Yukon, Alaska and British Columbia. It was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979 for the spectacular glacier and icefield landscapes as well as for the importance of grizzly bears, caribou and Dall sheep habitat. The total area of the site is over 32,000,000 acres (130,000 km2). These parks comprise an impressive complex of glaciers and high peaks on both sides of the border between Canada (Yukon Territory and British Columbia) and the United States (Alaska). The spectacular natural landscapes are home to many grizzly bears, caribou and Dall's sheep. The site contains the largest non-polar icefield in the world..

(21) The Kluane/Wrangell-St. Elias/Glacier Bay/ Tatshenshini-Alsek national parks and protected areas along the boundary of Canada and the United States of contain examples of some of the world's longest and most spectacular glaciers. Characterized by high mountains, icefields and glaciers, the property transitions from northern interior to coastal biogeoclimatic zones, resulting in high biodiversity with plant and animal communities ranging from marine, coastal forest, montane, sub-alpine and alpine tundra, all in various successional stages. The Tatshenshini and Alsek river valleys are pivotal because they allow icefree linkages from coast to interior for plant and animal migration. The parks demonstrate some of the best examples of glaciation and modification of landscape by glacial action in a region still tectonically active, spectacularly beautiful, and where natural processes prevail. The joint properties encompass the breadth of active tectonic, volcanic, glacial and fluvial natural processes from the ocean to some of the highest peaks in North America. Coastal and marine environments, snow-capped mountains, calving glaciers, deep river canyons, fjord-like inlets and abundant wildlife abound. It is an area of exceptional natural beauty. These tectonically active joint properties feature continuous mountain building and contain outstanding examples of major ongoing geologic and glacial processes. Over 200 glaciers in the ice-covered central plateau combine to form some of the world's largest and longest glaciers, several of which stretch to the sea. The site displays a broad range of glacial processes, including worldclass depositional features and classic examples of moraines, hanging valleys and other geomorphological features. The influence of glaciation at a landscape level has led to a similarly broad range of stages in ecological succession related to the dynamic movements of glaciers. Subtly different glacial environments and landforms have been concentrated within the property by the sharp temperature and precipitation variation between the coast and interior basins. There is a rich variety of terrestrial and coastal/marine environments with complex and intricate mosaics of life at various successional stages from 500 m below sea level to 5000 m above. Wildlife species common to Alaska and Northwestern Canada are well represented, some in numbers exceeded nowhere else. The marine components support a great variety of fauna including marine mammals and anadromous fish, the spawning of which is a key ecological component linking the sea to the land through the large river systems. Populations of bears, wolves, caribou, Dall sheep and. 第. 1 章景致各有千秋的美国国家公园. America are the largest non-polar icefield in the world and. 21.

(22) 22. mountain goats that are endangered elsewhere are self regulating here. This is one of the few places remaining in the world where ecological processes are governed by natural stresses and the evolutionary changes in a glacial and ecological continuum. 这一系列公园的全称是：加拿大 & 美国－塔琴希尼－阿尔塞克国家公园和克卢恩国家公园、郎格尔－圣埃利亚斯国家公园和冰川湾国家公园，它们包括了位于加拿大和美国交界处的冰川和高峰，景致蔚为壮观，一起被列入世界遗产目录。它是世界上最大的非极地冰原区，延绵的高山、环抱着避风港的海滩、峡湾、潮汐冰川都是这一地区的特色景观。这座公园的真正宝藏不在路旁的名胜，而是在一个荒凉壮丽的高山世界。这个地区有 4 条主要山脉，而北美十大高峰便有 6 座在此，其中包括 5500 米高的圣伊利亚斯山（Mount St Elias），还有北美最大的近极冰原巴格间冰原（Bagley），这里孕育了一个巨大的冰河体系，当中的马拉斯皮纳（Malaspina）水库河甚至比罗德岛（Rhode lsand）大。 1986 年，公园被联合国教科文组织列为生物保护区。公园内可以看到巨大的潮汐冰川、系列生物群；从岩石嶙峋、白雪皑皑的高山地带到长满苍翠繁茂的温带雨林的沿海地带，植被逐次变化；这里是大灰熊、北美驯鹿和大角羊的栖息地，区内有各种各样的动物，如棕熊、黑熊、山地羊、鲸鱼（包括座头鲸）、海豹和鹰等。 ★. Words Tips ◆. spectacular：壮观的. ◆ icefield：冰原. ◆. polar：极地的. ◆. montane：山地森林. ◆. fjord：峡湾. ◆. plateau：高原. ◆. dynamic：动态的. ◆. anadromous：溯河产卵的. 卡尔斯巴德洞穴国家公园——矿物质和钟乳石宝库 Carlsbad Caverns National Park was first designated a National Monument on October 25, 1923. It was redesignated a National Park on May 14,1930. Carlsbad Caverns was also designated a World Heritage Site on December 6, 1995. This park was established to preserve Carlsbad Cavern and numerous other caves within a Permian-age fossil reef. The park.

