60:0.1 (685.1) THE era of exclusive marine life has ended. Land elevation, cooling crust and cooling oceans, sea restriction and consequent deepening, together with a great increase of land in northern latitudes, all conspired greatly to change the world’s climate in all regions far removed from the equatorial zone.
60:0.1 (685.1) 獨有海洋生命的時代已經結束。陸地抬升、地殼冷卻與海洋冷卻、海洋萎縮及隨之而來的加深，加之北緯地區陸地面積的大幅增加，這些因素共同作用，極大地改變了所有遠離赤道區域的世界氣候。
60:0.2 (685.2) The closing epochs of the preceding era were indeed the age of frogs, but these ancestors of the land vertebrates were no longer dominant, having survived in greatly reduced numbers. Very few types outlived the rigorous trials of the preceding period of biologic tribulation. Even the spore-bearing plants were nearly extinct.
60:0.2 (685.2) 前一時代的末期確實是蛙類的時代，但這些陸地脊椎動物的祖先已不再占據主導地位，它們存活下來的數量已大大減少。在經歷了前一段生物災難時期的嚴酷考驗後，只有極少數物種活了下來。就連孢子植物也幾乎滅絕了。
60:1.1 (685.3) The erosion deposits of this period were mostly conglomerates, shale, and sandstone. The gypsum and red layers throughout these sedimentations over both America and Europe indicate that the climate of these continents was arid. These arid districts were subjected to great erosion from the violent and periodic cloudbursts on the surrounding highlands.
60:1.1 (685.3) 這個時期的侵蝕沉積物主要為礫巖、泥巖和砂巖。貫穿美洲與歐洲沉積層的石膏層與紅色巖層表明，這些大陸的氣候是幹燥的。這些幹燥地區遭受了周邊高地猛烈且周期性大暴雨的嚴重侵蝕。
60:1.2 (685.4) Few fossils are to be found in these layers, but numerous sandstone footprints of the land reptiles may be observed. In many regions the one thousand feet of red sandstone deposit of this period contains no fossils. The life of land animals was continuous only in certain parts of Africa.
60:1.2 (685.4) 這些地層中幾乎找不到化石，但在砂巖中卻能看到大量陸地爬行動物的足跡。在許多地區，這個時期厚達三百米的紅色砂巖沉積層中不含任何化石。只有在非洲的某些地區，陸地動物的生命才得以延續。
60:1.3 (685.5) These deposits vary in thickness from 3,000 to 10,000 feet, even being 18,000 on the Pacific coast. Lava was later forced in between many of these layers. The Palisades of the Hudson River were formed by the extrusion of basalt lava between these Triassic strata. Volcanic action was extensive in different parts of the world.
60:1.3 (685.5) 這些沉積層的厚度從1,000到3,000多米不等，在太平洋沿岸甚至可達5,500多米。後來，熔巖被擠壓在許多這些巖層之間。哈德遜河的帕利塞茲峭壁就是由玄武巖熔巖擠入這些三疊紀地層之間而形成的。火山活動在世界各地廣泛發生。
60:1.4 (685.6) Over Europe, especially Germany and Russia, may be found deposits of this period. In England the New Red Sandstone belongs to this epoch. Limestone was laid down in the southern Alps as the result of a sea invasion and may now be seen as the peculiar dolomite limestone walls, peaks, and pillars of those regions. This layer is to be found all over Africa and Australia. The Carrara marble comes from such modified limestone. Nothing of this period will be found in the southern regions of South America as that part of the continent remained down and hence presents only a water or marine deposit continuous with the preceding and succeeding epochs.
60:1.4 (685.6) 整個歐洲，特別是德國和俄羅斯，都可以找到這一時期的沉積物。在英格蘭，新紅砂巖就屬於這個時期。石灰巖沉積於南阿爾卑斯山脈，是海水的入侵導致的，如今在那些地區可以看到其獨特的白雲石灰巖壁、山峰與石柱。這種巖層在非洲和澳大利亞隨處可見。卡拉拉大理石就來自這種變質的石灰巖。在南美洲的南部地區，人們無法找到這個時期的任何痕跡，因為該大陸的那個部分當時始終處於水下，因此僅形成與前後地質時期相銜接的水成或海成沉積物。
60:1.5 (686.1) 150,000,000 years ago the early land-life periods of the world’s history began. Life, in general, did not fare well but did better than at the strenuous and hostile close of the marine-life era.
60:1.5 (686.1) 150,000,000 年前，地球歷史上的早期陸地生命時代開始了。總體而言，生命發展並不順利，但比海洋生命時代結束時那段艱難險惡的時期要好得多。
60:1.6 (686.2) As this era opens, the eastern and central parts of North America, the northern half of South America, most of Europe, and all of Asia are well above water. North America for the first time is geographically isolated, but not for long as the Bering Strait land bridge soon again emerges, connecting the continent with Asia.
60:1.6 (686.2) 在這個時代開啟時，北美洲東部和中部、南美洲北部、歐洲大部分地區以及整個亞洲都遠高於水面。北美洲首次在地理上處於孤立狀態，但這種情況並未持續太久，因為白令海峽陸橋很快再次出現，將北美大陸與亞洲重新連接起來。
60:1.7 (686.3) Great troughs developed in North America, paralleling the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. The great eastern-Connecticut fault appeared, one side eventually sinking two miles. Many of these North American troughs were later filled with erosion deposits, as also were many of the basins of the fresh- and salt-water lakes of the mountain regions. Later on, these filled land depressions were greatly elevated by lava flows which occurred underground. The petrified forests of many regions belong to this epoch.
