黄石国家公园，（Yellowstone National Park）简称黄石公园，是世界第一座国家公园，成立于1872年。黄石公园位于美国中西部怀俄明州的西北角，并向西北方向延伸到爱达荷州和蒙大拿州，面积达7988平方公里。这片地区原本是印地安人的圣地，但因美国探险家路易斯与克拉克的发掘，而成为世界上最早的国家公园。园内设有历史古迹博物馆，它在1978年被列为世界自然遗产。黄石河、黄石湖纵贯其中，有峡谷、瀑布、温泉以及间歇喷泉等，景色秀丽，引人入胜。其中尤以每小时喷水一次的“老实泉”最著名。园内森林茂密，还牧养了一些残存的野生动物如美洲野牛等，供人观赏。（百度百科对黄石公园的详细介绍）

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As continents shift and clash,volcanos erupt,and glaciers grow and recede,the earth’s crust is carved in countless fasinating ways,leaving a trail of geological mysteries behind.

One of the greatest is right here, in yellow stone national park in Wyoming. This is one of the world’s most geologically active places, shaken by up to 5000 earthquakes every year, and more geysers and hot springs than the rest of the world combine. Why is yellow stone so active? How did it form? And why here,in the heart of Rockies. Scientists studying in yellowstone are uncovering a violent past. Carved by water,crushed by ancient glaciers,and blasted by the biggest volcano eruption ever known on the planet. And even today,yellow stone is one of the most dangerous places on earth.

Yellowstone national park is one of the most amazing places on earth, and it’s unique. It contains some of the America’s most stunning scenery and wildlife that attracts 3 million tourists a year. To understand where yellowstone came from, and why it is so active today, we need to take a journey back into the distant past of the north American continent and deep into the earth’s interior. Yellowstone sits 8000 feet up, on a romote mountain plateau, primirally within Wyoming, but streching into parts of Idaho and Montana. The park covers 3468 sqaure miles,63 miles north to south and 54 miles east to west. And its on top of one of the world’s most unuasual and deadliest geological structures.

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-What’s unusual about the park? Are the wildlife unusual? No. Is the wide open space unusual? No, you’ve got it all over the western U.S. What’s unusual? It’s the very unusual geology that created the park. Yellowstone was founded as the world’s first national park because of the geology.

It’s the strange geology that attracts teams of scientists to the park. Their task, to piece together the story of the incredible processes that built this unique, extraordinary landscape, by digging deep into Yellowstone’s past.

-The geological history of Yellowstone goes back to the formation of the North American Continent. Some of the rocks in Yellowstone are 2.8 to 3.2 billion-year-old rocks, some are the oldest in North America.

Only by travelling back into the past can we figure out why in this particular location, there are 2,400 miles of rivers, more than 300 waterfalls, and the world’s greatest concentration of 10,000 hot water springs, bubbling mud holes, gas vents（排气孔） and gysers(间歇喷泉). What do these features reveal about this landscape and how it was formed?

The investigation begins at Yellowstone’s star attraction—Old Faithful. It’s a key clue to what’s going on underneath the surface. Located in the southwest of Yellowstone Park, the gyser puts on an explosive display every 90 munites or so, lasting out thousands of gallons of scorching hot water.

-Yellowstone is like no other place on earth. There is so much heat coming out here. It’s really a singular phenomenon.

-Well, after about 90-munite nap, Old faithful has woke back to life. And it wasn’s actual napping, it was recharging, the temperature of the water was increasing, the system was pressurizing. Beneath Old faithful, there is a rather complex pumping system filled with carburet and conduit and constrictions.

Rain waters saturating the ground around the gysers, slowly fill its underground reservoir.

New Words and Phrases

continent n. 大陆，洲
clash n. 冲突，撞击声，抵触 vt. 冲突，抵触，使 … 发出撞击声 vi. 引起冲突
volcano n.火山
erupt v. 爆发
glacier n. 冰河，冰川
recede vi. 后退，减弱 vt. 撤回
carve v. 雕刻，切割
geological adj. 地质学的
Wyoming n. 怀俄明(州)[美国]
geyser n. 天然热喷泉，间歇泉 n. <英>热水器
Rockies n. 落基山脉(北美) = Rocky Mountains
blast n. 一阵(强风)，爆炸声，爆破 v. 爆破，摧毁
plateau n. 高原;平稳;稳定状态 vi. 到达平稳阶段
Idaho n. 爱达荷(美国州名）
Montana n. 蒙大拿(美国州名)