第59篇		Paper 59
玉苒厦(Urantia)上的海洋生命时代		The Marine-Life Era on Urantia
59:0.1 (672.1) 我们把玉苒厦(Urantia)的历史算作大约从十亿年前开始，延续了五个主要时代：		59:0.1 (672.1) WE RECKON the history of Urantia as beginning about one billion years ago and extending through five major eras:
59:0.2 (672.2) 1. 前生命时代延续了最初的四亿五千万年，从地球达到其现今大小直到生命创建时代。你们的学者将这段时期定名为太古代。		59:0.2 (672.2) 1. The prelife era extends over the initial four hundred and fifty million years, from about the time the planet attained its present size to the time of life establishment. Your students have designated this period as the Archeozoic.
59:0.3 (672.3) 2. 生命发端时代延续了接下来的一亿五千万年。这个时期介于上述的前生命剧变时代与其后较为发达的海洋生命时代之间。你们的研究者称这一时代为原生代。		59:0.3 (672.3) 2. The life-dawn era extends over the next one hundred and fifty million years. This epoch intervenes between the preceding prelife or cataclysmic age and the following period of more highly developed marine life. This era is known to your researchers as the Proterozoic.
59:0.4 (672.4) 3. 海洋生命时代涵盖了接下来的两亿五千万年，你们称之为古生代。		59:0.4 (672.4) 3. The marine-life era covers the next two hundred and fifty million years and is best known to you as the Paleozoic.
59:0.5 (672.5) 4. 早期陆地生命时代延续了接下来的一亿年，并被称为中生代。		59:0.5 (672.5) 4. The early land-life era extends over the next one hundred million years and is known as the Mesozoic.
59:0.6 (672.6) 5. 哺乳动物时代占据了最近过去的五千万年。这一近期的时代被称为新生代。		59:0.6 (672.6) 5. The mammalian era occupies the last fifty million years. This recent-times era is known as the Cenozoic.
59:0.7 (672.7) 由此看来，海洋生命时代涵盖了你们星球历史的大约四分之一。它可被细分为六个漫长时期，每个时期都是以地质领域和生物领域中的某些明确发展为特征的。		59:0.7 (672.7) The marine-life era thus covers about one quarter of your planetary history. It may be subdivided into six long periods, each characterized by certain well-defined developments in both the geologic realms and the biologic domains.
59:0.8 (672.8) 随着该时代的开始，海洋底部、广阔的大陆架以及众多靠近海岸的浅水海湾，都被丰富的植被所覆盖了。较为简单和原始的动物生命形态，也已从先前的植物有机体中发展出来，早期的动物有机体逐渐沿着各陆地板块的广阔海岸线行进着，直到许多内陆海也都布满了原始的海洋生命。由于这些早期生物体中很少有壳，因此没有很多作为化石得以保存下来。尽管如此，为那一保有生命记录的伟大“石书”之开章所做的准备都已妥当，在后续的各个时代中，这些生命记录留存被井然有序地沉积下来。		59:0.8 (672.8) As this era begins, the sea bottoms, the extensive continental shelves, and the numerous shallow near-shore basins are covered with prolific vegetation. The more simple and primitive forms of animal life have already developed from preceding vegetable organisms, and the early animal organisms have gradually made their way along the extensive coast lines of the various land masses until the many inland seas are teeming with primitive marine life. Since so few of these early organisms had shells, not many have been preserved as fossils. Nevertheless the stage is set for the opening chapters of that great “stone book” of the life-record preservation which was so methodically laid down during the succeeding ages.
59:0.9 (672.9) 北美大陆极为富含整个海洋生命时代的带化石类沉积物。起初最为古老的一些岩层，被广泛的侵蚀类沉积物从先前时期的稍后地层中分离开来了，这些沉积物清晰地隔开了这两个星球发展阶段。		59:0.9 (672.9) The continent of North America is wonderfully rich in the fossil-bearing deposits of the entire marine-life era. The very first and oldest layers are separated from the later strata of the preceding period by extensive erosion deposits which clearly segregate these two stages of planetary development.
1. 浅海中的早期海洋生命 三叶虫时代 ^top		1. Early Marine Life in the Shallow Seas The Trilobite Age ^top
59:1.1 (673.1) 到这一地表相对平静时期的开端为止，生物被局限在各种各样的内陆海及海岸线上；还没有任何形式的陆地生物体演化出来。原始的海洋动物已颇具规模，并为下一个演化发展做好了准备。变形虫是这一最初动物生命阶段的典型幸存者，它们在先前过渡时期走向结束时出现了。		59:1.1 (673.1) By the dawn of this period of relative quiet on the earth’s surface, life is confined to the various inland seas and the oceanic shore line; as yet no form of land organism has evolved. Primitive marine animals are well established and are prepared for the next evolutionary development. Amebas are typical survivors of this initial stage of animal life, having made their appearance toward the close of the preceding transition period.
59:1.2 (673.2) 400,000,000（四亿）年前的海洋生命，不管是动物还是植物，都得以较好地分布于世界各处。世界气候开始约略变暖，并变得更为稳定。在各大陆的沿岸，特别是南北美洲，发生了一场大洪水。新的海洋出现了，原有的水域大为扩大了。		59:1.2 (673.2) 400,000,000 years ago marine life, both vegetable and animal, is fairly well distributed over the whole world. The world climate grows slightly warmer and becomes more equable. There is a general inundation of the seashores of the various continents, particularly of North and South America. New oceans appear, and the older bodies of water are greatly enlarged.
59:1.3 (673.3) 植物此时首次移上了陆地，并很快做出了相当大的改进，以适应一个非海洋的栖息地。		59:1.3 (673.3) Vegetation now for the first time crawls out upon the land and soon makes considerable progress in adaptation to a nonmarine habitat.
59:1.4 (673.4) 第一类多细胞动物以突然而又未曾有过分阶段祖先的方式出现了。三叶虫演化出来了，它们占据了海洋很长时间。从海洋生命的立场来说，这是三叶虫的时代。		59:1.4 (673.4) Suddenly and without gradation ancestry the first multicellular animals make their appearance. The trilobites have evolved, and for ages they dominate the seas. From the standpoint of marine life this is the trilobite age.
59:1.5 (673.5) 在这个时期的后期，北美洲和欧洲的许多地方从海洋中升起。地壳暂时得以稳定下来；诸多山脉，毋宁说高海拔的陆地，在大西洋和太平洋沿岸、西印度群岛以及欧洲南部升起。整个加勒比地区被抬升了许多。		59:1.5 (673.5) In the later portion of this time segment much of North America and Europe emerged from the sea. The crust of the earth was temporarily stabilized; mountains, or rather high elevations of land, rose along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, over the West Indies, and in southern Europe. The entire Caribbean region was highly elevated.
59:1.6 (673.6) 390,000,000（三亿九千万）年前，陆地仍在抬升。在美洲东西部地区以及欧洲西部的许多地区，可以发现许多在这些时期沉积下来的岩层，这些是包含三叶虫化石的最古老岩石。有许多长手指状的海湾插入到陆地板块中，那儿沉积着很多含化石的岩层。		59:1.6 (673.6) 390,000,000 years ago the land was still elevated. Over parts of eastern and western America and western Europe may be found the stone strata laid down during these times, and these are the oldest rocks which contain trilobite fossils. There were many long fingerlike gulfs projecting into the land masses in which were deposited these fossil-bearing rocks.
59:1.7 (673.7) 在几百万年间，太平洋开始侵入美洲大陆。陆地的淹没主要是由于地壳的调整，尽管外侧陆地的扩展、或是说大陆的漂移也是一个因素。		59:1.7 (673.7) Within a few million years the Pacific Ocean began to invade the American continents. The sinking of the land was principally due to crustal adjustment, although the lateral land spread, or continental creep, was also a factor.
59:1.8 (673.8) 380,000,000（三亿八千万）年前，亚洲正在下沉，而所有其它大陆则正在经历一个短暂的浮升。但随着这一时期的进展，新出现的大西洋广泛侵袭了所有邻近的海岸线。北大西洋或是说北冰洋当时与南边的海湾水域相连。当南边的海水涌入阿巴拉契亚山脉的凹处时，海浪在东边拍打着像阿尔卑斯山那样高的山脉，但总体来说，当时的大陆都是些乏味的低地，毫无优美风景可言。		59:1.8 (673.8) 380,000,000 years ago Asia was subsiding, and all other continents were experiencing a short-lived emergence. But as this epoch progressed, the newly appearing Atlantic Ocean made extensive inroads on all adjacent coast lines. The northern Atlantic or Arctic seas were then connected with the southern Gulf waters. When this southern sea entered the Appalachian trough, its waves broke upon the east against mountains as high as the Alps, but in general the continents were uninteresting lowlands, utterly devoid of scenic beauty.
