天山-6-Q6

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Prior to 1965 geologists assumed that the two giant rock plates meeting at the San Andreas Fault generate heat through friction as they grind past each other, but in 1965 Henry found that  temperatures in drill holes near the  fault were not as elevated as had been expected. Some geologists  wondered whether the absence of   friction-generated heat could be explained by the kinds of rock composing the fault. Geologists’ pre-1965 assumptions concerning heat generated in the fault were based on calculations about common varieties of rocks, such as limestone and granite; but “weaker” materials, such as clays, had already been identified in samples retrieved from the fault zone. Under normal conditions, rocks composed of clay produce far less friction than do other rock types.

In 1992 Byerlee tested whether these materials would produce friction 10 to 15 kilometers below the Earth’s surface. Byerlee found that when clay samples were subjected to the thousands of atmospheres of pressure they would encounter deep inside the Earth, they produced as much friction as was produced by other rock types. The harder rocks push against each other, the hotter they become; in other words, pressure itself, not only the rocks’ properties, affects frictional heating. Geologists therefore wondered whether the friction between the plates was being reduced by pockets of pressurized water within the fault that  push the plates away from each other.


Q6:The passage mostly agree that Henry’s findings about temperature in the San Andreas Fault made the greatest contribution in that they

A    revealed an error in previous measurements of temperature in the San Andreas Fault zone

B    indicated the types of clay present in the rocks that form the San Andreas Fault

C    established the superiority of a particular technique for evaluating data concerning friction in the San Andreas Fault

D     suggested that geologists had inaccurately assumed that giant rock plates that meet at the San Andreas Fault generate heat through friction

E     confirmed geologists’ assumptions about the amount of friction generated by common varieties of rocks, such as limestone and granite

答案是D
求教~~~为何不选A呢？

典座

双鱼游 发表于 2010-9-23 21:33
Prior to 1965 geologists assumed that the two giant rock plates meeting at the San Andreas Fault gen ...

谢谢

双鱼游

Prior to 1965 geologists assumed that the two giant rock plates meeting at the San Andreas Fault generate heat through friction as they grind past each other,注意原文说是assumed that，也就是说，在1965年前，地质学家假设当两块大型巨石在 SAF汇合的时候会由于摩擦产生热，并没有提到任何的messurement，因此henry只不过是推翻了地质学家的假设，也就是D说的Henry’s findingsconfirmed geologists’ assumptions about the amount of friction generated by common varieties of rocks, such as limestone and granite

rx_11

顶~~~~~今天又错了一次。。。求回答~~~~~~~~~~~~~~···