啊杜 - 2007-12-25 11:10:00
Patterns in Nature: Aerial Views
An alluvial fan spreads across Wrangell-St. Elias National Park in Alaska.
Photograph by Frans Lanting
意译：航空观测自然界。一片扇形展开的冲积地面越过兰格尔山脉。伊来亚斯国家公园位于美国的阿拉斯加州。
Ash and steam billow from Karymsky Volcano in Russia’s dramatic Kamchatka Peninsula. The 750-mile-long (1,200-kilometer-long) peninsula in eastern Siberia is home to 127 volcanoes, 22 of which are still active.
Photograph by Klaus Nigge
意译：火山灰和水蒸汽的像巨浪般喷出来自（Karymsky）火山，位于俄罗斯梦幻般的（Karymsky）半岛，这个半岛长达到1200公里。半岛位于东西伯利亚地域共有127个火山，其中有22个目前依然是活跃的火山。
A few hundred degrees separates this pool of fiery orange magma in Italy’s Mount Etna from its hardened, gray crust. At nearly 11,000 feet (3,353 meters), Mount Etna is Europe’s highest active volcano.
Photograph by Carsten Peter
意译：这是一个达到好几百度热度的高温池，里面是火热的橙色的岩浆位于意大利的（Etna）山，周边是它的灰色的硬壳。火山高3353米，是欧洲最为活跃的火山。
Sand Dunes, New Mexico
Eroded gypsum forms the dunes of White Sands National Monument in New Mexico.
Photograph by Michael Nichols
意译：沙丘，新墨西哥。石膏物质腐蚀的一种形式，由风吹积而成的沙丘，今天成为“白沙国家的纪念碑”，位于新墨西哥州。
Perched above the lighted city of Catania, Italy, Mount Etna hurls a fountain of fire skyward as rivers of lava spill down its flanks. In spite of its dazzling displays, Mount Etna is a relatively safe volcano with rare, compact eruptions and slow-flowing lava that gives people a chance to escape.
Photograph by Carsten Peter
意译：意大利人们居住在这个明亮的城市（Catania），（Etna）山正在向天空喷发熔岩像河水那样溢出到它的山腰窝区。不论火山喷发多么眼花缭乱耀眼，但是这座火山的历史资料表明真的是安全的，因为这座火山的喷发是简洁的而且熔岩的流动也是慢慢的，这使得居民有机会逃生。
Trekking the Namib Desert, Namibia, 1998
Photograph by O. Louis Mazzatenta
Alone in a vast expanse of sand, a man treks across giant dunes in Namibias Namib Desert. One of the driest places on Earth, the Namib necessitates resourceful adaptations. Snakes, spiders, beetles, and lizards can survive here only because fog delivers a wisp of vital moisture as it rolls in from the ocean most nights.
(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Life Grows Up," April 1998, National Geographic magazine)
意译：主标题：当天的图片，艰苦跋涉的沙漠，纳米比亚，1998年。
一位男子独自在广阔无垠的沙漠艰苦跋涉的越过那巨大的纳米比亚的大沙漠。这里是地球最为干燥的地方，这里必须改变和适应才能生活下去。像蛇类、蜘蛛类、甲虫类和蜥蜴类等可以在这里存活，唯一的原因是使那些动物能依靠海洋传来的一点点湿气大多数在夜间传送到这里。
引自：“美国国家地理杂志”当天的图片。（2007-11-2）
Ilha Nova, Faial Island, Azores
Photograph by Robert F. Sisson
Sea water instantly turns to super-heated steam as it seeps into the active submarine volcano known as Ilha Nova, or "new island." Months after the volcano first erupted on September 27, 1957, torrential rains from the condensing steam continued to torment the villagers living near the new volcano.
(Text adapted from and photograph shot on assignment for, but not published in, "A New Volcano Bursts from the Atlantic," June 1958, National Geographic magazine)
意译：海水立即转变为超热的水蒸气，它是从活跃的海底火山爆发造成的，例如：“新岛”在1957年9月27日是它第一次喷发后近来又一次活跃喷发，奔流的豪雨和冷凝的蒸汽都在继续折磨当地的村民。
Battleship Promontory, Antarctica, 1997
Photograph by Maria Stenzel
This promontorys sandstone formations provide habitat for communities of algae, bacteria, and fungi. These communities have colonized about 80 percent of the rock formation.
Similarities between surface conditions on Antarctica and Mars lead some scientists to study these organisms as potential analogues of Martian life.
(Photograph shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Timeless Valleys of the Antarctic Desert," October 1998, National Geographic magazine)
意译：战舰海岬，南极洲，1997年。这个海岬是由沙岩构成，提供栖息地给海藻类群体、细菌类、真菌类。这些生物群体约有80％在岩石地域。类似在南极洲地表面和火星战神领导下一些科学家去研究相似的火星人的生活。
Lioness at Borehole, South Africa, 1996
Photograph by Chris Johns
A lioness drinks from a rock-ringed borehole in Kalahari-Gemsbok National Park, a 3,700-square-mile (9,600-square-kilometer) slice of desert in South Africas Northern Cape Province. Lions had all but disappeared from South Africa by the turn of the 20th century due to unbridled hunting, but the seeds of a remarkable comeback were planted in the 1890s with the countrys first game reserves.
(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "A Place for Parks in the New South Africa," July 1996, National Geographic magazine)
意译：主标题：雌狮在地面凿洞，南非，1996年。
一只雌狮在一个岩石围绕的凿洞旁饮水，在南非喀拉哈里沙漠－大羚羊国家的公园，面积达到9600平方公里，但是那只是南非北部沙漠的一片。南非的狮子曾经几乎消失在二十世纪，是由于放肆的猎杀，但是自从1890年以来注意保护后，南非政府赢得第一次胜利狮子的储量增加了。
Sunset Balloonist, New Mexico, 1978
Photograph by Otis Imboden
Inventor and balloonist Frederick Eshoo drifts over Albuquerque, New Mexico, in his invention, Sunstat, the first maneuverable solar hot-air balloon.
The balloons clear panels (left) transmit sunlight to heat-absorbing opaque panels opposite, heating the air inside and keeping the balloon aloft. At more than four hours and 12,500 feet (3,800 meters), Eshoo’s first trip was a soaring success.
(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "The Thousand-Mile Glide," March 1978, National Geographic magazine)
意译：日落时间气球驾驶者，新墨西哥，1978年。一位发明家和气球驾驶者，叫做弗雷德里克（Eshoo），气球在空中漂流在美国新墨西哥州中部城市，他发明了第一个容易操纵的热气球在日出时刻升空。这气球的清晰的嵌板能传输日光到热度嵌板，加热到装置内部然后保证气球升上于高空。经过大约4小时后气球升空达到3800米，(Eshoo)的气球第一次在空中翱翔成功。