59:1.9 (673.9) 这些时代的沉积物有四种：		59:1.9 (673.9) The sedimentary deposits of these ages are of four sorts:
59:1.10 (673.10) 1. 砾岩 -- 沉积在海岸线附近的物质。		59:1.10 (673.10) 1. Conglomerates—matter deposited near the shore lines.
59:1.11 (673.11) 2. 沙岩 -- 形成于浅水中的沉积物，但那里的波浪足以防止淤泥沉淀。		59:1.11 (673.11) 2. Sandstones—deposits made in shallow water but where the waves were sufficient to prevent mud settling.
59:1.12 (673.12) 3. 页岩 -- 形成于较深且较为平静水中的沉积物。		59:1.12 (673.12) 3. Shales—deposits made in the deeper and more quiet water.
59:1.13 (673.13) 4. 石灰石 -- 包含深水中三叶虫壳的沉积物。		59:1.13 (673.13) 4. Limestone—including the deposits of trilobite shells in deep water.
59:1.14 (673.14) 这些时期的三叶虫化石展示了某些基本的一致性，外加某些明显的变异。从三大原初生命移植地发展而来的早期动物各有特色；那些出现在西半球的动物就与那些欧亚类动物以及澳大拉西亚或者说澳大利亚-南极类型动物略有不同。		59:1.14 (673.14) The trilobite fossils of these times present certain basic uniformities coupled with certain well-marked variations. The early animals developing from the three original life implantations were characteristic; those appearing in the Western Hemisphere were slightly different from those of the Eurasian group and from the Australasian or Australian-Antarctic type.
59:1.15 (674.1) 370,000,000（三亿七千万）年前发生了南北美洲近乎全部的大沉没，接着是非洲和澳大利亚的下沉。北美洲只有某些部分还残留在这些寒武纪的浅海上。五百万年后，海水在抬升的陆地面前退去。所有这些陆地升降现象都是平淡无奇的，在几百万年的过程中缓慢发生着。		59:1.15 (674.1) 370,000,000 years ago the great and almost total submergence of North and South America occurred, followed by the sinking of Africa and Australia. Only certain parts of North America remained above these shallow Cambrian seas. Five million years later the seas were retreating before the rising land. And all of these phenomena of land sinking and land rising were undramatic, taking place slowly over millions of years.
59:1.16 (674.2) 这一时代含有三叶虫化石的岩层，在所有大陆的各处都有出现，只除开中亚以外。在许多地区，这些岩石是水平走向的，但在许多山脉中，因为压力和折皱，它们变得倾斜和扭曲了。而且在许多地方，这种压力还改变了这些沉积物的原初特征。沙岩变成了石英，页岩变成了板岩，而石灰石则变成了大理石。		59:1.16 (674.2) The trilobite fossil-bearing strata of this epoch outcrop here and there throughout all the continents except in central Asia. In many regions these rocks are horizontal, but in the mountains they are tilted and distorted because of pressure and folding. And such pressure has, in many places, changed the original character of these deposits. Sandstone has been turned into quartz, shale has been changed to slate, while limestone has been converted into marble.
59:1.17 (674.3) 360,000,000（三亿六千万）年前，陆地仍在上升。南北美洲露出海面了。西欧和不列颠群岛逐渐浮现，除了威尔士的一些部分还深藏在水下。在这些时代期间，还没有任何巨大的冰川。在欧洲、非洲、中国和澳大利亚出现的与这些地层有关的被认作是冰川的沉积物，是由于孤立的山脉冰川或是由于后来形成的冰川碎块的移动而产生的。世界的气候是海洋性的，而非大陆性的。南部诸海要比现在暖和，它们往北延伸，越过北美洲直到北极地区。墨西哥湾流流经北美中部，向东偏转，滋润和温暖着格陵兰海岸，使那个如今冰雪覆盖的大陆在当时成为了一个名副其实的热带天堂。		59:1.17 (674.3) 360,000,000 years ago the land was still rising. North and South America were well up. Western Europe and the British Isles were emerging, except parts of Wales, which were deeply submerged. There were no great ice sheets during these ages. The supposed glacial deposits appearing in connection with these strata in Europe, Africa, China, and Australia are due to isolated mountain glaciers or to the displacement of glacial debris of later origin. The world climate was oceanic, not continental. The southern seas were warmer then than now, and they extended northward over North America up to the polar regions. The Gulf Stream coursed over the central portion of North America, being deflected eastward to bathe and warm the shores of Greenland, making that now ice-mantled continent a veritable tropic paradise.
59:1.18 (674.4) 那时世界各地的海洋生命都非常相似，都包括海草、单细胞有机体、简单的海绵、三叶虫和其它一些甲壳类动物 -- 即小虾、螃蟹和龙虾。在这一时期结束时，出现了三千种腕足类动物，但只有两百种幸存了下来。这些动物代表了一些留存至今而几乎未变的早期生命。		59:1.18 (674.4) The marine life was much alike the world over and consisted of the seaweeds, one-celled organisms, simple sponges, trilobites, and other crustaceans—shrimps, crabs, and lobsters. Three thousand varieties of brachiopods appeared at the close of this period, only two hundred of which have survived. These animals represent a variety of early life which has come down to the present time practically unchanged.
59:1.19 (674.5) 但三叶虫是最占优势的生物。它们是有性别的动物，并以多种形态存在；它们是些蹩脚的泳者，在水中仅会缓慢地漂移，或是沿海底爬行，当受到其后来出现的敌人袭击时，它们就会蜷曲起来保护自己。它们的长度从五厘米到三十厘米不等，并演化成四个不同的类型：肉食型，草食型，杂食型和“食淤泥型。”最后这类 -- 即最后一种能够这样的多细胞动物在极大程度上依赖无机物而存活的能力，说明了其大量增加以及长期存活的原因		59:1.19 (674.5) But the trilobites were the dominant living creatures. They were sexed animals and existed in many forms; being poor swimmers, they sluggishly floated in the water or crawled along the sea bottoms, curling up in self-protection when attacked by their later appearing enemies. They grew in length from two inches to one foot and developed into four distinct groups: carnivorous, herbivorous, omnivorous, and “mud eaters.” The ability of the latter group largely to subsist on inorganic matter—being the last multicelled animal that could—explains their great increase and long survival.
59:1.20 (674.6) 这就是玉苒厦(Urantia)世界历史那段漫长的时期结束时所呈现出的生物地理画面，这段时期包含了五千万年，被你们的地质学家们称为寒武纪。		59:1.20 (674.6) This was the biogeologic picture of Urantia at the end of that long period of the world’s history, embracing fifty million years, designated by your geologists as the Cambrian.
2. 第一次大陆洪水阶段 无脊椎动物时代 ^top		2. The First Continental Flood Stage The Invertebrate-Animal Age ^top
59:2.1 (674.7) 这些时代所特有的陆地升降性周期现象，都是平缓而不起眼的，并伴随有少量的火山活动。在这些相继的陆地升降期间，亚洲母大陆并未完全分享其他陆地板块的这段历史。它经历了许多次洪水，起先是朝一个方向浸没，然后是朝另一个方向浸没，尤其是在它的较早期历史当中，但它并未展现出可在其他大陆上发现的统一性岩石沉积物。在近期的时代中，亚洲是所有陆地板块中最为稳固的。		59:2.1 (674.7) The periodic phenomena of land elevation and land sinking characteristic of these times were all gradual and nonspectacular, being accompanied by little or no volcanic action. Throughout all of these successive land elevations and depressions the Asiatic mother continent did not fully share the history of the other land bodies. It experienced many inundations, dipping first in one direction and then another, more particularly in its earlier history, but it does not present the uniform rock deposits which may be discovered on the other continents. In recent ages Asia has been the most stable of all the land masses.
59:2.2 (675.1) 350,000,000（三亿五千万）年前见证到了除中亚以外所有大陆大洪水时期的开始。各个大陆板块反复被海水所覆盖；只有沿岸的高地停留在这些浅阔而动荡不定的内陆海之上。这段时期以三次大洪水为特征，但在该时期结束之前，各大陆就又开始抬升了，总的陆地面积比如今存在的要大出百分之十五。加勒比海地区被极大地抬升了。这段时期在欧洲并未被很好地区分出来，因为这一陆地波动较小，而火山运动则较为持久。		59:2.2 (675.1) 350,000,000 years ago saw the beginning of the great flood period of all the continents except central Asia. The land masses were repeatedly covered with water; only the coastal highlands remained above these shallow but widespread oscillatory inland seas. Three major inundations characterized this period, but before it ended, the continents again arose, the total land emergence being fifteen per cent greater than now exists. The Caribbean region was highly elevated. This period is not well marked off in Europe because the land fluctuations were less, while the volcanic action was more persistent.
