No, this isn't the setup to a bad joke.

不，這不是一個爛笑話的開場白。

The answer is that all three sport a striking pattern of spots.

答案是，這三個地方都有醒目的斑點圖案。

But while the animals wear their stylish spots year-round,

不過，雖然動物們一年四季都穿著時髦的衣服、

Canada's Spotted Lake only pulls out its polka dots for the summer.

加拿大的斑點湖只有在夏季才會出現圓點圖案。

And as some of these are many meters across and have a variety of colors, they make quite the fashion statement.

其中有些花朵有好幾米寬，顏色也多種多樣，非常時尚。

But while Spotted Lake might look unique, it actually has some competition.

不過，雖然斑點湖看起來獨一無二，但實際上它也有一些競爭對手。

There are several other lakes that share the necessary characteristics for these stunning spots, even some on other planets.

還有其他一些湖泊也具有這些迷人景點的必要特徵，甚至有些還位於其他星球上。

[♪ INTRO ♪)]

[♪ INTRO ♪)]

This polka dot lake is in Canada, specifically in British Columbia.

這個圓點湖位於加拿大，特別是不列顛哥倫比亞省。

And for most of the year, Spotted Lake doesn't look spotted at all.

而在一年中的大部分時間裡，斑點湖看起來根本沒有斑點。

The lake only gets its signature makeover in the summertime.

只有在夏季，湖面才會煥然一新。

It's isolated from other waterways, and it's also pretty shallow.

它與其他水道隔絕，水也很淺。

So in the warmer months, in a place with a relatively dry climate, a lot of the water in the lake just evaporates.

是以，在氣候相對乾燥的溫暖月份裡，湖裡的很多水都會蒸發掉。

The lack of rain makes the water level drop low enough that patterns on the lake beds start to appear.

由於缺少雨水，水位下降到足夠低的程度，湖床上開始出現圖案。

These patterns are pools of mineral-dense brine, the source of the stunning spots visible in the photos of the lake.

這些圖案是富含礦物質的鹽水池，也是湖泊照片中迷人景點的來源。

The brine pools are super salty, and when the water level falls, they get covered in a crust of salt that forms a shell over the whole lake bed.

鹽水池的鹽分很高，當水位下降時，鹽水池就會被一層鹽殼覆蓋，在整個湖床上形成一個殼。

The salty crust solidifies over the mud in between the pools as well, making bridges through the polka dotted landscape.

鹹味地殼也在水池之間的泥漿上凝固，在圓點景觀中架起了橋樑。

But where do the spots underneath the lake come from in the first place?

但是，湖底的斑點從何而來？

And how are they so colorful?

它們怎麼會如此豐富多彩？

Well, it turns out it's a delicate balance of geology and chemistry that makes this lake such a fashion icon.

事實證明，是地質學和化學的微妙平衡讓這個湖泊成為時尚的標誌。

Spotted Lake is an alkaline saline lake, meaning it has a high concentration of salts that are very basic.

斑點湖是一個鹼性鹽湖，這意味著它含有高濃度的鹽分，鹼性很強。

And as the water evaporates in the summertime, the water becomes so salty that it's more like a brine.

隨著夏季水分的蒸發，水變得非常鹹，更像是鹽水。

That brine is denser than water, causing it to settle on the bottom of the lake.

鹽水的密度比水大，是以會沉澱在湖底。

And as more and more water evaporates, eventually each puddle of brine is surrounded by solid salt rings that form bridges between the pools.

隨著蒸發的水越來越多，最終每灘鹽水都被固體鹽環包圍，在水池之間形成橋樑。

And to be clear, this isn't table salt we're talking about.

說白了，我們說的不是食鹽。

The most common salts in Spotted Lake are magnesium sulfate, sodium sulfate, and sodium carbonate.

斑點湖中最常見的鹽類是硫酸鎂、硫酸鈉和碳酸鈉。

These salts are a lot of what gives the spots their color, so each brine pool's unique composition plays a role in its appearance.

這些鹽分在很大程度上賦予了斑點顏色，是以每個鹽水池的獨特成分都會影響其外觀。

Magnesium and sodium salts make up most of the white crusts on the pool's surface.

鎂鹽和鈉鹽是泳池表面白色結殼的主要成分。

Meanwhile, some of the other striking hues come from different concentrations of magnesium salts, silicates, and other minerals in each pool, many of which formed the aptly named greenstone that lies underneath the lake.