(23) contains 83 separate caves, including the nation's deepest limestone cave－1,597 feet (486.8 m)－and third longest. Carlsbad Cavern, with one of the world's largest underground chambers variety of tours offered year round. The story of the creation of Carlsbad Cavern begins 250 million years ago with the creation of a 400 mile long reef in an inland sea that covered this region. This horseshoe shaped reef formed from the remains of sponges, algae and seashells and from calcite that precipitated directly from the water. Cracks developed in the reef as it grew seaward. Eventually the sea evaporated and the reef was buried under deposits of salts and gypsum. Then, a few million years ago, uplift and erosion of the area began to uncover the buried rock reef. Rainwater, made slightly acidic from the air and soil, seeped down into the cracks in the reef, slowly dissolving the limestone and beginning the process that would form large underground chambers. At the same time, hydrogen sulfide gas was migrating upward from vast oil and gas deposits beneath the ancient reef. This gas dissolved in the percolating ground water to form sulfuric acid. The added power of this corrosive substance explains the size of the passageways. The exposed reef became part of the Guadalupe Mountains and the underground chambers became the wonder of Carlsbad Cavern. The decoration of Carlsbad Cavern with stalactites, stalagmites and an incredible variety of other formations began more than 500,000 years ago after much of the cavern had been carved out. It happened slowly, drop by drop, at a time when a wetter, cooler climate prevailed. The creation of each formation depended on water that dripped or seeped down into the limestone bedrock and into the cave. As a raindrop fell to the ground and percolated downward, it absorbed carbon dioxide gas from the air and soil, and a weak acid was formed. As it continued to move downward the drop dissolved a little limestone, absorbing a bit of the basic ingredient needed to build most cave formations－the mineral calcite. Once the drop finally emerged in the cave, the carbon dioxide escaped into the cave air. No longer able to hold the dissolved calcite, the drop deposited its tiny mineral load as a crystal of calcite. Billions and billions of drops later, thousands of cave formations had taken shape. And, oh, the shapes they took! Where water dripped slowly from the ceiling, soda straws and larger stalactites appeared. Water falling on the floor created stalagmites. Sometimes a stalactite and stalagmite joined, forming a column. Draperies were hung where water ran down a slanted ceiling. Water flowing over the surface of a wall or floor deposited layers of calcite called flowstone. Cave pearls, lily pads and rimstone dams appeared where pools of water or streams occurred in the cave. Like oyster pearls, cave pearls. 第. 1 章景致各有千秋的美国国家公园. and countless formations, is also highly accessible, with a. 23.