60:1.7 (686.3) 在北美洲，與大西洋和太平洋沿岸平行的大峽谷形成了。巨大的東康涅狄格斷層出現了，其一側最終下沉了三千多米。許多北美洲的峽谷後來都填滿了侵蝕沉積物，山區許多淡水湖和鹹水湖盆也是如此。後來，這些填滿的窪地被地下發生的熔巖流大幅抬升了。許多地區的石化森林都屬於這個時期。
60:1.8 (686.4) The Pacific coast, usually above water during the continental submergences, went down excepting the southern part of California and a large island which then existed in what is now the Pacific Ocean. This ancient California sea was rich in marine life and extended eastward to connect with the old sea basin of the midwestern region.
60:1.8 (686.4) 在歷次大陸沉沒期間通常位於水面之上的太平洋沿岸地區，當時卻沉沒了，只有加利福尼亞南部及當時存在於現今太平洋中的一個大島除外。這片古老的加利福尼亞海域含有豐富的海洋生物，向東延伸與中西部地區古老的海盆相連。
60:1.9 (686.5) 140,000,000 years ago, suddenly and with only the hint of the two prereptilian ancestors that developed in Africa during the preceding epoch, the reptiles appeared in full-fledged form. They developed rapidly, soon yielding crocodiles, scaled reptiles, and eventually both sea serpents and flying reptiles. Their transition ancestors speedily disappeared.
60:1.9 (686.5) 140,000,000 年前，爬行動物突然以完全成熟的形態出現了，此前僅有前一個時期在非洲發展起來的兩種前爬行動物的微弱痕跡。它們發展迅速，很快便衍生出鱷魚、鱗甲爬行動物，最終還出現了海蛇和會飛的爬行動物。他們的過渡祖先很快便消失了。
60:1.10 (686.6) These rapidly evolving reptilian dinosaurs soon became the monarchs of this age. They were egg layers and are distinguished from all animals by their small brains, having brains weighing less than one pound to control bodies later weighing as much as forty tons. But earlier reptiles were smaller, carnivorous, and walked kangaroolike on their hind legs. They had hollow avian bones and subsequently developed only three toes on their hind feet, and many of their fossil footprints have been mistaken for those of giant birds. Later on, the herbivorous dinosaurs evolved. They walked on all fours, and one branch of this group developed a protective armor.
60:1.10 (686.6) 這些迅速進化的爬行動物恐龍很快成為這個時代的王者。它們是卵生動物，並因其小腦而區別於所有其他動物，他們的腦子重量不足一磅，卻要控製後來重達四十噸的軀體。但早期的爬行動物體型較小，是肉食動物，且像袋鼠那樣用後腿行走。它們擁有中空的鳥類骨骼，因此後腳僅發育出三個腳趾，它們的許多化石足跡曾被誤認為是巨鳥的足跡。後來，食草恐龍進化出來了。它們四肢行走，其中一個分支還長出了保護性甲殼。
60:1.11 (686.7) Several million years later the first mammals appeared. They were nonplacental and proved a speedy failure; none survived. This was an experimental effort to improve mammalian types, but it did not succeed on Urantia.
60:1.11 (686.7) 幾百萬年後，第一批哺乳動物出現了。它們沒有胎盤，很快就證明是失敗的；它們無一幸存。這是一項旨在改良哺乳動物種類的實驗性嘗試，但在玉苒廈未能成功。
60:1.12 (686.8) The marine life of this period was meager but improved rapidly with the new invasion of the sea, which again produced extensive coast lines of shallow waters. Since there was more shallow water around Europe and Asia, the richest fossil beds are to be found about these continents. Today, if you would study the life of this age, examine the Himalayan, Siberian, and Mediterranean regions, as well as India and the islands of the southern Pacific basin. A prominent feature of the marine life was the presence of hosts of the beautiful ammonites, whose fossil remains are found all over the world.
60:1.12 (686.8) 這個時期的海洋生命稀少，但隨著海水的新一輪入侵，再次形成廣闊的淺水海岸線，其數量迅速增加。由於歐洲和亞洲周邊淺水區域較多，這些大陸周邊發現了最豐富的化石層。今天，如果你們想研究這個時代的生命，那就去考察喜馬拉雅山脈、西伯利亞、地中海沿岸地區，以及印度與南太平洋盆地的島嶼吧。海洋生命的一個顯著特征是存在大量的美麗菊石，在世界各地都可找到它們的化石遺骸。
60:1.13 (686.9) 130,000,000 years ago the seas had changed very little. Siberia and North America were connected by the Bering Strait land bridge. A rich and unique marine life appeared on the Californian Pacific coast, where over one thousand species of ammonites developed from the higher types of cephalopods. The life changes of this period were indeed revolutionary notwithstanding that they were transitional and gradual.
60:1.13 (686.9) 130,000,000 年前，海洋幾乎沒有發生什麽變化。西伯利亞和北美洲通過白令海峽陸橋相連。加利福尼亞太平洋沿岸出現了豐富而獨特的海洋生命，在那兒，從高等頭足類動物發展出了超過一千種菊石。盡管這一時期的生命變化只是過渡的，且發生得比較緩慢，但它們確實具有革命性意義。
60:1.14 (687.1) This period extended over twenty-five million years and is known as the Triassic.
60:1.14 (687.1) 這個時期持續了兩千五百多萬年，被稱為三疊紀。
60:2.1 (687.2) 120,000,000 years ago a new phase of the reptilian age began. The great event of this period was the evolution and decline of the dinosaurs. Land-animal life reached its greatest development, in point of size, and had virtually perished from the face of the earth by the end of this age. The dinosaurs evolved in all sizes from a species less than two feet long up to the huge noncarnivorous dinosaurs, seventy-five feet long, that have never since been equaled in bulk by any living creature.