59:2.3 (675.2) 340,000,000（三亿四千万）年前，发生了另一次广泛的陆地下沉，除了亚洲和澳大利亚以外。世界上各大洋的海水都得以普遍地混合到了一起。这是一个伟大的石灰石时代，大多岩石都是由分泌石灰的海藻沉积下来的。		59:2.3 (675.2) 340,000,000 years ago there occurred another extensive land sinking except in Asia and Australia. The waters of the world’s oceans were generally commingled. This was a great limestone age, much of its stone being laid down by lime-secreting algae.
59:2.4 (675.3) 几百万年之后，美洲大陆大部分和欧洲开始露出海面。在西半球，只有太平洋的一个狭长海湾还留在墨西哥和现今落基山地区，但到这一时代接近结束时，大西洋和太平洋海岸再次开始下沉了。		59:2.4 (675.3) A few million years later large portions of the American continents and Europe began to emerge from the water. In the Western Hemisphere only an arm of the Pacific Ocean remained over Mexico and the present Rocky Mountain regions, but near the close of this epoch the Atlantic and Pacific coasts again began to sink.
59:2.5 (675.4) 330,000,000（三亿三千万）年前标志着一个全世界相对平稳时期的开始，很多陆地再次浮出海面。这一陆地平稳时期的唯一例外，便是肯塔基州东部大北美火山的爆发，这是世界上已知的最大单火山活动之一。这一火山的灰烬覆盖了一千三百平方公里，厚达五至六米。		59:2.5 (675.4) 330,000,000 years ago marks the beginning of a time sector of comparative quiet all over the world, with much land again above water. The only exception to this reign of terrestrial quiet was the eruption of the great North American volcano of eastern Kentucky, one of the greatest single volcanic activities the world has ever known. The ashes of this volcano covered five hundred square miles to a depth of from fifteen to twenty feet.
59:2.6 (675.5) 320,000,000（三亿二千万）年前，这一时期的第三次大洪水发生了。这次洪水的水域覆盖了所有曾被先前洪水淹没的陆地，并朝整个美洲和欧洲的许多方向进一步扩展着。北美东部和欧洲西部地区，都处在水下10,000至15,000英尺（即3,000至4,500米左右）。		59:2.6 (675.5) 320,000,000 years ago the third major flood of this period occurred. The waters of this inundation covered all the land submerged by the preceding deluge, while extending farther in many directions all over the Americas and Europe. Eastern North America and western Europe were from 10,000 to 15,000 feet under water.
59:2.7 (675.6) 310,000,000（三亿一千万）年前，除了北美洲的南部之外，整个世界的大陆板块又一次升起。墨西哥浮现出来了，由此形成了海湾，它从那时起一直保持着其同一性。		59:2.7 (675.6) 310,000,000 years ago the land masses of the world were again well up excepting the southern parts of North America. Mexico emerged, thus creating the Gulf Sea, which has ever since maintained its identity.
59:2.8 (675.7) 这一时期的生命继续演化着。世界再度变得平稳且相对安宁；气候保持着温和与稳定；陆地植物逐渐离海岸愈来愈远。生命模式得以充分发展，虽然很少有发现这些时间的植物化石了。		59:2.8 (675.7) The life of this period continues to evolve. The world is once again quiet and relatively peaceful; the climate remains mild and equable; the land plants are migrating farther and farther from the seashores. The life patterns are well developed, although few plant fossils of these times are to be found.
59:2.9 (675.8) 这是一个各种动物有机体进化的伟大时代，虽然有许多基本的变化、比如从植物到动物的转变之前就已发生了。在这个时期，海洋动物群发展到了这样一点，以致脊椎动物级别以下的每类生命，都在这个时代沉积下来的那些岩石所包含的化石中有所展现。但所有这些动物都是海洋生物。除了少数沿海岸穴居的蠕虫类型外，陆地动物还没有出现，陆地植物也还没有遍及各大陆；在大气中仍然有太多的二氧化碳，以致难以允许空气呼吸者的存在。基本上，除了某些较为原始的动物以外，所有动物都直接或是间接地依赖植物生命而存在。		59:2.9 (675.8) This was the great age of individual animal organismal evolution, though many of the basic changes, such as the transition from plant to animal, had previously occurred. The marine fauna developed to the point where every type of life below the vertebrate scale was represented in the fossils of those rocks which were laid down during these times. But all of these animals were marine organisms. No land animals had yet appeared except a few types of worms which burrowed along the seashores, nor had the land plants yet overspread the continents; there was still too much carbon dioxide in the air to permit of the existence of air breathers. Primarily, all animals except certain of the more primitive ones are directly or indirectly dependent on plant life for their existence.
59:2.10 (676.1) 三叶虫仍占优势。这些小小的动物以成千上万种形式存在着，并且是现代甲壳类动物的前身。有些三叶虫拥有二十五只到四千只微小的单眼；其他一些有着发育不全的眼睛。随着这一时期的结束，三叶虫和几种其它形态的无脊椎生命分享了了各个海洋的宗主权。但在下一个时期开始时，它们又全都消亡了。		59:2.10 (676.1) The trilobites were still prominent. These little animals existed in tens of thousands of patterns and were the predecessors of modern crustaceans. Some of the trilobites had from twenty-five to four thousand tiny eyelets; others had aborted eyes. As this period closed, the trilobites shared domination of the seas with several other forms of invertebrate life. But they utterly perished during the beginning of the next period.
59:2.11 (676.2) 分泌石灰质的海藻类分布极广。还有成千上万种珊瑚虫的早期祖先。各类海虫不计其数，也有许多自那以后便绝迹了的水母类。珊瑚虫和各种后来类型的海绵也演进了。头足类动物得到了充分的发展，它们幸存下来而成为了现今的鹦鹉螺、章鱼、墨鱼和鱿鱼。		59:2.11 (676.2) Lime-secreting algae were widespread. There existed thousands of species of the early ancestors of the corals. Sea worms were abundant, and there were many varieties of jellyfish which have since become extinct. Corals and the later types of sponges evolved. The cephalopods were well developed, and they have survived as the modern pearly nautilus, octopus, cuttlefish, and squid.
59:2.12 (676.3) 有许多种壳类动物，但那时它们的壳并不需要像后续时代那样的防御目的。在古代海洋水域中存有腹足类动物，它们包括单壳的尾角螺、玉黍螺和海蜗牛。双壳的腹足类动物，经历了中间几百万年的发展而一如既往，它们包括蚌类、蛤类、牡蛎和扇贝。瓣壳类生物也演进了，这些腕足类动物在古老海洋中的生存状态，与现在的生存状态相差无几；它们甚至在其瓣壳上拥有了铰链状的、锯齿状的以及其它种类的保护性排列。		59:2.12 (676.3) There were many varieties of shell animals, but their shells were not then so much needed for defensive purposes as in subsequent ages. The gastropods were present in the waters of the ancient seas, and they included single-shelled drills, periwinkles, and snails. The bivalve gastropods have come on down through the intervening millions of years much as they then existed and embrace the mussels, clams, oysters, and scallops. The valve-shelled organisms also evolved, and these brachiopods lived in those ancient waters much as they exist today; they even had hinged, notched, and other sorts of protective arrangements of their valves.
59:2.13 (676.4) 海洋生命第二大时期的演化故事就这样结束了，你们的地质学家称之为奥陶纪。		59:2.13 (676.4) So ends the evolutionary story of the second great period of marine life, which is known to your geologists as the Ordovician.
3. 第二次大洪水阶段 珊瑚虫时期 腕足类动物时代 ^top		3. The Second Great Flood Stage The Coral Period—The Brachiopod Age ^top
59:3.1 (676.5) 300,000,000（三亿）年前，另一大时期的陆地沉没开始了。古老的志留纪海洋向南向北扩侵，势在吞噬欧洲和北美洲的大部分地区。陆地没有比海洋高出多少，所以海岸线周围没有出现太多沉积物。海洋中充满了石灰壳类生物，这些贝壳坠入到海底后，就逐渐累积成厚厚的石灰石层。这是第一次大范围的石灰石沉积，它虽然实际上覆盖了整个欧洲和北美洲，但却只出现在地表的若干地方。这一古老岩层的平均厚度约为三百米，但自那以后，许多这样的沉积物都由于地层偏斜、地壳隆起和断层现象而极大地变形了，有许多则转变成了石英、页岩和大理石。		59:3.1 (676.5) 300,000,000 years ago another great period of land submergence began. The southward and northward encroachment of the ancient Silurian seas made ready to engulf most of Europe and North America. The land was not elevated far above the sea so that not much deposition occurred about the shore lines. The seas teemed with lime-shelled life, and the falling of these shells to the sea bottom gradually built up very thick layers of limestone. This is the first widespread limestone deposit, and it covers practically all of Europe and North America but only appears at the earth’s surface in a few places. The thickness of this ancient rock layer averages about one thousand feet, but many of these deposits have since been greatly deformed by tilting, upheavals, and faulting, and many have been changed to quartz, shale, and marble.