(24) 24. were made as layer upon layer of calcite built up around a grain of sand or other tiny object. Lily pads formed on the surface of pools, while dams formed where water flowed slowly on the floor. Another type of cave formation that decorated cave walls and even other formations was popcorn, which may have formed when water evaporated and left behind calcite deposits. Some of the more unusual formations to occur in Carlsbad Cavern are helictites, which grow seemingly without regard to gravity, their twisting shapes governed by crystal shapes, impurities and the force of water under pressure. Other rare formations are those composed not of calcite, but of aragonite, a mineral chemically identical to calcite but with a different crystal structure. These formations tend to be small, delicate and needle-like. 卡尔斯巴德洞穴国家公园位于美国西部的新墨西哥州佩科斯河西岸吉娃娃森林内部，面积 189 平方千米。这是一个神奇的洞穴世界，以丰富多样而美丽的矿物质而著称。《世界文化遗产目录》中收录卡尔斯巴德洞穴是遵循了如下标准：它是一种重要的地质过程的实例，包含了特殊的自然美景。洞穴形成于 2.8 亿～2.25 亿年前的二叠纪。现已发现 83 个洞穴，最深的位于地表下 305 米；最大的一个比 14 个足球场还要大。整个溶洞群长达近百千米。2.8 亿～2.5 亿年前，雨水渗入瓜达卢佩山石灰岩山体的裂缝，溶解了松软的岩石，刻凿出隧洞和洞穴，水从洞穴中流出，留下的矿物质形成了各种造型。溶洞分为三层，山体内地上 330 米处一层，地上 250 米一层和地上 200 多米处一层。洞穴中的钟乳石千姿百态，令人目不暇接，引发人无数的遐想。钟乳石都有形象的名字，如“恶魔之泉”、“国王宫殿”、 “太阳神殿”等。另外，洞穴中还有岩帷幕和洞穴珍珠，前者轻轻击打能发出悦耳的声音，后者是小沙粒外层裹上了一层碳酸钙，形成了有光泽的石球，如珍珠般璀璨。最吸引人的是巨室洞穴，1200 米长，188 米宽，85 米高。四壁的钟乳幔将其装点得犹如一座豪华的宫殿。 ★. Words Tips ◆. designated：指定的. ◆. chamber：内庭. ◆. horseshoe：马蹄铁. ◆. reef：暗礁. ◆. hydrogen sulfide：硫化氢. ◆. stalagmites：石笋. ◆. dioxide：二氧化物. ◆. stalactites：钟乳石. ◆. calcite：方解石.

(25) 25. The Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park is the name of the union of the Waterton Lakes National Park in Canada and the Glacier National Park in the United States. Both parks are declared Biosphere Reserves by UNESCO and their union as a World Heritage Site. The union of the parks was achieved through the efforts of Rotary International members from Alberta and Montana in 1932. The dedication address was given by Sir Charles Arthur Mander, 2nd Baronet. It was the world's first International Peace Park, symbolizing peace and friendship between the two countries. Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park has a distinctive climate, physiographic setting, mountain-prairie interface and tri-ocean hydrographical divide. It is an area of significant scenic values with abundant and diverse flora and fauna. Both national parks were originally designated by their respective nations because of their superlative mountain scenery, their high topographic relief, glacial landforms and abundant diversity of wildlife and wildflowers. The property occupies a pivotal position in the Western Cordillera of North America resulting in the evolution of plant communities and ecological complexes that occur nowhere else in the world. Maritime weather systems unimpeded by mountain ranges to the north and south allow plants and animals characteristic of the Pacific Northwest to extend to and across the continental divide in the park. To the east, prairie communities nestle against the mountains with no intervening foothills, producing an interface of prairie, montane and alpine communities. The international peace park includes the headwaters of three major watersheds draining through significantly different biomes to different oceans. The biogeographical significance of this tri-ocean divide is increased by the many vegetated connections between the headwaters. The net effect is to create a unique assemblage and high diversity of flora and fauna concentrated in a small area. Trace this stunning route through the Montana, British Columbia, and Alberta Rocky Mountains－formed by Waterton Lakes and Glacier National Parks. At the narrow waist of the Rockies, where Alberta , British Columbia and Montana meet, sprawls one of the world's wildest, most diverse and intact ecosystems. In the early 1890s, conservationist and Glacier Park advocate George. 第. 1 章景致各有千秋的美国国家公园. 沃特顿冰川国际和平公园—— “山脉在这里遇见了草原”.