60:2.1 (687.2) 120,000,000 年前，爬行動物時代的一個新階段開始了。這個時期的重大事件是恐龍的進化和衰退。陸地動物生命在體型方面取得了最大的發展，但到這個時代結束時，它們幾乎從地球表面消失殆盡。恐龍在進化中形成了各種體型，從不到六十厘米長的物種，到長達二十三米的巨型非食肉恐龍，其龐大身軀至今仍無任何生物能與之匹敵。
60:2.2 (687.3) The largest of the dinosaurs originated in western North America. These monstrous reptiles are buried throughout the Rocky Mountain regions, along the whole of the Atlantic coast of North America, over western Europe, South Africa, and India, but not in Australia.
60:2.2 (687.3) 最大的恐龍起源於北美洲西部。這些巨大的爬行動物埋葬於整個落基山脈地區、北美大西洋沿岸全境、西歐、南非和印度，但澳大利亞除外。
60:2.3 (687.4) These massive creatures became less active and strong as they grew larger and larger; but they required such an enormous amount of food and the land was so overrun by them that they literally starved to death and became extinct—they lacked the intelligence to cope with the situation.
60:2.3 (687.4) 隨著這些巨型生物越來越大，它們變得不那麽活躍和強壯；然而它們所需的食物量如此驚人，而且陸地又被它們過度侵占，所以它們實際上是活活餓死並最終滅絕的——它們缺乏應對這種情況的智能。
60:2.4 (687.5) By this time most of the eastern part of North America, which had long been elevated, had been leveled down and washed into the Atlantic Ocean so that the coast extended several hundred miles farther out than now. The western part of the continent was still up, but even these regions were later invaded by both the northern sea and the Pacific, which extended eastward to the Dakota Black Hills region.
60:2.4 (687.5) 至此，長期以來一直處於抬升狀態的北美東部大部分地區，已被夷為平地並沖入大西洋，使得海岸線比現在向外延伸了幾百公裏。 大陸西部地區仍在海面之上，但即便是這些地區，後來也遭到了北海和太平洋的入侵，太平洋向東延伸至達科他州的黑山地區。
60:2.5 (687.6) This was a fresh-water age characterized by many inland lakes, as is shown by the abundant fresh-water fossils of the so-called Morrison beds of Colorado, Montana, and Wyoming. The thickness of these combined salt- and fresh-water deposits varies from 2,000 to 5,000 feet; but very little limestone is present in these layers.
60:2.5 (687.6) 這是一個以眾多內陸湖泊為特征的淡水時代，科羅拉多州、蒙大拿州和懷俄明州所謂的莫裏森地層中豐富的淡水化石便是明證。這些混合的鹹水與淡水沉積層厚度在600至1,500米之間變化；但這些巖層中幾乎不含石灰巖。
60:2.6 (687.7) The same polar sea that extended so far down over North America likewise covered all of South America except the soon appearing Andes Mountains. Most of China and Russia was inundated, but the water invasion was greatest in Europe. It was during this submergence that the beautiful lithographic stone of southern Germany was laid down, those strata in which fossils, such as the most delicate wings of olden insects, are preserved as of but yesterday.
60:2.6 (687.7) 向北美洲延伸得很遠的極地海洋，同樣覆蓋了整個南美洲，除了即將出現的安第斯山脈。中國和俄羅斯的大部分地區都淹沒了，但歐洲的洪水災情最為嚴重。正是在這次沉沒期間，德國南部美麗的石版巖沉積而成，那些巖層中諸如遠古昆蟲纖細翅膀之類的化石，宛若昨日留存。
60:2.7 (687.8) The flora of this age was much like that of the preceding. Ferns persisted, while conifers and pines became more and more like the present-day varieties. Some coal was still being formed along the northern Mediterranean shores.
60:2.7 (687.8) 這個時代的植物群與前一個時代極為相似。蕨類植物得以存留，而針葉樹和松樹則越來越接近現今的品種。地中海北部沿岸仍有一些煤炭正在形成。
60:2.8 (687.9) The return of the seas improved the weather. Corals spread to European waters, testifying that the climate was still mild and even, but they never again appeared in the slowly cooling polar seas. The marine life of these times improved and developed greatly, especially in European waters. Both corals and crinoids temporarily appeared in larger numbers than heretofore, but the ammonites dominated the invertebrate life of the oceans, their average size ranging from three to four inches, though one species attained a diameter of eight feet. Sponges were everywhere, and both cuttlefish and oysters continued to evolve.
60:2.8 (687.9) 海洋的回歸改善了天氣。珊瑚蔓延到歐洲海域，證明氣候依然溫和而穩定，但它們卻再也沒有出現在逐漸冷卻的極地海洋中。這些時期的海洋生命有了極大的改進和發展，尤其是在歐洲水域。珊瑚和海百合的數量都一度比以往更多，但菊石仍主導著海洋中的無脊椎動物，它們的平均尺寸在七至十厘米之間，不過其中一個物種的直徑可達兩米半。海綿隨處可見，烏賊和牡蠣仍在不斷進化。
60:2.9 (688.1) 110,000,000 years ago the potentials of marine life were continuing to unfold. The sea urchin was one of the outstanding mutations of this epoch. Crabs, lobsters, and the modern types of crustaceans matured. Marked changes occurred in the fish family, a sturgeon type first appearing, but the ferocious sea serpents, descended from the land reptiles, still infested all the seas, and they threatened the destruction of the entire fish family.
