'Massive' coral reef taller than the Empire State Building discovered in Australia

在澳大利亚发现的巨型珊瑚礁比纽约帝国大厦还要高

A "massive" new reef measuring 500 meters (about 1,600 feet) has been discovered in Australia's Great Barrier Reef, making it taller than some of the world's highest skyscrapers.

在澳大利亚大堡礁发现的新“巨型”珊瑚礁有500米高，这一高度使其要比世界上部分最高的摩天大楼还要高。

Scientists found the detached reef, which is the first to be discovered in more than 120 years, in waters off North Queensland while on an expedition aboard research vessel Falkor, ocean research organization Schmidt Ocean Institute announced Monday.

海洋研究机构Schmidt Ocean研究院于周一宣布，科学家们乘坐探险研究船只Falkor在远离北昆士兰的水面中发现了一个独立的珊瑚礁。这是120多年来首个被发现的珊瑚礁。

The reef was first discovered on October 20, as scientists completed an underwater mapping of the seafloor of the northern Great Barrier Reef.

珊瑚礁于10月20日被首次发现，当时科学家们已经完成了大堡礁北面的海床地图绘制。

At 500 meters high, it is taller than the Empire State Building (381 meters to the top floor), the Sydney Tower (305 meters) and the Petronas Twin Towers (451.9 meters.)

珊瑚礁高达500米，比纽约帝国大厦（到顶层的话为381米）、悉尼电视塔（305米）以及双子塔（451.9米）还要高。

Using an underwater robot named SuBastian, the team explored the reef on Sunday, and live streamed footage of the exploration.

科学家团队于周日利用水下机器人Subastian开始探索珊瑚礁并以现场直播的方式播放了探索的过程。

Experts say that the base of the "blade-like" reef measures 1.5 kilometers wide (nearly 1 mile), rising 500 meters to its shallowest depth of 40 meters below the ocean surface.

专家们表示，形似刀片的珊瑚礁的底座宽1.5公里，并从离海洋表面最近的40米高度开始上升至500米。

Robin Beaman, who led the expedition, said he was "surprised" by the discovery.

探险队队长Robin Beanman表示，这一发现让他感到出乎意料。

"To not only 3D map the reef in detail, but also visually see this discovery with SuBastian is incredible," he said in a statement.

他在声明中表示，采用3D方式详细地绘制出珊瑚礁的地图以及从视觉上了解这一发现是令人难以置信的。

"This unexpected discovery affirms that we continue to find unknown structures and new species in our ocean," Wendy Schmidt, co-founder of Schmidt Ocean Institute, said in a statement.

Wendy Schmidt，Schmidt 海洋研究院的联合创始在声明中表示：“这一令人难以置信的发现表，我们将继续在海洋中寻找未知的珊瑚礁和物种。”

"The state of our knowledge about what's in the ocean has long been so limited. Thanks to new technologies that work as our eyes, ears and hands in the deep ocean, we have the capacity to explore like never before. New oceanscapes are opening to us, revealing the ecosystems and diverse life forms that share the planet with us."

“一直以来，我们对于海洋内部了解十分有限。随着新技术的出现以及新技术可以在深海中充当我们的眼睛、耳朵和双手，我们有能力以前所未有的方式去探索海洋。新的海洋发现让我们了解到地球上同时存在的生态系统以及多样的生命形式。”

The Great Barrier Reef, the world's largest coral reef, covers nearly 133,000 square miles and is home to more than 1,500 species of fish, 411 species of hard corals and dozens of other species.

大堡礁是世界上最大的珊瑚礁，其占地近13.3万平方英里并且是超过1500种鱼类以及411种石珊瑚以及十几种其他物种的栖息地。

But the reef is facing a crisis -- recent studies have shown that it has lost 50% of its coral populations in the last three decades, with climate change a key driver of reef disturbance.

但是，珊瑚礁目前正在面临危机-最近的研究显示，在最近30年里，珊瑚礁群体已经失去了50%，而气候变化是导致珊瑚礁紊乱的关键因素。

来源：CNN，编辑：Susan