世界匪夷所思的自然現象:加拿大冰凍沼氣泡泡
From Australia’s bubblegum-pink lake to a blood-red waterfall in Antarctica, these seven destinations are some of the world’s strangest sights.
從澳大利亞的粉色口香糖狀湖泊到南極洲的血紅色瀑布，這七處地理奇觀絕對震撼人心。
Majestic mountains and sparkling seas always attract travellers – but sometimes nature has a bigger trick up her sleeve. To track down some of the world’s strangest sights, we turned to question-and-answer site Quora, asking: What are some of the best rare natural phenomena that occur on Earth?
雄偉莊嚴的羣山和波濤洶涌的海洋總是旅客的必遊之地——但有時自然會在袖口下變魔術。爲了尋找世界上最奇特的景觀，我們在問答網站Quora上提問：地球上有哪些最難得一見的自然現象？
From Australia’s bubblegum-pink lake and a blood-red waterfall in Antarctica to a secret beach-in-a-hole in Mexico and a US valley where stones eerily move, these seven spots are Mother Nature’s eyeball-popping sideshow.
從澳大利亞的粉色口香糖狀湖泊和南極洲的血紅色瀑布，再到墨西哥的神祕沙灘窟窿和美國峽谷的風帆石，這七處地理奇觀是地球母親的點睛之作。
Frozen methane bubbles, Canada
加拿大冰凍沼氣泡泡
They look otherworldly, like flying saucers that dropped into the water and froze, or ancient, ice-encapsulated jellyfish. In fact, these icy circles are frozen methane bubbles – pockets of gas that, when trapped underwater and frozen, form a spectacular landscape.
它們看起來像鬼斧神工的傑作，就像飛碟不小心掉進水裏又被凍住了，又像是冰封的古代海蜇。其實，這些冰圈是冰凍的沼氣泡泡——當大量氣體被困在水中並冰凍起來時，這一地理奇觀就顯現在世人面前了。
Found in winter in high northern latitude lakes like Lake Abraham in Alberta, Canada, these gas bubbles are created when dead leaves, grass and animals fall into the water, sink and are eaten by bacteria that excrete methane. The gas is released as bubbles that transform into tens of thousands of icy white disks when they come into contact with frozen water, Quora user Mayur Kanaiya explains.
冬季時北半球高緯的湖泊，比如加拿大阿爾伯塔省的亞伯拉罕湖，就會有這樣的沼氣泡泡景觀。湖底的微生物蠶食沉入水底的枯葉、枯草或動物死屍，並釋放沼氣，由此便形成了沼氣泡泡。當這些氣體包裹在泡泡裏被釋放到水中時，它們與冰凍的湖水接觸就變成了成千上萬的冰碟子。Quora的一位用戶馬尤爾•卡奈雅這樣解釋。
It’s a stunning, but potentially dangerous sight. This potent greenhouse gas not only warms the planet, but also is highly flammable. Come spring, when the ice melts, the methane bubbles pop and fizz in a spectacular release – but if anyone happens to light a match nearby, the masses of methane will ignite into a giant explosion.
沼氣泡泡的景觀固然震撼人心，但其危險性不能忽視。這種強效的溫室氣體不僅能使全球氣溫升高，而且具有極高的易燃性。當春天到來，冰雪消融時，這些沼氣泡泡會嘶嘶作響，場景很是壯觀——但是如果恰巧周圍有人在劃火柴，大量的沼氣會引發一場巨大的爆炸。
Curious travellers can see these gassy hiccups in lakes across Canada’s Banff National Park, or in the Arctic Ocean off Siberia, where researchers have found gargantuan gas bubbles as large as 900m across.
好奇的遊客們可以在加拿大班夫國家公園周邊的湖泊看到沼氣泡泡“打嗝”，研究者們還在西伯利亞附近的北冰洋發現蔓延900米的大量沼氣泡泡。