60:2.9 (688.1) 110,000,000 年前，海洋生命的潛力仍在持續展現。海膽是這個時期最突出的變異物種之一。螃蟹、龍蝦以及現代甲殼類動物逐漸成熟。魚類家族發生了顯著變化，鱘魚類首次出現，但源於陸地爬行動物的兇猛，海蛇仍肆虐所有海域，它們威脅要毀滅整個魚類家族。
60:2.10 (688.2) This continued to be, pre-eminently, the age of the dinosaurs. They so overran the land that two species had taken to the water for sustenance during the preceding period of sea encroachment. These sea serpents represent a backward step in evolution. While some new species are progressing, certain strains remain stationary and others gravitate backward, reverting to a former state. And this is what happened when these two types of reptiles forsook the land.
60:2.10 (688.2) 毫無疑問，這仍然是恐龍的時代。它們如此蹂躪這片土地，以至於在先前海水侵蝕的時期，兩個物種已不得不轉向水域覓食。這些海蛇代表了進化過程中的倒退。當一些新物種正在取得進展時，某些物種卻停滯不前，另一些則趨向倒退，回到先前的形態。當這兩類爬行動物離開陸地時，情況正是如此。
60:2.11 (688.3) As time passed, the sea serpents grew to such size that they became very sluggish and eventually perished because they did not have brains large enough to afford protection for their immense bodies. Their brains weighed less than two ounces notwithstanding the fact that these huge ichthyosaurs sometimes grew to be fifty feet long, the majority being over thirty-five feet in length. The marine crocodilians were also a reversion from the land type of reptile, but unlike the sea serpents, these animals always returned to the land to lay their eggs.
60:2.11 (688.3) 隨著時間流逝，海蛇長到如此龐大，以致變得非常遲鈍，最終因其大腦不足以保護其龐大的身軀而滅絕。盡管這些巨大的魚龍有時能長到十五米長，其中大多數體長超過十米，但它們的大腦重量卻不到六十克。海洋鱷魚同樣是陸地爬行動物的退化產物，但與海蛇不同的是，這些動物總是會返回陸地產卵。
60:2.12 (688.4) Soon after two species of dinosaurs migrated to the water in a futile attempt at self-preservation, two other types were driven to the air by the bitter competition of life on land. But these flying pterosaurs were not the ancestors of the true birds of subsequent ages. They evolved from the hollow-boned leaping dinosaurs, and their wings were of batlike formation with a spread of twenty to twenty-five feet. These ancient flying reptiles grew to be ten feet long, and they had separable jaws much like those of modern snakes. For a time these flying reptiles appeared to be a success, but they failed to evolve along lines which would enable them to survive as air navigators. They represent the nonsurviving strains of bird ancestry.
60:2.12 (688.4) 兩種恐龍為求自保而遷徙至水中，但最終卻失敗了，不久之後，另外兩種恐龍因殘酷的陸地生存競爭而被迫飛到空中。但這些會飛的翼龍並非後世真正鳥類的祖先。它們從中空骨骼的跳躍類恐龍進化而來，它們的翅膀呈蝙蝠狀結構，展開後長達六至八米。這些古老的會飛的爬行動物體長可達三米，其可分離的頜骨結構與現代蛇類極為相似。這些會飛的爬行動物一度看似取得了成功，但它們未能沿著能夠使其作為空中航行者生存下去的方向進化。它們代表了鳥類祖先中未存活的品種。
60:2.13 (688.5) Turtles increased during this period, first appearing in North America. Their ancestors came over from Asia by way of the northern land bridge.
60:2.13 (688.5) 首先出現在北美洲的海龜，在此期間數量增加了。他們的祖先是從亞洲經由北部的陸橋遷徙而來的。
60:2.14 (688.6) One hundred million years ago the reptilian age was drawing to a close. The dinosaurs, for all their enormous mass, were all but brainless animals, lacking the intelligence to provide sufficient food to nourish such enormous bodies. And so did these sluggish land reptiles perish in ever-increasing numbers. Henceforth, evolution will follow the growth of brains, not physical bulk, and the development of brains will characterize each succeeding epoch of animal evolution and planetary progress.
60:2.14 (688.6) 一億年前，爬行動物時代即將結束。恐龍盡管體型龐大，卻幾乎是沒有頭腦的動物，它們缺乏足夠的智能來提供充足的食物，以養活如此巨大的身體。於是，這些行動遲緩的陸生爬行動物在日益增加的數量中消亡了。從此，進化將遵循大腦的增長而非軀體體積的增長，而大腦的發展將表征動物進化與行星進步的每個後續時代。
60:2.15 (688.7) This period, embracing the height and the beginning decline of the reptiles, extended nearly twenty-five million years and is known as the Jurassic.
60:2.15 (688.7) 這個時期涵蓋了爬行動物的鼎盛時期和開始衰落的時期，持續了近兩千五百萬年，被稱為侏羅紀。
60:3.1 (688.8) The great Cretaceous period derives its name from the predominance of the prolific chalk-making foraminifers in the seas. This period brings Urantia to near the end of the long reptilian dominance and witnesses the appearance of flowering plants and bird life on land. These are also the times of the termination of the westward and southward drift of the continents, accompanied by tremendous crustal deformations and concomitant widespread lava flows and great volcanic activities.
