Located in the North Atlantic, Iceland consists of over thirty active volcanic systems, few other places give such an insight into how our planet was formed.
冰岛地处大西洋北部，境内分布着超过三十处活火山山系，很少有其它地方能比这里更直观地反映我们的星球形成时的情景。
Iceland is part of the mid Atlantic ridge - one of the most volcanic places on the planet.
冰岛是大西洋中脊的一部分，而大西洋中脊则是全球火山频发的地区之一。
It marks the boundary between two of the earth's crust's biggest plates - the North American and Eurasian plates have been pulled apart for over one hundred million years by the tectonic forces below.
它划分着地球地壳中最大的两个板块的边界线，也就是北美板块和亚欧板块，它们已被地壳下的构造作用力分离了超过一亿年之久。
This movement has created an almost fifteen-thousand-kilometer-long tear in the earth crust, causing the magma to hemorrhage from below in the relentless lava flow.
这场地质运动在地球地壳上形成了几乎长达一万五千公里的断裂带，导致岩浆从底部溢出，从而形成不间断的熔岩流。
As it cools, new land is born.
熔岩冷却后，新的岛屿出现了。
This has created the world's longest mountain range under the ocean, averaging over three kilometers high and a thousand kilometers wide.
这也造就了世界上最长的海底山脉，这些山系的平均高度达到三公里，平均宽度达到一千公里。
And just twenty million years ago, the mountains rose from the waves and Iceland was born.
而就在两千万年以前，这里的山系抬升至海面之上，冰岛由此诞生。
Although Iceland has a heart of fire, eleven percent of its surface is covered by glaciers.
尽管冰岛的根基实为烈火铸就，百分之十一的表面积却被冰川覆盖。
Vast rivers of ice continually carve out the island's evolving landscape.
广阔的冰河不断刻划并改变着这座岛屿的地貌。
Despite Iceland's high latitude on the edge of the Arctic circle, its coastal waters do not completely freeze thanks to the warmer Atlantic Gulf Stream, a system of thermal currents a few degrees warmer than the surrounding waters.
尽管冰岛位于北极圈边缘的高纬度地区，它的周边海域却因受益于北大西洋暖流而不会完全冻结，这是一股水温比周围海水高出几度的温暖洋流系统。
As Iceland has only been around for mere twenty million years, relatively few native species of plants or animals have established themselves on the island.
由于冰岛的形成距今仅有两千万年，因此能在岛上安家落户的本地种类的动植物相对较少。
In fact, there's only one native land mammal - the Arctic fox.
实际上，这里只有一种本地陆上哺乳动物-北极狐。
The Arctic foxes crossed over to Iceland during the last Ice Age, the last time the oceans here froze longenough.
北极狐是在上一次冰河时期越洋迁徙到冰岛的，那是这片大洋最后一次长时间的冰封。
Having been isolated on this volcanic island for ten thousand years the Icelandic Arctic fox has been forced to adapt.
由于已经在这座火山岛上与世隔绝了上万年时间，冰岛北极狐被迫学会如何适应这里的环境。
Seabirds like these fulmars nest on Icelandic sheer cliff to avoid predators, but for the foxes, where there's a will, there's a way.
像这些管鼻鹱之类的海鸟把鸟巢筑在冰岛陡峭的悬崖上躲避捕食者，但对北极狐来说，只要它想做到，就自有办法。
Elsewhere in the Arctic, lemmings make up over ninety percent of the fox's diet. But there are no lemmingson Iceland.
在北极其它地区，旅鼠占了北极狐猎物的百分之九十以上，但在冰岛是没有旅鼠的。
The fulmars have one other weapon in their armory.
管鼻鹱在防卫方面还有另一种武器。
When attacked, they spit a fowl smelling oil from their gut, and they can fire it up to two meters.
遇到攻击时，它们会喷出一种内脏分泌的恶臭的粘液，而它们能足足喷射两米远。
To avoid the noxious yellow liquid, the foxes must attack from the rear.
为了躲避这种黄色有害粘液，北极狐必须从后方出击。