與此同時，其他一些引人注目的色調來自於每個水池中不同濃度的鎂鹽、硅酸鹽和其他礦物質，其中許多形成了湖底恰如其分的綠巖。

On top of that, there's some microscopic life that can impact the color.

此外，一些微小的生物也會影響顏色。

Even though a briny lake sounds like a horrible place to live, there are algae and microbes that can contribute to the hues of some pools.

儘管鹹水湖聽起來像是一個可怕的居住地，但藻類和微生物會使一些水池呈現出不同的色調。

Layers of bacterial biofilm known as microbial mats can form in the lake, and give some of the brine pools a green, black, or purple sheen.

湖中會形成一層層被稱為微生物氈的細菌生物膜，使一些鹽水池呈現出綠色、黑色或紫色的光澤。

And these brine pools aren't just pretty, they're also useful.

這些鹽水池不僅漂亮，還很實用。

The mineral-rich pools once made Spotted Lake a prime site for mining metals like magnesium and calcium.

富含礦物質的水池曾使斑點湖成為開採鎂和鈣等金屬的主要地點。

Early surveys of the area around Spotted Lake noted the potential for industrial use of its metals.

對斑點湖周邊地區的早期調查顯示，該地區的金屬具有工業利用的潛力。

Magnesium mined from the lakebed was even used to make ammunition during World War I.

在第一次世界大戰期間，從湖床開採的鎂甚至被用來製造彈藥。

But since then, the lake has been protected from industrial use and public intervention.

但從那時起，該湖就受到了保護，免受工業使用和公共干預。

And it's now under the stewardship of the Silk First Nations people.

現在，它由絲綢原住民管理。

They've revered Spotted Lake as a sacred site for centuries, and historically used it as a medicine lake with healing properties.

幾個世紀以來，他們一直將斑點湖視為聖地，並在歷史上將其作為具有療效的藥湖。

In 2001, the Silk reclaimed the land around Spotted Lake to preserve the cultural site.

2001 年，絲綢公司在斑點湖周圍開墾了土地，以保護這一文化遺址。

But it isn't the only lake on Earth with this mineral makeup.

但它並不是地球上唯一擁有這種礦物成分的湖泊。

Similar saline lakes stretch across Canada and the Pacific Northwest.

類似的鹽湖遍佈加拿大和西北太平洋地區。

This region has a semi-arid climate, which produces just the right conditions to make all of the lakes tend to evaporate in the summer, leaving behind mineral deposits in pools and producing that otherworldly polka dot effect.

該地區屬於半乾旱氣候，恰到好處的氣候條件使得所有湖泊在夏季都容易蒸發，在水池中留下礦物質沉積，產生了超凡脫俗的圓點效果。

And I don't just mean otherworldly as a figure of speech.

我說的 "超凡脫俗 "不僅僅是一種比喻。

The Spotted Lake might have a twin on Mars.

斑點湖可能在火星上有個孿生兄弟。

Or at least, it had a twin, a few billion years ago.

或者說，至少在幾十億年前，它有一個孿生兄弟。

But don't worry, its mineral deposits don't look a day over one million.

不過不用擔心，這裡的礦藏看起來一天也不會超過一百萬。

Martian samples found deposits of minerals very similar to those in Spotted Lake, including magnesium and sodium salts and silicates.

火星樣本中發現了與斑點湖非常相似的礦物沉積，包括鎂鹽和鈉鹽以及硅酸鹽。

An eagle-eyed undergraduate named Kevin Cannon made this connection as a geology student back in 2012, as one of many scientists who have noticed that the hydrogeology of Earth and Mars have a lot in common.

早在2012年，一位名叫凱文-坎農（Kevin Cannon）的地質學大學生就發現了這一聯繫，他是注意到地球和火星的水文地質學有很多共同點的眾多科學家之一。

So Earth lakes could be used to study ancient Mars lakes that have dried up, based on the composition of their mineral deposits.

是以，地球上的湖泊可以用來研究已經乾涸的古代火星湖泊，其依據是湖泊中礦藏的成分。

Studying these lakes could give scientists a peek into the history of Mars, using what's in our own backyard.

研究這些湖泊可以讓科學家利用我們自己後院的東西窺探火星的歷史。

So if you're ever up in British Columbia in the summer, see if you can spot the Spotted Lake at its most fashionable.

是以，如果您夏天來到不列顛哥倫比亞省，看看能否發現最時尚的斑點湖。

But don't be too salty if it outdresses you.

不過，如果它穿得比你少，也不要太鹹。

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