60:3.1 (688.8) 白堊紀之所以得名，是因為海洋中大量繁殖的、能產生白堊的有孔蟲占據了主導地位。這個時期標誌著玉苒廈漫長的爬行動物統治即將結束，並見證了陸地上開花植物與鳥類生命的出現。這也是大陸向西和向南漂移終止的時期，伴隨著巨大的地殼變形以及隨之而來的廣泛熔巖流和劇烈的火山活動。
60:3.2 (689.1) Near the close of the preceding geologic period much of the continental land was up above water, although as yet there were no mountain peaks. But as the continental land drift continued, it met with the first great obstruction on the deep floor of the Pacific. This contention of geologic forces gave impetus to the formation of the whole vast north and south mountain range extending from Alaska down through Mexico to Cape Horn.
60:3.2 (689.1) 在上一個地質時期臨近結束時，盡管還沒有山峰，但大部分大陸陸地已露出水面。但隨著大陸板塊繼續漂移，它在太平洋深邃的海底遭遇了第一個巨大的阻礙。這種地質力的較量，推動了整個南北綿延山脈的形成，這條山脈從阿拉斯加向南延伸，穿越墨西哥，直到合恩角。
60:3.3 (689.2) This period thus becomes the modern mountain-building stage of geologic history. Prior to this time there were few mountain peaks, merely elevated land ridges of great width. Now the Pacific coast range was beginning to elevate, but it was located seven hundred miles west of the present shore line. The Sierras were beginning to form, their gold-bearing quartz strata being the product of lava flows of this epoch. In the eastern part of North America, Atlantic sea pressure was also working to cause land elevation.
60:3.3 (689.2) 這一時期因此成為地質史上的現代造山運動階段。在此之前，山峰寥寥無幾，只有寬闊的高聳山脊。此時太平洋沿岸地區開始抬升，但它位於現今海岸線以西一千一百公裏處。連綿的山嶺開始形成，其含金石英巖層正是這個時期熔巖流的產物。在北美洲東部，大西洋的壓力同樣在推動陸地抬升。
60:3.4 (689.3) 100,000,000 years ago the North American continent and a part of Europe were well above water. The warping of the American continents continued, resulting in the metamorphosing of the South American Andes and in the gradual elevation of the western plains of North America. Most of Mexico sank beneath the sea, and the southern Atlantic encroached on the eastern coast of South America, eventually reaching the present shore line. The Atlantic and Indian Oceans were then about as they are today.
60:3.4 (689.3) 100,000,000 年前，北美大陸和歐洲的一部分都遠高於海面。美洲大陸的變形仍在持續，導致南美安第斯山脈發生變形，並使北美西部平原逐漸抬升。墨西哥的大部分地區沉入海中，南大西洋侵入南美洲東海岸，最終抵達現今的海岸線。當時的大西洋和印度洋與今天大致相同。
60:3.5 (689.4) 95,000,000 years ago the American and European land masses again began to sink. The southern seas commenced the invasion of North America and gradually extended northward to connect with the Arctic Ocean, constituting the second greatest submergence of the continent. When this sea finally withdrew, it left the continent about as it now is. Before this great submergence began, the eastern Appalachian highlands had been almost completely worn down to the water’s level. The many colored layers of pure clay now used for the manufacture of earthenware were laid down over the Atlantic coast regions during this age, their average thickness being about 2,000 feet.
60:3.5 (689.4) 95,000,000 年前，美洲和歐洲陸地板塊再次開始下沉。南面的海洋開始入侵北美洲，並逐漸向北擴展，直至與北冰洋相連，由此形成了該大陸的第二次大沉沒。當這片海洋最終退去時，它留下了與現在大致相同的大陸。在這場大沉沒開始之前，東部阿巴拉契亞高地幾乎已被侵蝕殆盡，降至水面高度。現在用於製造陶器的多彩純黏土層，就是在那個時期沉積在大西洋沿岸地區的，其平均厚度約為600米。
60:3.6 (689.5) Great volcanic actions occurred south of the Alps and along the line of the present California coast-range mountains. The greatest crustal deformations in millions upon millions of years took place in Mexico. Great changes also occurred in Europe, Russia, Japan, and southern South America. The climate became increasingly diversified.
60:3.6 (689.5) 阿爾卑斯山以南，以及現今加利福尼亞沿岸山地一帶，曾發生過劇烈的火山活動。在墨西哥，發生了數百萬年來最劇烈的地殼變形。歐洲、俄羅斯、日本和南美洲南部也發生了巨大變化。氣候變得日益多樣化。
60:3.7 (689.6) 90,000,000 years ago the angiosperms emerged from these early Cretaceous seas and soon overran the continents. These land plants suddenly appeared along with fig trees, magnolias, and tulip trees. Soon after this time fig trees, breadfruit trees, and palms overspread Europe and the western plains of North America. No new land animals appeared.
60:3.7 (689.6) 90,000,000 年前，被子植物從這些早期的白堊紀海洋中出現，並迅速蔓延至各大陸。這些陸生植物與無花果樹、木蘭樹和玉蘭樹一起突然出現。不久之後，無花果樹、面包果樹和棕櫚樹便遍布了歐洲和北美洲西部的平原。其間沒有出現新的陸地動物。
60:3.8 (689.7) 85,000,000 years ago the Bering Strait closed, shutting off the cooling waters of the northern seas. Theretofore the marine life of the Atlantic-Gulf waters and that of the Pacific Ocean had differed greatly, owing to the temperature variations of these two bodies of water, which now became uniform.
60:3.8 (689.7) 85,000,000 年前，白令海峽閉合，阻隔了北方的寒冷水流。此前，由於大西洋-墨西哥灣水域與太平洋水域的溫度差異，兩地的海洋生命存在顯著差異，而現在它們的水溫已經趨於一致。
60:3.9 (689.8) The deposits of chalk and greensand marl give name to this period. The sedimentations of these times are variegated, consisting of chalk, shale, sandstone, and small amounts of limestone, together with inferior coal or lignite, and in many regions they contain oil. These layers vary in thickness from 200 feet in some places to 10,000 feet in western North America and numerous European localities. Along the eastern borders of the Rocky Mountains these deposits may be observed in the uptilted foothills.
