Chocolate Hills (Philippines)

Composed of around 1，268 perfectly cone-shaped1) hills of about the same size， spread over an area of more than 50 square kilometres， this highly unusual geological formation， called Chocolate Hills， is located in Bohol， Philippines. There are a number of hypotheses2) regarding the formation of the hills. These include simple limestone weathering， sub-oceanic3) volcanism， the uplift of the seafloor and a more recent theory which maintains that as an ancient active volcano self-destructed， it spewed4) huge blocks of stone which were then covered with limestone and later thrust forth from the ocean bed.

Hell Gate (Uzbekistan)

Called by locals The Door to Hell， this place in Uzbekistan is situated near the small town of Darvaz. When geologists were drilling for gas， 35 years ago， they suddenly found an underground cavern5) that was so big， all the drilling site with all the equipment and camps fell deep under the ground. None dared to go down there because the cavern was filled with gas， so they ignited6) it so that no poisonous gas could come out of the hole， and since then， it has been burning. Nobody knows how many tons of excellent gas has been burned for all those years， but it seems to be infinite.

巧克力山(菲律賓)

菲律賓的保和島境內有一種被稱為巧克力山的地貌，這種極為特別的地質構造包括了大約1268座大小相似、分布達50多平方公里的標準錐形山丘。關于這些山丘的形成有很多種不同的假說，其中包括簡單的石灰?guī)r風化、海底火山爆發(fā)、海底隆起等，而最近的一種理論則認為是由于古活火山大爆發(fā)，噴涌出的巨大石塊被石灰?guī)r覆蓋，最后從大洋底部受擠壓移動而形成的。

地獄之門(烏茲別克斯坦)

這個被當?shù)厝朔Q為“通向地獄之門”的地方位于烏茲別克斯坦境內靠近達沃茲小鎮(zhèn)附近。35年前，地質學家們在進行天然氣鉆探時，突然發(fā)現(xiàn)了一個巨大的地下洞窟，洞窟大到整個鉆探現(xiàn)場包括所有設備、營房全都深陷到了地下。由于洞窟里充斥著天然氣，沒有人敢下到里面去。為了防止有毒氣體泄露，地質學家們點燃了洞內的燃氣，從那以后，它便一直燃燒至今。這么多年來，沒有人知道究竟燃燒掉了多少優(yōu)質的天然氣，但里面似乎還有著無限的儲量。

Giants Causeway (Ireland)

An area of about 40，000 interlocking7) basalt8) columns， the Giants Causeway， is the result of an ancient volcanic eruption9). Located on the north-east coast of Northern Ireland， most of its columns are hexagonal10)， although there are also some with four， five， seven and eight sides. The tallest are about 12 meters high， and the solidified lava11) in the cliffs is 28 meters thick in places.

Eye of the Sahara (Mauritania)

This spectacular landform in Mauritania in the southwestern part of the Sahara desert is so huge， with a diameter of 30 miles， that it is visible from space. Called Richat Structure—or the Eye of the Sahara—the formation was originally thought to be caused by a meteorite12) impact， but now geologists believe it is a product of uplift and erosion13). The cause of its circular shape is still a mystery.

巨人堤(愛爾蘭)

巨人堤是一座古火山爆發(fā)而成的產(chǎn)物，它包括了大約四萬根互相連結的玄武巖柱。巨人堤位于北愛爾蘭東北部的海岸線上，它的大多數(shù)巖柱是六邊形的，但也有四邊形、五邊形、七邊形甚至八邊形等其他形狀。最高的巖柱高達12米，有些地方懸崖上的固化熔巖厚達28米。

撒哈拉之眼(毛里塔尼亞)

這個壯觀的地貌位于撒哈拉沙漠西南部的毛里塔尼亞境內，直徑30英里，大得從外太空都能看得到。這種被稱為理查特結構——或撒哈拉之眼——的地質構造，最初據(jù)說是由于隕石撞擊形成的，但現(xiàn)如今地質學家們則認為這是地質構造上升并受到侵蝕的結果。其環(huán)形構造的形成原因至今仍是個未解之謎。

Blue Lake Cave (Brazil)

Mato Grosso do Sul region in Brazil (and especially the quiet town of Bonito) boasts14) many marvelous underground lakes. The world famous \"Gruta do Lago Azul\" (Blue Lake Cave) is a natural monument whose interior is formed by stalactites15)， stalagmites16) and a huge， and wonderful blue lake. The beauty of the lake is something impressive. The Blue Lake Cave has a wide variety of geological formations but impresses mainly for the deep blue colored water of its lake.

