In south America, the Amazon carries away over 2 billion tons of Andes every year,
在南美洲,亚马逊河每年从安第斯山脉带走的砂石多达20亿吨
and deposit it into the Atlantic ocean.
然后把它们沉积在大西洋
And on the Indian subcontinent,
在印度次大陆上
the Ganges River that starts high in the Himalayas
恒河从喜马拉雅山起源
grinds away close to a billion tons of rock every year,
每年大约要侵蚀掉10亿吨岩石
dropping millions of tons almost 1,900 miles down the river in the Indian Ocean.
并倾泻到下游1900英里外的印度洋里
If it wasn't for the movement of the plates building new mountain ranges,
如果不是板块运动建造着山脉
water will eventually erode away all the land on our planet.
水也许最终会把地球上的陆地都侵蚀掉
It's hard to imagine that if the plate will stop moving
难以想象,但是如果地球板块停止运动
our planet will become a water world.
地球也许会变成一个水的世界
It may take an unfeasible long period of time,
这也许要很长很长的时间
but eventually, the land will be worn down and washed out to sea
但是最终陆地会被磨平,变成海洋
and Earth will be covered in a vast ocean。
地球将会被广阔的几公里深的海洋覆盖
So it's thanks to the collisions of the plates continually pushing the land up
幸好有板块的碰撞运动 使陆地不断升高
that we still got terra firma to stand on.
所以我们还能站在陆地上