了解宇宙是如何运行的（2010）

How the Universe Works S06E08

Part 5 Dec. 22, 2021, 7:23 p.m.

水星变成了太阳系中
Mercury was transformed
into the smallest planet
最小的行星
in the solar system,
它丢失的地幔被一个意想不到的小偷偷走了
and its lost mantle was stolen
by an unexpected thief.
地幔附着在周围最大的物体上
That mantle accretes onto
the biggest object around,
但最大的物体不是水星
but the biggest object
around isn't Mercury.
当水星的地幔在这次碰撞中被撞掉的时候
When Mercury's mantle got
knocked off in this collision,
它必须去别的地方
it had to go somewhere.
所以，如果你正在寻找水星缺失的地幔
So if you're looking for
Mercury's missing mantle,
就在你的脚下寻找吧
look no further than right
under your feet.
时至今日，水星的一部分可能就是地球的一部分
To this day, part of
Mercury could be part of Earth,
在一场肇事逃逸的碰撞中被偷走了
stolen in a hit-and-run
collision.
水星能够在太阳系形成时存活下来
Mercury was able to survive the
formation of the solar system,
但它付出了代价
but it paid a cost.
所以它破旧不堪
It was battered.
从第一天开始，水星就经历了艰难的旅程
Since day one,
Mercury has had a tough ride.
它一直受到太阳和行星的冲击
It's been pounded by the Sun
and planets,
自那以后，情况一直没有改善
and things have not
improved since.
你可以从水星的表面看到
You can see by the surface
of Mercury
它有很多战斗的伤痕
that it has a lot
of battle scars.
太阳系没有善待它
The solar system did not
treat it well.
这颗行星曾被轰击过
The planet has been
bombarded and fried,
但这些事件可能有助于解释
but these events
could help explain
水星最大的谜团之一
one of Mercury's
biggest mysteries.
因为当与太阳系中其他美丽的彩色行星♥相♥比时
Because when compared to the other beautiful colored planets in our solar system
水星显得很独特
Mercury is different
它深灰色的表面让科学家们感到困惑
Its dark gray surface
baffles scientists.
最有趣的事情之一是
One of the most
intriguing things
水星表面的黑暗程度
is how dark the surface
of Mercury is.
太阳系的一大谜题是，为什么？
A big mystery in
the solar system is why?
为什么水星会这样？
Why is Mercury like that?
这些岩石状的内行星都是由类似的物质
The rocky inner planets
all formed in the same region
在太阳系的同一区域形成的
of the solar system
from similar materials,
但水星比它们都要暗
and yet Mercury is darker
than all of them.
地球上一些最黑暗的表面是熔岩场
Some of the darkest surfaces
here on Earth are lava fields.
行星科学家尼娜·兰扎(Nina Lanza)来到了冰岛的一个地方
Planetary scientist Nina Lanza
visits one in Iceland
希望找到一些共同点
to find some common ground.
行星的表面记录了
The surface of a planet
records the history
所有作用于它的历史过程
of all the processes
that have acted upon it.
所以当我们观察水星表面时
So when we look at
the surface of Mercury,
我们可以拼凑出这个故事
we can piece
together that story.
现在，我们正站在玄武岩熔岩流上
Right now, we're standing
on a basalt lava flow.
玄武岩是一种火山岩
Basalt is a type
of volcanic rock
它是所有行星的组成部分
that's the building
block of all planets,
所以通过观察这里的玄武岩
so we know just by seeing
this basalt here,
我们知道这里有火山活动
there was volcanic activity.
在地球上，大多数玄武岩都被海洋覆盖
On Earth, most basaltic rock
is covered by oceans.
在水星上，玄武岩暴露在外
On Mercury,
the basalt is exposed.
古老的液态熔岩流可以看到
Old liquid lava flows
are visible
固体岩石形成的光滑通道
as smooth channels
of solid rock.
在水星形成后的十亿年里
For a billion years
after Mercury's formation,
熔岩从火山口喷发
lava explodes
from volcanic vents
并从裂缝中泄漏出来
and leaks out from fissures.
火山活动能解释我们今天看到的黑暗世界吗？
Could the volcanism explain
the dark world we see today?
玄武岩已经是相当暗的岩石了
Basalt is a pretty
dark rock already,
但水星最有趣的地方是
but what's so interesting
about Mercury
它实际上比玄武岩还要暗
is that it's actually
darker than basalt.
因此，从最近的信使号♥到水星的任务
So from the recent
messenger mission to Mercury,
我们有了一些想法，关于可能是什么让表面如此黑暗
we had some ideas about what may
be making the surface so dark,
这真的很奇怪
and it's really strange.
它实际上是以石墨的形式存在的碳
It's actually carbon
in the form of graphite,
是一种矿物石墨，你可以在铅笔中找到这种石墨
the mineral graphite, which
is what you find in a pencil.
所以这些物质遍布水星表面
So that material is all over
the surface of Mercury,
并融入岩石中
and it's incorporated
into the rocks.
碳不是来自玄武岩
Carbon doesn't come
from basaltic rock,
但有其他东西
but there is something else
可能把碳带到水星……
that could have brought
carbon to Mercury...
彗星
Comets.
这些肮脏的冰球含有碳
These dirty ice balls
contain carbon,
它们已经轰击星球数十亿年了
and they've bombarded the planet
for billions of years.
这些攻击的证据已经深深印在了水星表面
The evidence of these attacks
is etched into the surface.
看着这样的水星不被攻击是很难的
It's hard to look at Mercury
and not wince on occasion.
它完全被环形山覆盖了
It is really covered
with craters.
它受到了不断地打击
It has been battered
and bruised.
在它的一生中
It really has just
been terribly,
它真的受到了非常非常糟糕的对待
terribly mistreated
over its lifetime.
水星经常受到重创
Mercury has been hit
often and hard.
水星绕太阳运行的速度
Mercury is moving more rapidly
要比地球快
around the Sun
than the Earth is,
所以正面撞击
so a head-on impact
is going to be faster
要比彗星对地球的正面撞击要快
than a head-on impact
of a comet in the Earth.
所以说，彗星撞击水星的能量
So pound for pound,
a comet impact on Mercury
要比撞击地球大得多
is much more energetic,
造成的破坏也要大得多
will do much more damage
than an impact on Earth.
如果你去过美国亚利桑那州的陨石坑
If you've ever been to, like,
meteor crater in Arizona
它大约有一英里宽
in the United States,
it's around a mile across.
这是一个巨大的坑
It's this huge crater.
如果你把那个陨石坑贴在水星上，它就会消失
If you were to stick that crater
on Mercury, it would disappear.
水星上有很多陨石坑
Mercury has so many craters
that are so much bigger
直径超过一英里
than a mile across.
水星最大的撞击地点是卡乐里斯盆地
Mercury's biggest
impact site is Caloris basin.
比这个陨石坑大1000多倍
Over 1,000 times larger
than meteor crater,
它太大了，以至于现在里面还有其他更新的陨石坑……
it's so big there are now other,
newer craters inside it...
卡乐里斯盆地覆盖着一层碳