藍湖洞 (巴西)

巴西的南馬托格羅索州地區(qū)(尤其是靜謐的波尼多鎮(zhèn))以許多令人不可思議的地下湖而聞名于世。舉世聞名的“Gruta do Lago Azul”(葡萄牙語，意為藍湖洞)是大自然的一個杰作，它的內部由鐘乳石、石筍和一個巨大而美麗的藍湖組成。這片湖的美麗令人嘆為觀止。藍湖洞有很多不同的地質構造，但給人印象最深的主要還是它深藍色的湖水。

Antelope Canyon (Arizona， USA)

The most visited and photographed slot canyon in the American Southwest， the Antelope Canyon is located on Navajo land near Page， Arizona. It includes two separate， photogenic17) slot canyon sections， referred to individually as Upper Antelope Canyon—or \"The Crack\"—and Lower Antelope Canyon—or \"The Corkscrew.\"

The Navajo name for Upper Antelope Canyon is Tse' bighanilini， which means \"the place where water runs through rocks.\" Lower Antelope Canyon is Hasdestwazi， or \"spiral18) rock arches19).\"

羚羊峽谷(美國亞利桑那州)

羚羊峽谷位于亞利桑那州佩吉市附近的納瓦荷地區(qū)，是美國西南部游人最多也是攝影人士光顧最多的峽谷。它包括兩個獨立且非常上鏡的狹長峽谷，分別被稱為上羚羊峽谷(或“大裂縫”)和下羚羊峽谷(或“大鉆頭”)。

在納瓦荷語中，上羚羊峽谷被稱為“Tse' bighanilini”，意思是“水穿巖石之地”；下羚羊峽谷則被稱為“Hasdestwazi”，意為“螺旋狀巖石拱門”。

Great Blue Hole (Belize)

The Great Blue Hole lies approximately 60 miles off the mainland out of Belize City. A large， almost perfectly circular hole approximately one quarter of a mile across， it's one of the most astounding20) dive sites to be found anywhere on earth. Inside this hole， the water is 480 feet deep and it is the depth of the water which gives the deep blue color that causes such structures throughout the world to be known as \"blue holes.\"

大藍洞(伯利茲城)

大藍洞位于伯利茲城的大陸以外約60英里處。這個巨大的標準圓形大洞，寬近四分之一英里，是已發(fā)現(xiàn)的世界上最令人嘆為觀止的潛水場地之一。洞內水深480英尺，正是如此深度形成的深藍色成就了這個為世人所知的“藍洞”。

Vocabulary

1.cone-shaped [5kEunFeIpt] adj. 錐形的

2.hypothesis [haI5pCWIsIs] n. 假說，假設；其復數(shù)形式為hypotheses。

3.sub-oceanic [7sQbEuFI5AnIk] adj. 洋底的，海底的

4.spew [spju:] v. 噴出

5.cavern [5kAvEn] n. (尤指大的)洞穴，山洞

6.ignite [I^5naIt] vt. 點燃，點火于，使燃燒

7.interlock [7IntE5lCk] vt. 使連鎖；使連結；使互相扣住

8.basalt [5bAsC:lt] n. 【地】玄武巖

9.volcanic eruption: 火山爆發(fā)；volcanic [vCl5kAnik] adj. 火山(性)的；火成的，火山作用引起的；eruption [I5rQpFEn] n. 噴發(fā)；爆發(fā)

10.hexagonal [hek5sA^EnEl] adj. 六角形的，六邊形的

11.lava [5lB:vE] n. (熔巖冷卻凝結而成的)火山巖

12.meteorite [5mi:tIEraIt] n. 【天】隕星

13.erosion [I5rEuVEn] n. 腐蝕；侵蝕

14.boast [bEust] vt. 以有……而自豪

15.stalactite [5stAlEktaIt] n. 【地】鐘乳石

16.stalagmite [5stAlE^maIt] n. 【地】石筍

17.photogenic [7fEutEu5dVenIk] adj. 適宜于拍照的，上照的，上(電影)鏡頭的

18.spiral [5spaIErEl] adj. 螺旋的；螺旋形的；盤旋的

19.arch [B:tF] n. 【建】拱；拱門；拱形結構

20.astounding [E5staJndIN] adj. 令人震驚的；使人驚駭?shù)?/p>