60:3.9 (689.8) 白堊和綠砂泥灰巖的沉積為這個時代賦予了名字。這些時期的沉積物種類繁多，包含了白堊、頁巖、砂巖及少量石灰巖，以及劣質煤或褐煤，在許多地區，它們還含有石油。這些巖層的厚度各不相同，某些地區僅60米，而在北美西部及歐洲許多地區則可達3000米。在落基山脈的東部邊界地帶，可以在微揚的山麓小丘中觀察到這些沉積物。
60:3.10 (690.1) All over the world these strata are permeated with chalk, and these layers of porous semirock pick up water at upturned outcrops and convey it downward to furnish the water supply of much of the earth’s present arid regions.
60:3.10 (690.1) 在全世界，這些地層都滲透著白堊，在朝上露出地表的地方，這些多孔的半巖石層吸收水分並將其向下輸送，為地球上現今的許多幹旱地區提供水源。
60:3.11 (690.2) 80,000,000 years ago great disturbances occurred in the earth’s crust. The western advance of the continental drift was coming to a standstill, and the enormous energy of the sluggish momentum of the hinter continental mass upcrumpled the Pacific shore line of both North and South America and initiated profound repercussional changes along the Pacific shores of Asia. This circumpacific land elevation, which culminated in present-day mountain ranges, is more than twenty-five thousand miles long. And the upheavals attendant upon its birth were the greatest surface distortions to take place since life appeared on Urantia. The lava flows, both above and below ground, were extensive and widespread.
60:3.11 (690.2) 80,000,000 年前，地殼發生了劇烈的動蕩。大陸漂移的西向推進逐漸停滯，後方大陸板塊遲滯的推動力所蘊含的巨大能量，擠皺了南北美洲的太平洋海岸線，並在亞洲太平洋沿岸引發了深遠的反響變化。這條環太平洋的陸地隆起帶最終形成了當今的山脈，其長度超過四萬公裏。伴隨其誕生的劇變，是自生命出現在玉苒廈以來所發生的最嚴重的地表變形。地上和地下都有大量且遍布的熔巖流。
60:3.12 (690.3) 75,000,000 years ago marks the end of the continental drift. From Alaska to Cape Horn the long Pacific coast mountain ranges were completed, but there were as yet few peaks.
60:3.12 (690.3) 75,000,000 年前，大陸漂移結束。從阿拉斯加到合恩角，綿延的太平洋沿岸山脈已經形成，但山峰仍寥寥無幾。
60:3.13 (690.4) The backthrust of the halted continental drift continued the elevation of the western plains of North America, while in the east the worn-down Appalachian Mountains of the Atlantic coast region were projected straight up, with little or no tilting.
60:3.13 (690.4) 停滯的大陸漂移產生的反推力繼續抬升北美西部平原，而在東部，大西洋沿岸地區被侵蝕的阿巴拉契亞山脈筆直地向上抬升，幾乎或完全沒有傾斜。
60:3.14 (690.5) 70,000,000 years ago the crustal distortions connected with the maximum elevation of the Rocky Mountain region took place. A large segment of rock was overthrust fifteen miles at the surface in British Columbia; here the Cambrian rocks are obliquely thrust out over the Cretaceous layers. On the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains, near the Canadian border, there was another spectacular overthrust; here may be found the prelife stone layers shoved out over the then recent Cretaceous deposits.
60:3.14 (690.5) 70,000,000 年前，與落基山地區最高海拔上升相關的地殼發生了變形。在不列顛哥倫比亞，一大段巖層在地表被逆沖了二十四公裏；此處寒武紀巖層被斜著推覆在白堊紀地層之上。在落基山脈東坡，靠近加拿大邊界處，還有一處壯觀的逆沖構造；在這裏可以發現前生命時代的巖層被推擠到當時新近形成的白堊紀沉積層之上。
60:3.15 (690.6) This was an age of volcanic activity all over the world, giving rise to numerous small isolated volcanic cones. Submarine volcanoes broke out in the submerged Himalayan region. Much of the rest of Asia, including Siberia, was also still under water.
60:3.15 (690.6) 這是一個全世界火山活動頻發的時代，形成了無數孤立的小火山錐。海底火山在水下的喜馬拉雅地區爆發。大部分亞洲其他地區，包括西伯利亞，也都仍處於水下。
60:3.16 (690.7) 65,000,000 years ago there occurred one of the greatest lava flows of all time. The deposition layers of these and preceding lava flows are to be found all over the Americas, North and South Africa, Australia, and parts of Europe.
60:3.16 (690.7) 65,000,000 年前，發生了一次屬於有史以來最壯觀的熔巖流。在整個美洲、南非和北非、澳大利亞及歐洲部分地區，都可以看到這些及以前的熔巖流形成的沉積層。
60:3.17 (690.8) The land animals were little changed, but because of greater continental emergence, especially in North America, they rapidly multiplied. North America was the great field of the land-animal evolution of these times, most of Europe being under water.
60:3.17 (690.8) 陸地動物變化不大，但由於更大規模的大陸出現，尤其在北美洲，它們迅速繁衍起來。由於歐洲大部分地區被水淹沒，北美洲是這些時期陸地動物進化的主要區域。
60:3.18 (690.9) The climate was still warm and uniform. The arctic regions were enjoying weather much like that of the present climate in central and southern North America.