59:3.2 (676.6) 除了欧洲南部和缅因州东部的大火山，以及魁北克的熔浆流之外，这个时期的岩层中都没有发现火岩和熔岩。大部分火山活动都已过去。这是一个大水沉积物的极盛期；其间几乎没有山脉的形成。		59:3.2 (676.6) No fire rocks or lava are found in the stone layers of this period except those of the great volcanoes of southern Europe and eastern Maine and the lava flows of Quebec. Volcanic action was largely past. This was the height of great water deposition; there was little or no mountain building.
59:3.3 (676.7) 290,000,000（两亿九千万）年前，海洋从各个大陆大规模地撤退，海洋周边的海底逐渐下沉。陆地板块则少有变化，直到它们再一次下沉。所有大陆的早期造山运动逐渐开始了，在所有这些地壳隆起中，最为雄伟的是亚洲的喜马拉雅山脉，以及从爱尔兰途经苏格兰而延伸到斯匹茨卑尔根群岛的加里东山脉。		59:3.3 (676.7) 290,000,000 years ago the sea had largely withdrawn from the continents, and the bottoms of the surrounding oceans were sinking. The land masses were little changed until they were again submerged. The early mountain movements of all the continents were beginning, and the greatest of these crustal upheavals were the Himalayas of Asia and the great Caledonian Mountains, extending from Ireland through Scotland and on to Spitzbergen.
59:3.4 (677.1) 正是在这一时期的沉积物中，发现了许多天然气、石油、锌和铅，天然气和石油来源于从前陆地沉没时期沉积下来的大量动植物聚集，而矿物沉积则代表着海水中动植物遗体的沉积。许多岩盐沉积物也属于这一时期。		59:3.4 (677.1) It is in the deposits of this age that much of the gas, oil, zinc, and lead are found, the gas and oil being derived from the enormous collections of vegetable and animal matter carried down at the time of the previous land submergence, while the mineral deposits represent the sedimentation of sluggish bodies of water. Many of the rock salt deposits belong to this period.
59:3.5 (677.2) 三叶虫迅速衰落下来，舞台中心被更大的软体动物、或是头足类动物所占据了。这些动物长达五米，直径为三十厘米，并成为了海洋的主宰。这一动物种类突然出现并接管了海洋生命的宗主权。		59:3.5 (677.2) The trilobites rapidly declined, and the center of the stage was occupied by the larger mollusks, or cephalopods. These animals grew to be fifteen feet long and one foot in diameter and became masters of the seas. This species of animal appeared suddenly and assumed dominance of sea life.
59:3.6 (677.3) 这一时代的巨大火山活动位于欧洲地区。千百万年来，都没有发生过此时发生在地中海海槽、尤其是在不列颠群岛邻近区域这样猛烈而广泛的火山爆发了。不列颠群岛区域的这一熔浆流，在今天看起来是25,000英尺（近8,000米）厚的熔岩与岩石的交叠层。这些岩石是由浅海床上间歇喷发出来的熔浆流沉积而成，由此岩石沉积物散布各处，随后所有这一切都被抬升到了海平面之上。在欧洲北部，特别是在苏格兰，发生了猛烈的地震。		59:3.6 (677.3) The great volcanic activity of this age was in the European sector. Not in millions upon millions of years had such violent and extensive volcanic eruptions occurred as now took place around the Mediterranean trough and especially in the neighborhood of the British Isles. This lava flow over the British Isles region today appears as alternate layers of lava and rock 25,000 feet thick. These rocks were laid down by the intermittent lava flows which spread out over a shallow sea bed, thus interspersing the rock deposits, and all of this was subsequently elevated high above the sea. Violent earthquakes took place in northern Europe, notably in Scotland.
59:3.7 (677.4) 海洋性气候仍然保持着温和匀调，温暖的海洋沐浴着极地大陆的海岸。腕足类动物及其它海洋生命类化石，都可在这些延伸到北极的沉积物中得以找到。腹足类动物、腕足类动物、海绵及形成礁石的珊瑚虫持续增加着。		59:3.7 (677.4) The oceanic climate remained mild and uniform, and the warm seas bathed the shores of the polar lands. Brachiopod and other marine-life fossils may be found in these deposits right up to the North Pole. Gastropods, brachiopods, sponges, and reef-making corals continued to increase.
59:3.8 (677.5) 这一时代的结尾见证到了第二次志留纪海洋的上升，并伴随着南北海洋的再一次汇合。头足类动物主导了海洋生命，而相关的生命形式也逐步发展和分化出来。		59:3.8 (677.5) The close of this epoch witnesses the second advance of the Silurian seas with another commingling of the waters of the southern and northern oceans. The cephalopods dominate marine life, while associated forms of life progressively develop and differentiate.
59:3.9 (677.6) 280,000,000（两亿八千万）年前，各个大陆已在极大程度上从第二次志留纪洪水中浮现出来。在北美洲，这次淹没所形成的岩石沉积被称为尼亚加拉石灰岩，因为这正是尼亚加拉瀑布如今所流经的岩层。这个岩层从东部的山脉，延伸到密西西比河谷地区，不再向西延伸，而是向南扩展。有几个岩层延伸到了加拿大、南美洲的若干部分、澳大利亚和欧洲的大部分地区，这种尼亚加拉岩层的平均厚度约为二百米。在许多地区，可以发现一些砾岩盐、页岩盐和岩盐直接贴附在尼亚加拉岩层之上。这一切都是第二次淹没后所形成的堆积物。这种盐沉积在一些大的泻湖中，这些泻湖时而与海水连通，时而又被隔断，如此蒸发便发生了，使得海水中所含的盐及其它物质积淀下来。在某些地区，这些岩盐床会有二十多米厚。		59:3.9 (677.6) 280,000,000 years ago the continents had largely emerged from the second Silurian inundation. The rock deposits of this submergence are known in North America as Niagara limestone because this is the stratum of rock over which Niagara Falls now flows. This layer of rock extends from the eastern mountains to the Mississippi valley region but not farther west except to the south. Several layers extend over Canada, portions of South America, Australia, and most of Europe, the average thickness of this Niagara series being about six hundred feet. Immediately overlying the Niagara deposit, in many regions may be found a collection of conglomerate, shale, and rock salt. This is the accumulation of secondary subsidences. This salt settled in great lagoons which were alternately opened up to the sea and then cut off so that evaporation occurred with deposition of salt along with other matter held in solution. In some regions these rock salt beds are seventy feet thick.
59:3.10 (677.7) 气候仍然非常平稳而温和，海洋生物的化石在北极地区也有沉积。但到这一时代结束为止，海水变得太咸，以致很少有生物会生存下来。		59:3.10 (677.7) The climate is even and mild, and marine fossils are laid down in the arctic regions. But by the end of this epoch the seas are so excessively salty that little life survives.
59:3.11 (677.8) 到最后一次志留纪淹没结束时，棘皮类动物 -- 即海百合纲动物大量增多，有海百合纲动物的石灰石沉积物为证。三叶虫几乎消失了。软体动物继续主宰着海洋。珊瑚礁的形成大量增多。在这一时代期间，原始类水蝎在一些较为有利的地点首次演化出来了。此后不久，真正的蝎子 -- 即实际的空气呼吸者突然出现了。		59:3.11 (677.8) Toward the close of the final Silurian submergence there is a great increase in the echinoderms—the stone lilies—as is evidenced by the crinoid limestone deposits. The trilobites have nearly disappeared, and the mollusks continue monarchs of the seas; coral-reef formation increases greatly. During this age, in the more favorable locations the primitive water scorpions first evolve. Soon thereafter, and suddenly, the true scorpions—actual air breathers—make their appearance.
59:3.12 (678.1) 这诸多发展使第三个海洋生命时期结束了，该时期涵盖了两千五百万年，你们的研究者们称之为志留纪。		59:3.12 (678.1) These developments terminate the third marine-life period, covering twenty-five million years and known to your researchers as the Silurian.
4. 陆地大浮现阶段 植物性陆地生命时期 鱼类时代 ^top		4. The Great Land-Emergence Stage The Vegetative Land-Life Period The Age of Fishes ^top
59:4.1 (678.2) 在陆地和海洋之间的长期较量中，很长一段时期内海洋相对占着上风，但陆地得胜的时期也指日可待了。大陆漂移不再继续进行下去，不时地，世界上的所有陆地实际上通过细长的地峡和狭窄的陆桥连接起来。		59:4.1 (678.2) In the agelong struggle between land and water, for long periods the sea has been comparatively victorious, but times of land victory are just ahead. And the continental drifts have not proceeded so far but that, at times, practically all of the land of the world is connected by slender isthmuses and narrow land bridges.
