时差N小时:北冰洋的淡水湖忧患(上)

　　An ocean is the last place you’d expect to find afreshwater lake. As strange as it may seem, theArctic Ocean is home to a lake roughly twice the sizeof Lake Victoria, one of the largest freshwater lakesin the world. This arctic lake is located in theBeaufort Gyre, an area near northwestern Canadawhere the water circulates in a clockwise pattern.Normally, as rivers empty into an ocean, fresh watermixes with the salty ocean water. Over the lastdecade, scientists have discovered that arctic riverwater and melting sea ice have pooled with littlemixing. The growing pond isn’t entirely salt free, but its size and stability have scientistsworried.

　　海洋是能找到淡水湖的最后的地方。看起来似乎很奇怪，北冰洋中的湖泊，其大小是世界上最大的淡水湖泊之一“维多利亚湖”的两倍。这个北极湖位于加拿大西北部附近的Beaufort Gyre，那里的水按顺时针模式循环。通常情况下，河流流入海洋，淡水与咸海水混合。在过去十年里，科学家们已经发现，北极的河水和融化的海冰只有少许融合。日益增长的池塘并非完全无盐，但其规模和稳定性令科学家们担心。