60:3.18 (690.9) 氣候依然溫暖而穩定。北極地區的氣候與現今北美洲中部和南部的氣候極為相似。
60:3.19 (690.10) Great plant-life evolution was taking place. Among the land plants the angiosperms predominated, and many present-day trees first appeared, including beech, birch, oak, walnut, sycamore, maple, and modern palms. Fruits, grasses, and cereals were abundant, and these seed-bearing grasses and trees were to the plant world what the ancestors of man were to the animal world—they were second in evolutionary importance only to the appearance of man himself. Suddenly and without previous gradation, the great family of flowering plants mutated. And this new flora soon overspread the entire world.
60:3.19 (690.10) 偉大的植物生命進化正在發生。在陸地植物中，被子植物占據主導地位，許多現代樹種首次出現，包括山毛櫸、樺樹、橡樹、胡桃樹、梧桐樹、楓樹及現代棕櫚樹。水果、草本植物和谷物極為豐富，這些結籽的草和樹木之於植物界，正如人類先祖之於動物界——它們在進化的重要性上僅次於人類本身的出現。突然間，在毫無事先過渡的情況下，開花植物的大家族發生了突變。而這種新植物很快就遍布了整個世界。
60:3.20 (691.1) 60,000,000 years ago, though the land reptiles were on the decline, the dinosaurs continued as monarchs of the land, the lead now being taken by the more agile and active types of the smaller leaping kangaroo varieties of the carnivorous dinosaurs. But sometime previously there had appeared new types of the herbivorous dinosaurs, whose rapid increase was due to the appearance of the grass family of land plants. One of these new grass-eating dinosaurs was a true quadruped having two horns and a capelike shoulder flange. The land type of turtle, twenty feet across, appeared as did also the modern crocodile and true snakes of the modern type. Great changes were also occurring among the fishes and other forms of marine life.
60:3.20 (691.1) 60,000,000 年前，盡管陸地爬行動物已走向衰落，但恐龍仍是陸地的霸主，如今，更敏捷、更活躍的小型跳躍袋鼠類肉食性恐龍占據了主導地位。但在此之前，已出現新型食草恐龍，其數量的快速增長得益於陸地植物草本家族的出現。其中一種新出現的食草恐龍是真正的四足動物，有兩只角和類似鬥篷的護肩。體寬達六米的陸龜出現了，現代鱷魚和真正的現代蛇類也隨之出現。魚類及其他形式的海洋生命也正經歷著巨大的變化。
60:3.21 (691.2) The wading and swimming prebirds of earlier ages had not been a success in the air, nor had the flying dinosaurs. They were a short-lived species, soon becoming extinct. They, too, were subject to the dinosaur doom, destruction, because of having too little brain substance in comparison with body size. This second attempt to produce animals that could navigate the atmosphere failed, as did the abortive attempt to produce mammals during this and a preceding age.
60:3.21 (691.2) 早期的涉水和遊泳前鳥類未能在空中取得成功，會飛的恐龍亦是如此。它們是一種短命的物種，很快就滅絕了。因為腦組織相對於體型而言太少了，所以它們同樣難逃恐龍的厄運，即滅絕。正如在這個時期和前一個時期嘗試培育哺乳動物的失敗一樣，第二次嘗試培育能夠穿行於大氣層的動物也以失敗告終。
60:3.22 (691.3) 55,000,000 years ago the evolutionary march was marked by the sudden appearance of the first of the true birds, a small pigeonlike creature which was the ancestor of all bird life. This was the third type of flying creature to appear on earth, and it sprang directly from the reptilian group, not from the contemporary flying dinosaurs nor from the earlier types of toothed land birds. And so this becomes known as the age of birds as well as the declining age of reptiles.
60:3.22 (691.3) 55,000,000 年前，第一種真正的鳥類突然出現，為進化的進程留下了印記，一種形似鴿子的小型生物，正是所有鳥類生命的祖先。這是地球上出現的第三種飛行生物，它直接源自爬行動物群體，而非同時代的飛行恐龍或更早期的齒龍類陸生鳥類。因此，這個時代既被稱為鳥類的時代，也被稱為爬行動物衰落的時代。
60:4.1 (691.4) The great Cretaceous period was drawing to a close, and its termination marks the end of the great sea invasions of the continents. Particularly is this true of North America, where there had been just twenty-four great inundations. And though there were subsequent minor submergences, none of these can be compared with the extensive and lengthy marine invasions of this and previous ages. These alternate periods of land and sea dominance have occurred in million-year cycles. There has been an agelong rhythm associated with this rise and fall of ocean floor and continental land levels. And these same rhythmical crustal movements will continue from this time on throughout the earth’s history but with diminishing frequency and extent.
60:4.1 (691.4) 偉大的白堊紀即將結束，它的終結標誌著海洋對大陸大規模入侵的結束。尤其在北美地區，那裏曾發生過二十四次大規模洪水。盡管後來還發生過幾次小規模的淹沒，但這些都無法與這個時代和前幾個時代中那些廣泛而漫長的海洋入侵相提並論。這些陸地與海洋交替主導的時期以百萬年的周期循環出現。海洋底部與大陸地層的這種升降，始終伴隨著一種亙古不變的節奏。而這些同樣有節奏的地殼運動，將從此時起持續貫穿整個地球歷史，但其頻率和幅度將逐漸減弱。
60:4.2 (691.5) This period also witnesses the end of the continental drift and the building of the modern mountains of Urantia. But the pressure of the continental masses and the thwarted momentum of their agelong drift are not the exclusive influences in mountain building. The chief and underlying factor in determining the location of a mountain range is the pre-existent lowland, or trough, which has become filled up with the comparatively lighter deposits of the land erosion and marine drifts of the preceding ages. These lighter areas of land are sometimes 15,000 to 20,000 feet thick; therefore, when the crust is subjected to pressure from any cause, these lighter areas are the first to crumple up, fold, and rise upward to afford compensatory adjustment for the contending and conflicting forces and pressures at work in the earth’s crust or underneath the crust. Sometimes these upthrusts of land occur without folding. But in connection with the rise of the Rocky Mountains, great folding and tilting occurred, coupled with enormous overthrusts of the various layers, both underground and at the surface.
