196 ice cap
challange a well-accepted idea rise a new view
1: ice cap's mechanism: equilibrium
increasing temperature cause melting ice and evaporation of seawater to make the ice cap stable
equilibrium 静态平衡
precipitation 沉淀降水
2: challenge the view stated in the first paragraph
the ice cap once exinxted(3million years ago)
found some debris left behind
some glacial went to the mountains( indicates that the ice cap once collasped or broke)
remnants 残余
diatom 硅藻
3:the vew in paragrapg 2 is true
the ice sheet had collasped 3 million years ago
transform the continent into islands and the trees became the mountains
(that why unusual glacial can be found there)
when temperature fell and the continent froze into ice again
Main point: New finding that undermines the old view of Antarctic ice cap existence
Paragraph 1: Old view of Antarctic ice cap existence
- ice cap formed about 14 million years ago
- minor shrinking & swelling
- simple mechanism kept the ice near equilibrium
Paragraph 2: New finding, a challenge to the old view
- H & W contented that ice cap didn't exist 3 million years ago
- glacial refuse contained fossil remnants of diatoms (similar to the ones in ocean-floor sediments 3 million years ago) and of beech tree
Paragraph 3: Explanation of the new finding
- H & W concluded ice sheet collapsed 3 million years ago and transformed the continent into cluster of islands
- islands that beech trees lived on -> T mountains; diatoms lived in marine basins to the east of those islands
- temperatures fell & continent froze -> ice sheet expanded & shoved diatoms up into T mountains
P1:
传统观点认为南极冰盖在14million years ago形成,在那之后很少发生变化。
气温升高会导致冰的融化,但同时也会形成水蒸气和降雨,从而导致南极冰盖没有变化。
P2:
H反驳这一观点,认为3million年前冰盖就不存在了。
H在南极的T山里发现了应当属于南半球的海洋生物硅藻和beech tree的化石。这些硅藻和3 million years以前的海洋沉积物很像。
P4:
所以该团队得出结论:3 million years ago冰盖已经被毁,使得大陆被海洋分割成小岛。
Beech tree成为南极洲的山脉,硅藻则生长在东部小岛的海洋盆地。
随着气温下降,大陆再次被冻结,南极冰盖将硅藻挤压到山脉上。