59:4.2 (678.3) 随着陆地从最后一场志留纪大淹没中浮现出来，在世界发展和生命进化方面的一个重要时期结束了。一个新的时代在地球上开始了。以前时代荒芜而难看的景观逐渐披上了葱茏的翠绿色，首批壮丽的森林不久便出现了。		59:4.2 (678.3) As the land emerges from the last Silurian inundation, an important period in world development and life evolution comes to an end. It is the dawn of a new age on earth. The naked and unattractive landscape of former times is becoming clothed with luxuriant verdure, and the first magnificent forests will soon appear.
59:4.3 (678.4) 由于早期物种的隔离，这一时代的海洋生命差别很大，但到后来，所有这些不同的物种之间有了自由的混合与结合。腕足类动物最先达到了其鼎盛期，继之而起的是节肢动物，甲壳动物也首次出现了。但最为重大的事件是鱼类家族的突然出现。这成了鱼类的时代，即以脊椎类动物为特征的地球历史时期。		59:4.3 (678.4) The marine life of this age was very diverse due to the early species segregation, but later on there was free commingling and association of all these different types. The brachiopods early reached their climax, being succeeded by the arthropods, and barnacles made their first appearance. But the greatest event of all was the sudden appearance of the fish family. This became the age of fishes, that period of the world’s history characterized by the vertebrate type of animal.
59:4.4 (678.5) 270,000,000（两亿七千万）年前，所有大陆都在海平面之上了。千百万年间，从来没有如此多的陆地同时出现在海面之上；这是地球历史上最为重大的陆地浮现时期之一。		59:4.4 (678.5) 270,000,000 years ago the continents were all above water. In millions upon millions of years not so much land had been above water at one time; it was one of the greatest land-emergence epochs in all world history.
59:4.5 (678.6) 五百万年后，南北美洲、欧洲、非洲、亚洲北部和澳大利亚的陆地区域，又一次短暂地被淹没了，在北美洲几曾是彻底的淹没；由此产生的石灰石层，厚达500至 5,000英尺（150至1,500米）。这些多变的泥盆纪海洋先后朝不同的方向伸展，使得巨大的北美极地内陆海通过北加利福尼亚而找到了一个通向太平洋的出口。		59:4.5 (678.6) Five million years later the land areas of North and South America, Europe, Africa, northern Asia, and Australia were briefly inundated, in North America the submergence at one time or another being almost complete; and the resulting limestone layers run from 500 to 5,000 feet in thickness. These various Devonian seas extended first in one direction and then in another so that the immense arctic North American inland sea found an outlet to the Pacific Ocean through northern California.
59:4.6 (678.7) 260,000,000（两亿六千万）年前，在这个大陆下沉时期快要结束时，北美洲局部被同时连接太平洋、大西洋、北冰洋和墨西哥湾的海洋所铺满了。第一次泥盆纪大洪水的这些后期阶段所形成的沉积物，平均厚度为约三百米。作为这些时期标识的珊瑚礁，表明了当时的内陆海都很清浅。这样的珊瑚沉积物曝露在肯塔基州路易斯维尔附近的俄亥俄河岸上，约三十米厚，包含了两百多种不同的种类。这些珊瑚岩层从加拿大和北欧一直延伸到北极地区。		59:4.6 (678.7) 260,000,000 years ago, toward the end of this land-depression epoch, North America was partially overspread by seas having simultaneous connection with the Pacific, Atlantic, Arctic, and Gulf waters. The deposits of these later stages of the first Devonian flood average about one thousand feet in thickness. The coral reefs characterizing these times indicate that the inland seas were clear and shallow. Such coral deposits are exposed in the banks of the Ohio River near Louisville, Kentucky, and are about one hundred feet thick, embracing more than two hundred varieties. These coral formations extend through Canada and northern Europe to the arctic regions.
59:4.7 (678.8) 随着这些下沉，许多海岸线都被极大地抬升了，以致较早期的沉积物都被污泥和页岩所覆盖了。在泥盆纪的沉积物当中，还有一种以红色的沙岩层为特征的，这种红色的岩层遍布地表的大部分地区，在南北美洲、欧洲、俄罗斯、中国、非洲和澳大利亚都有发现。这种红色沉积层暗示了干旱或半干旱的状况，但这一时期的气候仍是温和而匀调的。		59:4.7 (678.8) Following these submergences, many of the shore lines were considerably elevated so that the earlier deposits were covered by mud or shale. There is also a red sandstone stratum which characterizes one of the Devonian sedimentations, and this red layer extends over much of the earth’s surface, being found in North and South America, Europe, Russia, China, Africa, and Australia. Such red deposits are suggestive of arid or semiarid conditions, but the climate of this epoch was still mild and even.
59:4.8 (679.1) 在这整个时期当中，辛辛那提岛东南的陆地始终保持在海面之上。但西欧的大部分地区，包括不列颠群岛，都被淹没了。在威尔士、德国和欧洲的其它地地方，泥盆纪的岩石层有六千多米厚。		59:4.8 (679.1) Throughout all of this period the land southeast of the Cincinnati Island remained well above water. But very much of western Europe, including the British Isles, was submerged. In Wales, Germany, and other places in Europe the Devonian rocks are 20,000 feet thick.
59:4.9 (679.2) 250,000,000（两亿五千万）年前见证到了鱼类家族的出现，这类脊椎动物是前人类演化当中最为重要的一步。		59:4.9 (679.2) 250,000,000 years ago witnessed the appearance of the fish family, the vertebrates, one of the most important steps in all prehuman evolution.
59:4.10 (679.3) 节肢动物，或是说甲壳类动物，是首批脊椎动物的祖先。最早的鱼类家族先驱是两种改型的节肢动物先祖：一种有着一个连接头尾的长长身体，另一种则是无背脊、无颚的前鱼类。但当作为动物世界中第一类脊椎动物的鱼类从北方突然出现时，这些初期的类型便很快灭亡了。		59:4.10 (679.3) The arthropods, or crustaceans, were the ancestors of the first vertebrates. The forerunners of the fish family were two modified arthropod ancestors; one had a long body connecting a head and tail, while the other was a backboneless, jawless prefish. But these preliminary types were quickly destroyed when the fishes, the first vertebrates of the animal world, made their sudden appearance from the north.
59:4.11 (679.4) 许多身形硕大的真正鱼类都属于这个时代，一些长有牙齿的种类约有八至十米长；当今的鲨鱼就是这些古老鱼类的幸存者。肺鱼和装甲鱼达到了其进化的顶峰，在这个时期快结束之前，鱼类已适应了淡水和咸水。		59:4.11 (679.4) Many of the largest true fish belong to this age, some of the teeth-bearing varieties being twenty-five to thirty feet long; the present-day sharks are the survivors of these ancient fishes. The lung and armored fishes reached their evolutionary apex, and before this epoch had ended, fishes had adapted to both fresh and salt waters.
59:4.12 (679.5) 带有鱼齿和鱼骨架的真正鱼骨层，可在这一时期末形成的沉积层中找到，这类丰富的化石层坐落在加利福尼亚沿岸，因为太平洋的许多受遮蔽海湾都延伸到了那个地区的陆地当中。		59:4.12 (679.5) Veritable bone beds of fish teeth and skeletons may be found in the deposits laid down toward the close of this period, and rich fossil beds are situated along the coast of California since many sheltered bays of the Pacific Ocean extended into the land of that region.
59:4.13 (679.6) 地球迅速被新类别的陆地植物所蔓延着。在此之前，除了在水边以外，没有几种植物能在陆地上生存。而此时，易繁殖的蕨类植物家族突然出现，并即刻在世界各地快速上升的陆地表面蔓延开来。各类六十厘米粗、十二米高的树种，也在不久后发展起来了。后来演化出了树叶，但这些早期的树种只有发育不完全的叶子。还有很多较小的植物，但它们的化石未被发现，因为它们通常都被更早出现的细菌所消解了。		59:4.13 (679.6) The earth was being rapidly overrun by the new orders of land vegetation. Heretofore few plants grew on land except about the water’s edge. Now, and suddenly, the prolific fern family appeared and quickly spread over the face of the rapidly rising land in all parts of the world. Tree types, two feet thick and forty feet high, soon developed; later on, leaves evolved, but these early varieties had only rudimentary foliage. There were many smaller plants, but their fossils are not found since they were usually destroyed by the still earlier appearing bacteria.