60:4.2 (691.5) 這一時期還見證了大陸漂移的結束以及玉苒廈現代山脈的形成。但大陸板塊的壓力及其長久漂移受阻的沖力，並非山脈形成的唯一影響因素。決定山脈位置的首要且根本因素是先前存在的低地或低谷，這些低地或低谷已被前幾個時代陸地侵蝕和海洋漂流形成的相對較輕的沉積物所填滿。這些較輕的陸地區域有時厚達4,500至6,000米；因此，當地殼因任何原因受到壓力時，這些較輕的區域會最先發生褶皺、折疊和抬升，從而為地殼內部或地殼下方相互作用的各種沖突對抗的力與壓力提供補償性調整。有時這些陸地上推發生時並不沒有褶皺。但在落基山脈的抬升過程中，發生了巨大的折疊和傾斜，以及地下和地表各巖層的巨大上沖斷層。
60:4.3 (692.1) The oldest mountains of the world are located in Asia, Greenland, and northern Europe among those of the older east-west systems. The mid-age mountains are in the circumpacific group and in the second European east-west system, which was born at about the same time. This gigantic uprising is almost ten thousand miles long, extending from Europe over into the West Indies land elevations. The youngest mountains are in the Rocky Mountain system, where, for ages, land elevations had occurred only to be successively covered by the sea, though some of the higher lands remained as islands. Subsequent to the formation of the mid-age mountains, a real mountain highland was elevated which was destined, subsequently, to be carved into the present Rocky Mountains by the combined artistry of nature’s elements.
60:4.3 (692.1) 世界上最古老的山脈位於亞洲、格陵蘭島和北歐那些較古老的東西向山系中。中古期的山脈位於環太平洋山系，以及大約同時形成的歐洲第二條東西向山系中。這條巨大的山脈綿延近一萬六千公裏，從歐洲一直延伸至西印度群島的高地。最年輕的山脈位於落基山系中，在漫長的歲月裏，該地區曾多次抬升，卻又接連被海水覆蓋，盡管部分高地仍作為島嶼保留下來。中古期山脈形成後，一片真正的山地高原升起了，隨後，在自然元素的共同雕琢下，形成了現今的落基山脈。
60:4.4 (692.2) The present North American Rocky Mountain region is not the original elevation of land; that elevation had been long since leveled by erosion and then re-elevated. The present front range of mountains is what is left of the remains of the original range which was re-elevated. Pikes Peak and Longs Peak are outstanding examples of this mountain activity, extending over two or more generations of mountain lives. These two peaks held their heads above water during several of the preceding inundations.
60:4.4 (692.2) 現今的北美落基山區並非原初擡高的陸地；那片高地早已被侵蝕成平地，而後又重新擡高。現今山脈的前嶺就是原始山脈被再次擡高後的遺跡殘留。派克峰和朗斯峰是這種山體活動的傑出典範，這種活動跨越了兩代或更多代山體生命周期。這兩座山峰在之前的幾次洪水中都屹立不倒。
60:4.5 (692.3) Biologically as well as geologically this was an eventful and active age on land and under water. Sea urchins increased while corals and crinoids decreased. The ammonites, of preponderant influence during a previous age, also rapidly declined. On land the fern forests were largely replaced by pine and other modern trees, including the gigantic redwoods. By the end of this period, while the placental mammal has not yet evolved, the biologic stage is fully set for the appearance, in a subsequent age, of the early ancestors of the future mammalian types.
60:4.5 (692.3) 從生物學和地質學的角度來看，這是一個在陸地上和水下都充滿變故且活躍的時代。海膽數量增加了，而珊瑚和海百合則減少了。在前一時期具有顯著影響的菊石，也迅速衰落了。陸地上，蕨類植物森林基本上被松樹及其他現代樹種所取代，其中包括巨大的紅杉。到這個時期結束時，盡管胎盤哺乳動物尚未進化出來，但生物學的舞臺已完全搭好，準備迎接在隨後時代出現的未來哺乳動物類型的早期祖先，
60:4.6 (692.4) And thus ends a long era of world evolution, extending from the early appearance of land life down to the more recent times of the immediate ancestors of the human species and its collateral branches. This, the Cretaceous age, covers fifty million years and brings to a close the premammalian era of land life, which extends over a period of one hundred million years and is known as the Mesozoic.
60:4.6 (692.4) 至此，一個漫長的全球進化時代宣告結束，這個時代從早期陸地生命的出現，一直到人類物種及其旁系分支的直系祖先出現的較近時期。白堊紀跨越了五千萬年，隨著它的結束，陸地生命長達一億年的前哺乳動物時代宣告結束，這一時代被稱為中生代。
60:4.7 (692.5) [Presented by a Life Carrier of Nebadon assigned to Satania and now functioning on Urantia.]
60:4.7 (692.5) [由指派到薩坦尼亞且目前在玉苒廈運作的一位內巴頓生命載運者呈獻。]