地质专业英语资料

English Reading Material forGeology, Hydrogeology, Engineeri ng geology and Enviro nmental GeologyDepartment of Resources, Environment and Engineering Shijiazhuang University of EconomicsContentUnit One: The Earth通用______________________________________________________________________________________________________________1 Unit Two: The Atmosphere环 __________________________________________________________________________________________________________4 Unit Three: Oceans通用______________________________________________________________________________________________________________7 Unit Four: Groundwater通用__________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 11 Unit Five: Minerals地______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 14 Unit Six: Rocks通用________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 18 Unit Seven: Weathering and Erosi on通用_________________________________________________________________________________________________ 24 Unit Eight: Geological Structures通用 ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ 27 Unit Nine: Earth History通用_________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 30 Unit T en: Continental drift地 _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 34 Unit Eleven: Plate Tectonics地 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 36 Unit Twelve: Earthquakes an d Seismic W aves地 ___________________________________________________________________________________________ 39 Unit thirteen: Introduction of Igneous Geochemistry地______________________________________________________________________________________ 42 Unit Fourteen: Using trace element analysis to determine the tectonic setting of basic volcanic rocks地__________________________________________________ 45 Unit Fifteen: Geophysical Prospecting地、工______________________________________________________________________________________________ 48 Unit Sixteen: W ater水______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 51 Unit Sevent een: Character of Groundwater水、环 ___________________________________________________________________________________________ 54 Unit Eighteen: Parameters of Groundwater Flow水 ________________________________________________________________________________________ 58 Unit Ninete en: Hydrogeological Investigations水 __________________________________________________________________________________________ 62 Unit Twenty: Soils水、环_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 64 Unit Twenty-one: Me chanical behavior of rock and soil工____________________________________________________________________________________ 67 Unit Twenty-two: Reser voirs水、工 ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ 70 Unit Twenty-thre e: Dams工__________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 73 Unit Twenty-four: Excavation and Support工 _____________________________________________________________________________________________ 76 U n i t T we n t y-f i v e: S l ope S t a bi l i t y an d D own sl o pe M ov e me n t工、环______________________________________________________________________________________________ 79Unit On e: The Earth通用IntroductionThe Earth is a very large spherical body. The science of geology is concerned with the Earth and the rocks of which it compos ed, t he processes by which t hey were formed during geological time, and the modeling of t he Earth‟s surface in the past and at the present day. Earth is not a static body but is constantl y subj ect to c hanges both at its surface and at deeper levels.Surface changes can be observed by engineers and geol ogists alike; among them erosion is a dominant process which in time destroys coastal cliffs, reduces the height of continents, and transports the materi al so re moved either to the sea or to inland basins of deposition. Changes that originat e below the surface are not so easily observed and their nature c an only be postulated. Some are the c ause of slow movements of continents across the surface of the globe; othe rs cause the more rapid changes associated with volcanic eruptions and earthquakes.The surface of the EarthDimensions and surface relie fThe radius of the Earth at the equator is 6370km and the polar radius is shorter by about 22km; thus the Earth is not quite a perfect sphere. The planet has a surface a rea of 510⨯106m2, of which some 29 per cent is land. If to this is added the shallow sea areas of the shelf which surrounds the continents, t he total land area is nearly 35 per cent of the whole surface. In other words, nearly two-thirds of the surface is covered by deep ocean.Fig.1 A sketch profile of continental marginSurface relie f is very varied (se e fig.1); mountains rise to several kilomet ers above sea level, with a maximu m of 8.848km at Everest (珠穆朗玛峰). The average height ofland above sea level is 0.875km and the mean depth of the ocean floor is about 3.73km. In places the ocean floor descends to much greater depths in elongated