59:4.14 (679.7) 随着陆地的上升，通过延伸至格陵兰的陆桥，北美洲与欧洲连接起来了。今天，在格陵兰的冰层下，还保留着这些早期陆地植物的残骸。		59:4.14 (679.7) As the land rose, North America became connected with Europe by land bridges extending to Greenland. And today Greenland holds the remains of these early land plants beneath its mantle of ice.
59:4.15 (679.8) 240,000,000（两亿四千万）年前，欧洲和南北美洲的部分陆地开始下沉。这次下沉标志着泥盆纪最后一次、也是范围最小的一次洪水的出现。北冰洋再一次向南推移，淹没了北美洲的大部分地区，大西洋淹没了欧洲大部分和西亚，而南太平洋则覆盖了印度的大部分地区。这场淹没的势头非常缓慢，它的退却也同样缓慢。沿哈德逊河西岸的卡茨基尔山脉，是可在北美地表发现的、有关这一时期的最大地质遗迹之一。		59:4.15 (679.8) 240,000,000 years ago the land over parts of both Europe and North and South America began to sink. This subsidence marked the appearance of the last and least extensive of the Devonian floods. The arctic seas again moved southward over much of North America, the Atlantic inundated a large part of Europe and western Asia, while the southern Pacific covered most of India. This inundation was slow in appearing and equally slow in retreating. The Catskill Mountains along the west bank of the Hudson River are one of the largest geologic monuments of this epoch to be found on the surface of North America.
59:4.16 (679.9) 230,000,000（两亿三千万）年前，海洋继续退却着。北美洲的大部分地区浮出水面，在圣劳伦斯河地区发生了巨大的火山活动。蒙特利尔的罗亚尔山，是这些火山中一个受到侵蚀的火山口。这整个时期的沉积物都被清楚呈现在北美洲的阿巴拉契亚山脉中，萨斯奎哈纳河在此切出一个峡谷，呈现出这些相续的岩层，它们的厚度达到了13,000英尺（4,000多米）。		59:4.16 (679.9) 230,000,000 years ago the seas were continuing their retreat. Much of North America was above water, and great volcanic activity occurred in the St. Lawrence region. Mount Royal, at Montreal, is the eroded neck of one of these volcanoes. The deposits of this entire epoch are well shown in the Appalachian Mountains of North America where the Susquehanna River has cut a valley exposing these successive layers, which attained a thickness of over 13,000 feet.
59:4.17 (680.1) 各个大陆继续抬升，大气逐渐变得富有氧气。地球由高达三十米的蕨类植物森林以及那时千奇百怪的树木形成的静谧森林所蔓延着；万籁俱寂，甚至听不到叶子的沙沙声，因为这些树没有叶子。		59:4.17 (680.1) The elevation of the continents proceeded, and the atmosphere was becoming enriched with oxygen. The earth was overspread by vast forests of ferns one hundred feet high and by the peculiar trees of those days, silent forests; not a sound was heard, not even the rustle of a leaf, for such trees had no leaves.
59:4.18 (680.2) 海洋生命进化的一个最为漫长时期、即鱼类时代就这样结束了。这段地球历史时期持续了将近五千五百万年；你们的研究者称之为泥盆纪。		59:4.18 (680.2) And thus drew to a close one of the longest periods of marine-life evolution, the age of fishes. This period of the world’s history lasted almost fifty million years; it has become known to your researchers as the Devonian.
5. 地壳移位阶段 蕨类森林的石炭纪时期 蛙类时代 ^top		5. The Crustal-Shifting Stage The Fern-Forest Carboniferous Period The Age of Frogs ^top
59:5.1 (680.3) 先前时期鱼类的出现，标志着海洋生命演化的顶峰。从这一点开始，陆地生命的演化便变得渐趋重要了。而本时期也恰好为首批陆地动物的出现，提供了一个几近理想的舞台。		59:5.1 (680.3) The appearance of fish during the preceding period marks the apex of marine-life evolution. From this point onward the evolution of land life becomes increasingly important. And this period opens with the stage almost ideally set for the appearance of the first land animals.
59:5.2 (680.4) 220,000,000（两亿二千万）年前，许多大陆地带，包括北美洲的大部分地区，都在海面之上。陆地上被茂盛的植被所覆盖着；这实际上是一个蕨类植物的时代。大气中仍然有二氧化碳，但浓度在渐趋降低。		59:5.2 (680.4) 220,000,000 years ago many of the continental land areas, including most of North America, were above water. The land was overrun by luxurious vegetation; this was indeed the age of ferns. Carbon dioxide was still present in the atmosphere but in lessening degree.
59:5.3 (680.5) 此后不久，北美洲的中心地区被淹没了，形成了两大内陆海。大西洋和太平洋的沿岸高地都恰好位于现今的海岸线以外。这两大洋不久就会合了，使其不同的生命形式也掺合到了一起，这些海洋动物群的结合，标志着海洋生命全球范围快速衰退的开始，也标志着后继陆地生命时期的开启。		59:5.3 (680.5) Shortly thereafter the central portion of North America was inundated, creating two great inland seas. Both the Atlantic and Pacific coastal highlands were situated just beyond the present shore lines. These two seas presently united, commingling their different forms of life, and the union of these marine fauna marked the beginning of the rapid and world-wide decline in marine life and the opening of the subsequent land-life period.
59:5.4 (680.6) 210,000,000（两亿一千万）年前，温暖的北极海水覆盖了北美洲和欧洲的大部分地区。南极的海水淹没了南美洲和澳大利亚，而非洲和亚洲大陆则被抬升了很多。		59:5.4 (680.6) 210,000,000 years ago the warm-water arctic seas covered most of North America and Europe. The south polar waters inundated South America and Australia, while both Africa and Asia were highly elevated.
59:5.5 (680.7) 当海洋处于其鼎盛期时，一种新的进化发展突然发生了。最早的陆地动物意外地出现了。有众多类这样的动物既能够生活在陆地上，也能够生活在水中。这些呼吸空气的两栖动物从节肢动物发展而来，这些节肢动物的鳔演化成了肺。		59:5.5 (680.7) When the seas were at their height, a new evolutionary development suddenly occurred. Abruptly, the first of the land animals appeared. There were numerous species of these animals that were able to live on land or in water. These air-breathing amphibians developed from the arthropods, whose swim bladders had evolved into lungs.
59:5.6 (680.8) 海蜗牛、海蝎子和蛙类从海水中爬到了陆地上。今天蛙类仍然将它们的卵产在水中，它们的幼年起初作为小鱼、即蝌蚪而存在。这一时期可以被恰当地称为蛙类时代。		59:5.6 (680.8) From the briny waters of the seas there crawled out upon the land snails, scorpions, and frogs. Today frogs still lay their eggs in water, and their young first exist as little fishes, tadpoles. This period could well be known as the age of frogs.
59:5.7 (680.9) 此后不久，昆虫首先出现了，并且和蜘蛛、蝎子、蟑螂、蟋蟀和蝗虫一起，很快遍布到了世界的各个大陆。当时的蜻蜓有七十五厘米长。蟑螂有一千多种，其中一些会长到十厘米长。		59:5.7 (680.9) Very soon thereafter the insects first appeared and, together with spiders, scorpions, cockroaches, crickets, and locusts, soon overspread the continents of the world. Dragon flies measured thirty inches across. One thousand species of cockroaches developed, and some grew to be four inches long.
59:5.8 (680.10) 两类棘皮动物进化得特别快，它们实际上是这一时期的主导化石。以贝壳动物为食的巨大鲨鱼也进化得非常快，它们主宰了海洋五百多万年。气候仍然非常温和平稳；海洋生命少有变化。淡水鱼类逐渐发展，而三叶虫几近绝迹。珊瑚非常稀少，大多石灰石逐渐由海百合所形成。这一时期沉积了许多优质的建筑用石灰石。		59:5.8 (680.10) Two groups of echinoderms became especially well developed, and they are in reality the guide fossils of this epoch. The large shell-feeding sharks were also highly evolved, and for more than five million years they dominated the oceans. The climate was still mild and equable; the marine life was little changed. Fresh-water fish were developing and the trilobites were nearing extinction. Corals were scarce, and much of the limestone was being made by the crinoids. The finer building limestones were laid down during this epoch.
59:5.9 (681.1) 许多内陆海的海水中充满了大量石灰及其它矿物质，以致极大妨碍了许多海洋物种的进化和发展。最后，由于大范围的岩石沉积，使得海水变得澄清，在一些地区沉积物中还包括锌和铅。		59:5.9 (681.1) The waters of many of the inland seas were so heavily charged with lime and other minerals as greatly to interfere with the progress and development of many marine species. Eventually the seas cleared up as the result of an extensive stone deposit, in some places containing zinc and lead.
