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  3. In choosing a method for determining climatic conditions that existed in the past, paleoclimatologists invoke four principal cri

In choosing a method for determining climatic conditions that existed in the past, paleoclimatologists invoke four principal cri

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问题     In choosing a method for determining climatic conditions that existed in the past, paleoclimatologists invoke four principal criteria. First, the material— rocks, lakes, vegetation, etc—on which the method relies must be widespread enough to provide plenty of information, since analysis of material that is rarely encountered will not permit correlation with other regions or with other periods of geological history. Second, in the process of formation, the material must have received an environmental signal that reflects a change in climate and that can be deciphered by modern physical or chemical means. Third, at least some of the material must have retained the signal unaffected by subsequent changes in the environment. Fourth, it must be possible to determine the time at which the inferred climatic conditions held. This last criterion is more easily met in dating marine sediments, because dating of only a small number of layers in a marine sequence allows the age of other layers to be estimated fairly reliably by extrapolation and interpolation. By contrast, because sedimentation is much less continuous in continental regions, estimating the age of a continental bed from the known ages of beds above and below is more risky.
    One very old method used in the investigation of past climatic conditions involves the measurement of water levels in ancient lakes. In temperate regions, there are enough lakes for correlations between them to give us a reliable picture. In arid and semiarid regions, on the other hand, the small number of lakes and the great distances between them reduce the possibilities for correlation. Moreover, since lake levels are controlled by rates of evaporation as well as by precipitation, the interpretation of such levels is ambiguous. For instance, the fact that lake levels in the semiarid southwestern United States appear to have been higher during the last ice age than they are now was at one time attributed to increased precipitation. On the basis of snowline elevations, however, it has been concluded that the climate then was not necessarily wetter than it is now, but rather that both summers and winters were cooler, resulting in reduced evaporation.
    Another problematic method is to reconstruct former climates on the basis of pollen profiles. The type of vegetation in a specific region is determined by identifying and counting the various pollen grains found there. Although the relationship between vegetation and cli- mate is not as direct as the relationship between climate and lake levels, the method often works well in the temperate zones. In arid and semiarid regions in which there is not much vegetation, however, small changes in one or a few plant types can change the picture dramatically, making accurate correlations between neighboring areas difficult to obtain.
Which of the following statements about the difference between marine and continental sedimentation is supported by information in the passage?
选项 A、Data provided by dating marine sedimentation is more consistent with researchers’ findings in other disciplines than is data provided by dating continental sedimentation.
B、It is easier to estimate the age of a layer in a sequence of continental sedimentation than it is to estimate the age of a layer in a sequence of marine sedimentation .
C、Marine sedimentation is much less widespread than continental sedimentation.
D、Researchers are more often forced to rely on extrapolation when dating a layer of marine sedimentation than when dating a layer of continental sedimentation .
E、Marine sedimentation is much more continuous than is continental sedimentation .
答案E
解析 海底和陆地沉积物的情况，可从文中推出的结论有：A．“in other-disciplines”不合适，文中未提用其他学科成果来验证沉积物检验。B．说反了，文中着重指出，测定海底沉积物年代比陆地要容易。L22～32。C．“much less widespread”本篇讲两者区别，未提分布问题。D．“more often forced to rely on extrapolation”区分不出。E．正确。海底沉积物比陆下沉积物更有延续性。L22—32。
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