(26) 26. Bird Grinnell dubbed this region the "Crown of the Continent" － highlighting its geographical importance as the headwaters of the continent, spilling waters into the Pacific Ocean, Gulf of Mexico and Hudson Bay. 1932 年，沃特顿湖区国家公园（加拿大艾伯塔省）与冰河国家公园（美国蒙大拿州）进行合并，组成世界上第一个国际和平公园。这样做的主要目的是为了强调原始自然环境的国际化以及为保护这些原始自然环境进行的必要合作。公园地处落基山脉的最窄处，横跨美、加边境，同时还拥有草原、森林、山地和冰川等地貌。为证明自然资源是没有国界的信条，两国在这一地区没有划定边界线。风光迷人的沃特顿国家公园面积为 526 平方千米，冰河国家公园 4,051 平方千米，刘易斯山脉穿越其中，包括很多典型的冰川湖，高山风景绮丽，动植物资源丰富。公园内的山峰多在 10000 英尺以上，包括近 50 处冰川、许多湖泊和溪流。动植物物种多种多样，自然繁殖了很多大的哺乳动物和食肉动物，如狼、熊和狮子。沃特顿国家公园是美国本土 48 个州内唯一一处狼、熊和狮子能自然繁衍的地方。公园里野生花卉、动植物众多，有大角的山羊和秃鹫。公园已被列为生物保护区。因“它是一处地理过程的典型例证，包含了无比的自然现象，并富含大量信息与自然美景”，所以在 1995 年被列入世界遗产目录。 ★. Words Tips ◆. dedication：奉献. ◆. physiographic：地形学的. ◆. flora：植物群. ◆. superlative：最高的. ◆ prairie：大草原. ◆. alpine：高山的. ◆. waist：腰部. ◆. biome：生物群落. 约塞米特蒂国家公园——冰川削凿出的花岗岩浮雕 Yosemite National Park is a United States National Park spanning eastern portions of Tuolumne, Mariposa and Madera counties in east central California, United States. The park covers an area of 761,268 acres (3,080.74 km2) and reaches across the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountain chain. Over 3.7 million people visit Yosemite each year: most spend their time in the seven square miles (18 km 2) of Yosemite Valley. Designated a World Heritage Site in 1984, Yosemite is internationally recognized for its spectacular granite cliffs, waterfalls, clear streams, Giant Sequoia groves and biological diversity. Almost 95% of the park is designated wilderness. Although not the first designated national park, Yosemite was central to the development of the national park idea, largely owing to the work of people like Galen Clark and John Muir. Yosemite is one of the largest and least fragmented habitat blocks in the Sierra Nevada, and the.

(27) park supports a diversity of plants and animals. The park has an elevation range from 2,127 to 13,114 feet (648 to 3,997 m) and contains five major vegetation zones: chaparral/oak woodland, lower montane, upper montane, subalpine and alpine. Of California's 7,000 plant species, about 50% mentation for more than 160 rare plants in the park, with rare local geologic formations and unique soils characterizing the restricted ranges many of these plants occupy. The geology of the Yosemite area is characterized by granitic rocks and remnants of older rock. About 10 million years ago, the Sierra Nevada was uplifted and then tilted to form its relatively gentle western slopes and the more dramatic eastern slopes. The uplift increased the steepness of stream and river beds, resulting in the formation of deep, narrow canyons. About one million years ago, snow and ice accumulated, forming glaciers at the higher alpine meadows that moved down the river valleys. Ice thickness in Yosemite Valley may have reached 4,000 feet (1,200 m) during the early glacial episode. The downslope movement of the ice masses cut and sculpted the U-shaped valley that attracts so many visitors to its scenic vistas today. Hydrologic processes, including glaciation, flooding and fluvial geomorphic response, have been fundamental in creating landforms in the park. The park also contains approximately 3,200 lakes (greater than 100 m2), two reservoirs, and 1,700 miles (2,700 km) of streams, all of which help form these two large watersheds. Wetlands in Yosemite occur in valley bottoms throughout the park, and are often hydrologically linked to nearby lakes and rivers through seasonal flooding and groundwater movement. Meadow habitats, distributed at elevations from 3,000 to 11,000 feet (910 to 3,400 m) in the park, are generally wetlands, as are the riparian habitats found on the banks of Yosemite's numerous streams and rivers. Yosemite is famous for its high concentration of waterfalls in a small area. Numerous sheer drops, glacial steps and hanging valleys in the park provide many places for waterfalls to exist, especially during April, May and June (the snowmelt season). Located in Yosemite Valley, the 2,425-foot-high (739 m) Yosemite Falls is the highest in North America. Also in Yosemite Valley is the much lower volume Ribbon Falls, which has the highest single vertical drop, 1,612 feet (491 m). Perhaps the most prominent of the Yosemite Valley waterfalls is Bridalveil Fall, which is the waterfall seen from the Tunnel View viewpoint at the east end of the Wawona Tunnel. Wapama Falls in Hetch Hetchy Valley is another notable waterfall. Hundreds of ephemeral waterfalls also exist in the park. All glaciers in the park are relatively small glaciers that occupy areas that are in almost permanent shade, such as north-and northeast-facing cirques. Lyell Glacier is the largest glacier in Yosemite. 第. 1 章景致各有千秋的美国国家公园. occur in the Sierra Nevada and more than 20% within Yosemite. There is suitable habitat or docu-. 27.