59:5.10 (681.2) 这一早期石炭纪的沉积物有500到2,000英尺（150至600米）厚，由沙岩、页岩和石灰石组成。最为古老的岩层不仅有陆地上的动植物化石，也有海洋中的动植物化石，还包含了许多砂砾和盆地沉积物。但在这些较古老的岩层中，很少能找到可采掘的煤炭。整个欧洲的这些沉积物，与北美洲的沉积物非常相似。		59:5.10 (681.2) The deposits of this early Carboniferous age are from 500 to 2,000 feet thick, consisting of sandstone, shale, and limestone. The oldest strata yield the fossils of both land and marine animals and plants, along with much gravel and basin sediments. Little workable coal is found in these older strata. These depositions throughout Europe are very similar to those laid down over North America.
59:5.11 (681.3) 在这一时期走向结束时，北美洲的陆地开始上升了。其间曾有过一个短暂的停顿，海洋又返回来覆盖了其之前海床的大约一半。这是一次非常短暂的淹没，大部分陆地很快又浮出水面。南美洲依然通过非洲而与欧洲相连。		59:5.11 (681.3) Toward the close of this epoch the land of North America began to rise. There was a short interruption, and the sea returned to cover about half of its previous beds. This was a short inundation, and most of the land was soon well above water. South America was still connected with Europe by way of Africa.
59:5.12 (681.4) 这一时期见证到了孚日山脉、黑森林山区和乌拉尔山脉的开端。在大不列颠群岛和欧洲，可以发现其它更为古老山脉的遗迹。		59:5.12 (681.4) This epoch witnessed the beginning of the Vosges, Black Forest, and Ural mountains. Stumps of other and older mountains are to be found all over Great Britain and Europe.
59:5.13 (681.5) 200,000,000（两亿）年前，石炭纪的真正活跃时期开始了。该时期以前的两千万年已经形成了一些较早期的煤炭沉积物，但此时，更为广泛的煤炭形成活动正在进行着。这个真正的煤炭沉积时期长达两千五百多万年。		59:5.13 (681.5) 200,000,000 years ago the really active stages of the Carboniferous period began. For twenty million years prior to this time the earlier coal deposits were being laid down, but now the more extensive coal-formation activities were in process. The length of the actual coal-deposition epoch was a little over twenty-five million years.
59:5.14 (681.6) 由于海底活动所引起的海平面移位，使得陆地周期性地起落沉浮。地壳的这种不稳定性 -- 即陆地的起落沉浮，再加上海岸沼泽地茂盛的植物，导致了大量煤炭沉积物的形成，令这一时期被称为石炭纪。那时气候仍然非常温和。		59:5.14 (681.6) The land was periodically going up and down due to the shifting sea level occasioned by activities on the ocean bottoms. This crustal uneasiness—the settling and rising of the land—in connection with the prolific vegetation of the coastal swamps, contributed to the production of extensive coal deposits, which have caused this period to be known as the Carboniferous. And the climate was still mild the world over.
59:5.15 (681.7) 在煤层中，叶岩、岩石和砾岩交替出现。美国中部和东部地区的煤层厚度，从四十至五十英尺（十二至十五米）不等。但在随后的陆地抬升期间，许多这样的沉积物都被冲走了。在北美洲和欧洲的一些地区，含有煤炭的岩层厚达18,000英尺（5,400米）。		59:5.15 (681.7) The coal layers alternate with shale, stone, and conglomerate. These coal beds over central and eastern United States vary in thickness from forty to fifty feet. But many of these deposits were washed away during subsequent land elevations. In some parts of North America and Europe the coal-bearing strata are 18,000 feet in thickness.
59:5.16 (681.8) 在煤层下的泥土中生长的树连同其根之存在，表明这些煤炭就是在其被发现的地方形成的。煤炭是生长在这一远古时代的沼泽地及其岸边的速生植物，受水保存并被压力改变后的残留物。煤炭层中通常还伴有煤气和石油。泥炭层，即过往植物形成的残留物，如果经受适当的压力和温度，就会转变成某一类型的煤炭。无烟煤比其它煤炭经受的压力和温度更高。		59:5.16 (681.8) The presence of roots of trees as they grew in the clay underlying the present coal beds demonstrates that coal was formed exactly where it is now found. Coal is the water-preserved and pressure-modified remains of the rank vegetation growing in the bogs and on the swamp shores of this faraway age. Coal layers often hold both gas and oil. Peat beds, the remains of past vegetable growth, would be converted into a type of coal if subjected to proper pressure and heat. Anthracite has been subjected to more pressure and heat than other coal.
59:5.17 (681.9) 在北美洲，诸多煤层存在于不同的地层中，这表明了陆地起落的次数，伊利诺斯州发生了十次，宾夕法尼亚州发生了二十次，阿拉巴马州发生了三十五次，而加拿大则发生了七十五次。淡水化石和咸水化石在煤层中都有发现。		59:5.17 (681.9) In North America the layers of coal in the various beds, which indicate the number of times the land fell and rose, vary from ten in Illinois, twenty in Pennsylvania, thirty-five in Alabama, to seventy-five in Canada. Both fresh- and salt-water fossils are found in the coal beds.
59:5.18 (682.1) 在这整个时期当中，南北美洲的山脉都非常活跃，安第斯山脉和南部原初的落基山脉正在上升。大西洋和太平洋广阔的沿岸高地开始下沉，最终经过反复的侵蚀、淹没，这两大洋的海岸线退回到了大抵现在的位置。这次洪水的沉积物平均厚度约为三百多米。		59:5.18 (682.1) Throughout this epoch the mountains of North and South America were active, both the Andes and the southern ancestral Rocky Mountains rising. The great Atlantic and Pacific high coastal regions began to sink, eventually becoming so eroded and submerged that the coast lines of both oceans withdrew to approximately their present positions. The deposits of this inundation average about one thousand feet in thickness.
59:5.19 (682.2) 190,000,000（一亿九千万）年前，见证到了北美洲石炭纪海洋西向的延伸，越过现在的落基山地区，经由北加利福尼亚而汇入太平洋。在整个美洲和欧洲，随着沿海地区在这些海岸变动时期的不断起落，煤炭一层又一层地持续沉积下来。		59:5.19 (682.2) 190,000,000 years ago witnessed a westward extension of the North American Carboniferous sea over the present Rocky Mountain region, with an outlet to the Pacific Ocean through northern California. Coal continued to be laid down throughout the Americas and Europe, layer upon layer, as the coastlands rose and fell during these ages of seashore oscillations.
59:5.20 (682.3) 180,000,000（一亿八千万）年前，石炭纪行将结束，在这段时期内，世界各地 -- 欧洲、印度、中国、北非和美洲地区都形成了煤炭。在石炭纪末期，北美洲的密西西比河谷东部抬升，从此以后，这个河谷的大部分地区都保持在海平面以上。这一陆地抬升时期，标志着北美现代山脉的开端，包括阿巴拉契亚山脉地区和西部地区。在阿拉斯加、加利福尼亚以及欧洲和亚洲的造山运动地区，火山运动十分活跃。美洲东面与欧洲西面仍通过格陵兰大陆相连接着。		59:5.20 (682.3) 180,000,000 years ago brought the close of the Carboniferous period, during which coal had been formed all over the world—in Europe, India, China, North Africa, and the Americas. At the close of the coal-formation period North America east of the Mississippi valley rose, and most of this section has ever since remained above the sea. This land-elevation period marks the beginning of the modern mountains of North America, both in the Appalachian regions and in the west. Volcanoes were active in Alaska and California and in the mountain-forming regions of Europe and Asia. Eastern America and western Europe were connected by the continent of Greenland.
59:5.21 (682.4) 陆地的抬升开始改变了以前时代的海洋性气候，而代之以不太温且更为多变的大陆性气候的开始。		59:5.21 (682.4) Land elevation began to modify the marine climate of the preceding ages and to substitute therefor the beginnings of the less mild and more variable continental climate.
59:5.22 (682.5) 这些时期的植物都是带孢子的，风可以将它们传播到四面八方。石炭纪树种的树干一般直径为两米，常有四十多米高。现在的蕨类植物，实际上就是这些过去时代的残存物。		59:5.22 (682.5) The plants of these times were spore bearing, and the wind was able to spread them far and wide. The trunks of the Carboniferous trees were commonly seven feet in diameter and often one hundred and twenty-five feet high. The modern ferns are truly relics of these bygone ages.
59:5.23 (682.6) 总之，这些时期是淡水生物取得发展的时期；以前的海洋生命没有什么变化。但这一时期的重要特征就是蛙类及其许多表亲的突然出现。石炭纪的生命特色便是蕨类植物和蛙类。		59:5.23 (682.6) In general, these were the epochs of development for fresh-water organisms; little change occurred in the previous marine life. But the important characteristic of this period was the sudden appearance of the frogs and their many cousins. The life features of the coal age were ferns and frogs.
