《格兰特船长的儿女》是法国科幻小说凡尔纳·儒勒的代表作，这本书写了一行人为了救人而穿越了南美洲，澳大利亚，新西兰，一路异域风情，也一路上艰难险阻，甚至在新西兰碰上了食人族，侥幸逃生，我今天就来盘点一下这本书中的相关地理知识。
因为看的是英文原版书，所以所举的例子都是英文，如果难懂的话，我会在下面用中文加以注解，希望我的读者们能够从英语书籍中学到更多知识。
新西兰的地理
New zealand is, in fact, a formation of recent plutonic origin, its emergence from the sea is constantly increasing. Some points are known to have risen six feet in twenty years. Fire still runs across its center, shakes it, convulses it, and finds an outlet in many places by the mouths of geyers and the craters of volcanoes.
Plutonic是火成岩的意思，因为新西兰地质运动剧烈，经常有火山，所以岩石大多都是火成岩。岩石一共分为三种:火成岩，沉积岩和变质岩。
水雾的成因
The next morning at daybreak a thick fog was clinging to the surface of the river. A portion of the vapors that saturated the air were condensed by the cold, and lay as a dense cloud on the water. But the rays of the sun soon broke through the watery mass and melted it away.
"蒹葭苍苍，白露为霜"的梦幻之景是怎么形成的呢？
首先，有河，有湖的地方的空气中水汽充盈
黎明是一天最冷的时刻，低温使得水汽凝结
这样，水面上就好像出现了一层厚厚的雨层一般，令人琢磨不透，又因为那种神秘的美感使人流连忘返
但这水雾易散，阳光的出现使得这曼妙的水雾如同化作泡沫的美人鱼一般消逝于清晨
海洋的知识
“Your Lordship is deceived by qn optional illusion,” said the young captain. “Although the swell seems to carry the waves landward, it does not really move at all. It is mere undulating molecular motion, nothing more. Throw a piece of wood overboard and you will see that it will remain quite stationary except as the tide affects it. There is nothing for it but patience.”
海浪看起来是向岸打去，但是真实情况是:海浪只是在做上下浮动的运动而已
如果你扔一块木头到海里，这块木头只是原地不动而已
动物群与植物群的表达
Its Fauna and Flora, however, were poor in the extreme.
当一个地方动物群和植物群都不发达时，这个地方的环境就非常恶劣
Fauna (某个地区的)动物群
英文释义:
Animals, especially the animals in a particular area can be referred to as fauna.
flora (某个地区的)植物群
plants， especially the plants in a particular area can be refered to as flora.
高海拔地区水的沸点
“By way of compensation, however, ” he added, “water will boil at less than 100 degrees heat. It will come to the point of ebulition before 99 degrees.”
在高海拔地区，水的沸点是低于100摄氏度的
智利的地震
“An earthquake! ” exclaimed Paganel. He was not mistaken. It was one of those cataclysms frequent in Chili, and in this very region where Copiapo had been twice destroyed, and Santiago four times laid in ruins in fourteen years.
This region of the globe is so underlaid with volcanic fires and the volcanoes of recent origin are such insufficient safety valves for the subterranean vapors, that shocks are of frequent occurrence, and are called by the people Tremblores.
智利地震多发的原因是位于火山地震带，南极洲板块和美洲板块相互挤压。两个板块分裂的话，在陆地上形成裂谷，比如东非大裂谷，在海中形成山脉; 两个板块碰撞的话，在陆地上形成山脉，海洋中形成深深的海沟。
洪水——大自然的力量
The warning was scarely spoken before the enormous billow, a monstrous wave forty feet high, broke over the fugitives with a fearful noise. Men and animals all disappeared in a whirl of foam; a liquid mass, weighing several millions of ton, engulfed them in its seething waters.
我选取这一段的原因是这一段是对洪水的详细描写，它的巨大的破坏里，人在这中力量的面前是渺小的。
人类未踏足的地方
In the Steppes of Siberia, in the plains of central Asia, in the desserts of Africa, in the prairies of America, in the immense wilds of Australia, in the icy solitudes of the Poles, man scarcely dares to venture; the most daring shrink back, the most courageous succumbs. They cannot penetrate them; the means of transport are insufficient, and the heat and diseases, and savage disposition of the natives, are impassable obstacles.
在那些人类很少踏足的地方，那里充满了危险和未知数，需要人类的勇气去跨越，去面对，去探索，去求知。
Steppe 大草原，干草原(东欧横穿苏联南部)
英文释义: Steppe are large areas of flat grassy land where there are no trees, especially the area that stretches from Eastern Europe across the south of the former Soviet Union to Siberia.
澳洲的气候
“Yes, ” replied the Savant, in a tone of conviction. Here metals do not get rust on them by exposure to the air, nor men.
“I am not speaking of the hygienic qualities of the climate,” continued Paganel, “rich as it is in oxygen and poor in azote. There are no damp winds, because the trade winds blow regulary on the coasts, and most disease are unknown, from typhus to measles, and chronic affections.
澳洲处于信风带，空气中氧气的含量很高而氮气很少
因为氧气很少，所以金属不易氧化
因为其独特的气候，这里有着人们未知的疾病
南北半球季节相反
It was the 23d of December,1864, a dull, damp dreary month in the northern hemisphere; but on the Australian continent it might be called June. The hottest season of the year had already commenced, and the sun's rays were almost tropical, when Lord Glenarvan started on his new expedition.
南北半球季节相反，所以在北半球寒冷的十二月就相当于南半球的炎炎夏日
在选段里有“a dull，damp，dreary month”,这里有押首韵的用法，使得行文更有文采
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