areas or trenches; the Marianas Trench (马里亚纳海沟) in the N.W. Pacific reaches the greatest known dept h, 11.034km. The extremes of height and depth are small in comparison with the Earth‟s radius, and are found only i n limited are as. The oceans, seas, lakes and rivers are collectively re fe rred to as the h ydrosphere; and the whole is surrounded by a gaseous envelope, the atmosphere.The interior of the EarthOur knowledge of the Earth‟s interior is at present based on those direct investigations t hat can be made to dept hs of a few kilometers from the surface, together with extrapolations to lower levels. Studies of heat-flow, geostatic pressure, earthquakes, and estimations of isostatic balance reveal much about the interior of the Earth.It is well known from deep mining operations that tempe rature increas esdownwards at an average rate of 30︒C per km. This rate is hi gher near a source ofheat such as an active volcanic center, and is also affected by the t hermalconductivity of t he rocks at a particular locality. Assuming for t he moment that thetemperature gradient continues at the ave rage rate, c alculation shows that at a depthof some 30km the tempe rature would be such that most known rocks would begi n tomelt. The high pressure prevailing at that depth and the ability of crustal rocks toconduct heat away to the surface of the Earth result in the rock-materi al thereremaining in a relatively soli d condition;but t here will be a depth at which itbecomes essentially a viscous fluid and this defines the base of the lithosphere(see fig.2).The mean density of the Earth, which i s found from its estimated mass and vol ume, is 5.527g/cm3. This is greater than the densit y of most rocks found at the surface, which rarely exceeds 3; sedimenta ry rocks average 2.3, and t he abundant igneous rock granite about 2.7. In order to bring the mean density t o 5.5 there must therefore be denser mate rial at lowe r levels within the Earth. Our knowledge of the interior of the Earth has come largely fro m the study of the elastic waves generated by earthquakes, in particular from resea rch into the way in which earthquake waves are bent (by diffraction at certain boundaries) as they pass through t he Earth. This has shown t hat our planet has a core of heavy materi al with a density of 8. T wo metals, i ron and nickel, have densities a little below and above 8 respectively, and t he core is believed to be composed mainly of iron. Surrounding t his heavy core is the region known as the mantle; and overlying that is the crust, which is itself composite. In continental areas the average thickness of the crust is about 30km; in the oceans it is 10km. The mantle has a range of density intermediate betwe en that of the crust and the core.Vocabularies an d Phrases:modeling n 造型postulate vt, vi 假定，推测erosion n 侵蚀eruption n 喷发，爆发inland basin 内陆盆地abyssal plain 深海平原continental rise 大陆基lithosphere n 岩石圈continental shelf 大陆架asthenophere n 软流圈relief n 地貌，地形起伏thermal conductivity 热传导率descend vi下降temperature gradient 温度剃度trench n 海沟prevailing a 占优势的extrapolation n 外推法，推断viscous a 粘性的geostatic pressure 地压力elastic wave 弹性波isostatic balance 地壳均衡diffraction n 衍射Reading materialThe ea rth and other membe rs of the Solar syste m are believed to have been formed about 4600 million years ago by condensation from a flat tened rotating cloud of gas and dust. This contracted slowly, giving rise to the primitive Sun at its c enter – a new st ar – surrounded by a mass of cosmi c gases in which local condensations generated the planets. They, and other bodies such as t he asteroids and meteorites, all revolve in the same direction in orbits around the Sun. the cold primitive Earth beca me gradually heated as its interior was co mpressed by the increasing weight of accu mulated ma tter and by the decay of natural radioactive ma teri a ls. Heat w as produced more quickly than it could escape fro m the compressed mass, resulting in the melting of some constituents and heavier matte r being drawn by gravity towa rds the Earth‟s center. The planet thus gradually acquired a core, surrounded by a mantle of less dense materi al, and an outer crust.Supplementary ExercisesPart one: Answer following questions in English1.What is the difference between the ea rth‟s crust and its lithosphere?2.The earth‟s radius is 6.4⨯108 cm and its mass is 6.0⨯1027 g. calculate the average density of the earth as a whole and compare it with the average density of crustal rocks,2.7g/cm3. What does t his comparison indicate about the composition of the earth‟s interior?Part two: Translations between English and Chinese:1.The Ea rth consists of a two-part core, a mantle of solid rock, and an outermost thin, rocky c rust. The c rust and the outer pa rt of the mantle co mpose the lithosphere,which includes all the rocky material of the Earth‟s outer shell, extending from the surface to a dept h of about 100 kilometers.2.对于人类来说，地球是我们的大家园，地球给我们提供了生活所必需的丰富的物质资源和优美的生活环境，我们应该注意合理地使用这些矿产资源和保护生活环境。