6. 气候转变阶段 种子植物时期 生物患难时代 ^top		6. The Climatic Transition Stage The Seed-Plant Period The Age of Biologic Tribulation ^top
59:6.1 (682.7) 这一时期标志着海洋生命之关键进化阶段的结束，也标志着通向其后陆地动物时代之过渡时期的开启。		59:6.1 (682.7) This period marks the end of pivotal evolutionary development in marine life and the opening of the transition period leading to the subsequent ages of land animals.
59:6.2 (682.8) 这是一个生命贫瘠化的时代。成千上万的海洋物种灭绝了，而陆地上的生物还难于确立。这是一个生物患难期，一个生命几乎从地表和海洋深处消失的时代。在漫长的海洋生命时代行将结束时，地球上曾有十万多种生物物种。而当这一过渡时期结束时，只有不到五百种幸存了下来。		59:6.2 (682.8) This age was one of great life impoverishment. Thousands of marine species perished, and life was hardly yet established on land. This was a time of biologic tribulation, the age when life nearly vanished from the face of the earth and from the depths of the oceans. Toward the close of the long marine-life era there were more than one hundred thousand species of living things on earth. At the close of this period of transition less than five hundred had survived.
59:6.3 (682.9) 这一新时期的独特性主要并不是由于地壳的冷却，或是长期缺乏火山活动，而是由于司空见惯且预先存在的各种影响之异乎寻常的共同作用 -- 即海洋面积的减少和巨大陆地的不断抬升。之前时期的温和海洋性气候逐渐消失了，更为严酷的大陆性气候快速发展着。		59:6.3 (682.9) The peculiarities of this new period were not due so much to the cooling of the earth’s crust or to the long absence of volcanic action as to an unusual combination of commonplace and pre-existing influences—restrictions of the seas and increasing elevation of enormous land masses. The mild marine climate of former times was disappearing, and the harsher continental type of weather was fast developing.
59:6.4 (683.1) 170,000,000（一亿七千万）年前，整个地球表面发生了巨大的演化转变和调整。随着海床的逐渐下沉，全世界的大陆都在上升。众多孤立的山脊出现了。北美洲东部高高挺出了海平面；西部也在缓慢上升着。各个大陆上布满了大大小小的盐水湖和诸多内陆海，它们通过狭长的海峡与海洋相连。这一过渡时期的岩层厚度从1,000至7,000英尺（300至2,000米）不等。		59:6.4 (683.1) 170,000,000 years ago great evolutionary changes and adjustments were taking place over the entire face of the earth. Land was rising all over the world as the ocean beds were sinking. Isolated mountain ridges appeared. The eastern part of North America was high above the sea; the west was slowly rising. The continents were covered by great and small salt lakes and numerous inland seas which were connected with the oceans by narrow straits. The strata of this transition period vary in thickness from 1,000 to 7,000 feet.
59:6.5 (683.2) 在这些陆地抬升期间，地壳发生了大面积皱折。除了一些陆桥、即包括长期连接着南美与非洲、北美与欧洲的那些陆地消失之外，这是一个陆地浮现的时期。		59:6.5 (683.2) The earth’s crust folded extensively during these land elevations. This was a time of continental emergence except for the disappearance of certain land bridges, including the continents which had so long connected South America with Africa and North America with Europe.
59:6.6 (683.3) 整个世界的内陆湖和内陆海逐渐趋向干涸。孤立的山脉和区域性的冰川开始出现，特别是在南半球，在许多地区，甚至可以在某些较上层的晚期煤炭沉积物中，发现这些局部冰川的沉积物。两种新的气候因素出现了 -- 冰川作用和干燥。地球上许多较高地区变得干燥而贫瘠。		59:6.6 (683.3) Gradually the inland lakes and seas were drying up all over the world. Isolated mountain and regional glaciers began to appear, especially over the Southern Hemisphere, and in many regions the glacial deposit of these local ice formations may be found even among some of the upper and later coal deposits. Two new climatic factors appeared—glaciation and aridity. Many of the earth’s higher regions had become arid and barren.
59:6.7 (683.4) 在这些气候变化时期，陆地植物也发生了巨大的变化。种子植物首次出现了，它们为后来繁盛的陆地动物生命提供了更好的食物供应。昆虫也发生了根本性的变化。休眠期演化了出来，以满足冬天及干旱期间蛰伏状态的需求。		59:6.7 (683.4) Throughout these times of climatic change, great variations also occurred in the land plants. The seed plants first appeared, and they afforded a better food supply for the subsequently increased land-animal life. The insects underwent a radical change. The resting stages evolved to meet the demands of suspended animation during winter and drought.
59:6.8 (683.5) 在陆地动物中，蛙类在先前时代达到了其鼎盛期而快速衰落下来，但由于它们甚至能在这些久远而艰难时期的干涸池塘中长期生存，它们残存了下来。在这个蛙类衰退的时代，它们在非洲跨出了向爬行动物进化的第一步。由于各个大陆板块仍然连接在一起，因此这种准爬行动物类生物，作为一种空气呼吸者而在全世界蔓延开来。到这时，大气已发生了很大变化，以致它足以极好地支撑动物呼吸了。在这些准爬行动物的蛙类到达后不久，北美洲因与欧洲、亚洲和南美洲断开而被短暂隔离了。		59:6.8 (683.5) Among the land animals the frogs reached their climax in the preceding age and rapidly declined, but they survived because they could long live even in the drying-up pools and ponds of these far-distant and extremely trying times. During this declining frog age, in Africa, the first step in the evolution of the frog into the reptile occurred. And since the land masses were still connected, this prereptilian creature, an air breather, spread over all the world. By this time the atmosphere had been so changed that it served admirably to support animal respiration. It was soon after the arrival of these prereptilian frogs that North America was temporarily isolated, cut off from Europe, Asia, and South America.
59:6.9 (683.6) 海水的不断冷却，极大地导致了海洋生命的毁灭。那些时代的海洋动物暂时居住在三个环境尚可的避难所：现今的墨西哥海湾地区，印度的恒河湾，以及地中海盆地的西西里海湾。正是在这三个地区，新的海洋物种从逆境中产生，之后又重新去布满了海洋。		59:6.9 (683.6) The gradual cooling of the ocean waters contributed much to the destruction of oceanic life. The marine animals of those ages took temporary refuge in three favorable retreats: the present Gulf of Mexico region, the Ganges Bay of India, and the Sicilian Bay of the Mediterranean basin. And it was from these three regions that the new marine species, born to adversity, later went forth to replenish the seas.
59:6.10 (683.7) 160,000,000（一亿六千万）年前，陆地在很大程度上都被适宜于支持陆地动物生命的植物所覆盖了，空气变得非常适合动物呼吸。海洋生命缩减时期就这样结束了，那些生物患难考验期也随之告终，这些时期淘汰了几近所有生命形式，除开那些有续存价值的以外，它们因此而有资格成为随后星球进化时代更为快速发展及更为高度分化之生命的祖先。		59:6.10 (683.7) 160,000,000 years ago the land was largely covered with vegetation adapted to support land-animal life, and the atmosphere had become ideal for animal respiration. Thus ends the period of marine-life curtailment and those testing times of biologic adversity which eliminated all forms of life except such as had survival value, and which were therefore entitled to function as the ancestors of the more rapidly developing and highly differentiated life of the ensuing ages of planetary evolution.
59:6.11 (684.1) 这个生物患难时期、即你们研究者所谓的二叠纪时期的结束，也标志着漫长的古生代时期的结束，古生代涵盖了地球历史的四分之一，即两亿五千万年。		59:6.11 (684.1) The ending of this period of biologic tribulation, known to your students as the Permian, also marks the end of the long Paleozoic era, which covers one quarter of the planetary history, two hundred and fifty million years.
59:6.12 (684.2) 为玉苒厦(Urantia)生命所提供的巨大海洋温床达到了其目的。在陆地不适宜支持生命、在大气层尚未蕴含足够氧气以支撑更高等陆地生命之前的漫长岁月中，海洋孕育和养育了地球的早期生命。此时，随着进化的第二阶段在陆地上的展开，海洋的生物重要性逐步减弱了。		59:6.12 (684.2) The vast oceanic nursery of life on Urantia has served its purpose. During the long ages when the land was unsuited to support life, before the atmosphere contained sufficient oxygen to sustain the higher land animals, the sea mothered and nurtured the early life of the realm. Now the biologic importance of the sea progressively diminishes as the second stage of evolution begins to unfold on the land.
59:6.13 (684.3) [由内巴顿(Nebadon)的一位生命载运者、也是被配属到玉苒厦(Urantia)原初团队中的一员所呈献。]		59:6.13 (684.3) [Presented by a Life Carrier of Nebadon, one of the original corps assigned to Urantia.]