(28) 28. (the Palisades Glaciers are the largest in the Sierra Nevada) and covers 160 acres (65 ha). None of the Yosemite glaciers are a remnant of the much, much larger Ice Age alpine glaciers responsible for sculpting the Yosemite landscape. Instead, they were formed during one of the neoglacial episodes that have occurred since the thawing of the Ice Age (such as the Little Ice Age). Climate change has reduced the number and size of glaciers around the world. Many Yosemite glaciers, including Merced Glacier, which was discovered by John Muir in 1871 and bolstered his glacial origins theory of the Yosemite area, have disappeared and most of the others have lost up to 75% of their surface area. 世界上几乎没有几个地方像约塞米蒂谷这样一个小地方内能有这么多壮观美景，它是一个 12 千米长的大自然杰作，这里景致各异，美不胜收，难怪伟大的博物学家约翰·缪尔感叹道：“上帝似乎总是在这里下功夫装扮美景。” 约塞米蒂谷安卧在加利福尼亚州的内华达山脉中部，是许多辉煌壮丽的自然美景之家。它是用冰筑成的，在冰川季晚期，巨大的冰床被削凿成光突突的山峰、陡峭的山崖和巨大的独石，平平的山谷由冰雪融水汇成的巨大湖泊经沉积作用而形成。公园给我们展示着世上罕见的由冰川作用而成的大量花岗岩形态，包括“悬空”山谷、瀑布群、冰斗湖、冰穹丘、冰碛以及 U 形山谷。现今，辍满鲜花的草地覆盖着山谷，周围是奇特的瀑布。地理的演化仍在进行中，湖泊仍在淤塞上升。高低错落的自然风景具有惊人之美，区内生长着大批动物和植物，包括高大的美洲杉。这里有默塞德河以及一些瀑布，包括位于 739 米高处的约塞米蒂瀑布，它是世界第三长瀑布。景观中有许多美丽的圆丘和山峰，有世界上最大、最宏伟的岩壁—埃尔卡皮坦岩壁。 ★. Words Tips ◆. slope：斜坡. ◆. granite：花岗岩. ◆. chaparral：浓密常绿阔叶灌丛. ◆. occupy：占据. ◆. meadow：草甸. ◆. hydrologically：水文学地. ◆ waterfall：瀑布. ◆. permanent：永恒的. ◆. neoglacial：新冰河时期. 大仙人掌国家公园——地狱烈火中的巨型仙人柱 Saguaro National Park, located in the state of Arizona, is part of the United States national park system. The saguaro has been described as the monarch of the Sonoran Desert, as a prickly horror, as the supreme symbol of the American Southwest and as a plant with personality. It is renowned for the variety of odd, all too human shapes it assumes, shapes that inspire wild and fanciful imaginings. Giant saguaro cacti, unique to the Sonoran Desert, sometimes reach a height of 50 feet in this cactus forest, which covers the valley floor, rising into the Rincon and West Tucson mountains..

每天读点英美文化 ：那些心驰神往的文化景观 - 万水书苑-出版资源网

每天读点英美文化：那些心驰神往的文化景观 - 万水书苑-出版资源网