TheboilingriveroftheAmazonAsaboyinLima,mygrandfathertoldmealegendoftheSpanishconquestofPeru.Atahualpa,emperoroftheInca,hadbeencapturedandkilled.Pizarroandhisconquistadorshadgrownrich,andtalesoftheirconquestandgloryhadreachedSpainandwerebringingnewwavesofSpaniards,hungryforgoldandglory.TheywouldgointotownsandasktheInca,Where'sanothercivilizationwecanconquer?Where'smoregold?小时候,我住在利马;爷爷给我讲了一个关于-西班牙征服秘鲁的传奇故事。印加帝国的末代皇帝阿塔瓦尔帕,被抓住并处死。皮萨罗和征服者们变得富有起来,他们攻克秘鲁的传说和赞颂传到了西班牙,吸引了一批西班牙人来此淘金。他们去到镇子里,问印加人:“还有哪个文明没被攻克?还有哪里有黄金?”AndtheInca,outofvengeance,toldthem,GototheAmazon.You'llfindallthegoldyouwantthere.Infact,thereisacitycalledPaititi--ElDoradoinSpanish--madeentirelyofgold.而出于报复,印加人就告诉他们:“去亚马逊,那里有挖不完的黄金”。事实上,那里有一个叫做‘帕依提提’——西班牙语叫ElDorado的城市是由黄金建成的”。TheSpanishsetoffintothejungle,butthefewthatreturncomebackwithstories,storiesofpowerfulshamans,ofwarriorswithpoisonedarrows,oftreessotallthattheyblottedoutthesun,spidersthatatebirds,snakesthatswallowedmenwholeandariverthatboiled.于是这些西班牙人动身前往那片丛林,结果只有少数人带着故事回来了,他们带回了关于强大的萨满巫师的故事,关于拿着毒箭的武士的故事,关于那里的树太高以至遮住了阳光的故事,关于吃鸟的蜘蛛、能够吞下一整个人的大蛇,以及一条沸腾的河流的故事。Allthisbecameachildhoodmemory.Andyearspassed.I'mworkingonmyPhDatSMU,tryingtounderstandPeru'sgeothermalenergypotential,whenIrememberthislegend,andIbeganaskingthatquestion.Couldtheboilingriverexist?所有这些都成为了我的童年记忆。多年过去了,我到了南方为理公会大学(SMU)攻读博士学位,当我试着了解秘鲁的地热能源潜力时,我想到了这个传说,于是想到了一个问题。传说中的那条沸腾的河流真的存在吗?Iaskedcolleaguesfromuniversities,thegovernment,oil,gasandminingcompanies,andtheanswerwasaunanimousno.Andthismakessense.Yousee,boilingriversdoexistintheworld,butthey'regenerallyassociatedwithvolcanoes.Youneedapowerfulheatsourcetoproducesuchalargegeothermalmanifestation.Andasyoucanseefromthereddotshere,whicharevolcanoes,wedon'thavevolcanoesintheAmazon,norinmostofPeru.Soitfollows:Weshouldnotexpecttoseeaboilingriver.我咨询了一些同僚,他们来自各大高校,政府部门,石油、天然气和矿业公司,所有人的答案都是“不”。这个答案是有道理的。因为沸腾的河流的确存在,但通常是在火山旁。只有一个强大的热源,才制造出如此大的地热现象。你看到的这些红点,它们代表火山,而在亚马逊是没有火山的,秘鲁的大部分地区也没有火山。所以得出的结论为:这片区域看不到沸腾的河流。Geothermalenergyisproducedbyheatfrominsidetheearth.AsaboyinLima,mygrandfathertoldmealegendoftheSpanishconquestofPeru.Tellingthissamestoryatafamilydinner,myaunttellsme,Butno,Andrés,I'vebeenthere.I'veswuminthatriver.在一次家庭聚餐上我又讲了这个故事,然后我的阿姨告诉我,“不,安德烈,我去过那,我在那条河里游过泳”。Thenmyunclejumpsin.No,Andrés,she'snotkidding.Yousee,youcanonlyswiminitafteraveryheavyrain,andit'sprotectedbyapowerfulshaman.Youraunt,she'sfriendswithhiswife.然后我叔叔也加入了讨论,”真的,安德烈,她没有开玩笑,只有在大雨过后,才能在里面游泳,它被一位强大的萨满巫师保护着,而你的阿姨,跟他的妻子是朋友”。Youknow,despiteallmyscientificskepticism,Ifoundmyselfhikingintothejungle,guidedbymyaunt,over700kilometersawayfromthenearestvolcaniccenter,andwell,honestly,mentallypreparingmyselftobeholdthelegendarywarmstreamoftheAmazon.尽管我作为科学家,对此表示怀疑,还是在我的阿姨带领下,踏上了那片丛林,那里距最近的火山口有700公里,坦白说,我已经做好了见证那条传奇的“亚马逊暖流”的心理准备了。Butthen...Iheardsomething,alowsurgethatgotlouderandlouderaswecamecloser.Itsoundedlikeoceanwavesconstantlycrashing,andaswegotcloser,Isawsmoke,vapor,comingupthroughthetrees.Andthen,Isawthis.但是,紧接着,我听到一些声响,随着我们逐步走进,一股低涌-变得越来越响彻。就像海浪不停的冲击一样,而当我们走近时,我看到烟雾和蒸汽从树林中冒出。不久,我看到了这个。Iimmediatelygrabbedformythermometer,andtheaveragetemperaturesintheriverwere86degreesC.Thisisnotquitethe100-degreeCboilingbutdefinitelycloseenough.Theriverflowedhotandfast.Ifolloweditupriverandwasledby,actually,theshaman'sapprenticetothemostsacredsiteontheriver.Andthisiswhat'sbizarre--Itstartsoffasacoldstream.Andhere,atthissite,isthehomeoftheYacumama,motherofthewaters,agiantserpentspiritwhobirthshotandcoldwater.Andherewefindahotspring,mixingwithcoldstreamwaterunderneathherprotectivemotherlyjawsandthusbringingtheirlegendstolife.我立马拿起了温度计,测量到这条河流的平均温度为86℃。虽然这并没有达到100℃的沸点,但也很接近了。这条高温河水流湍急。在这位萨满大师徒弟的带领下,我沿河而上,去往这条河最神圣的地点。奇妙的事情发生了,这条河的起点是冷流。而这个地方,是亚库马马的故乡,亚库马马是河之母,是创造冷热水的巨大的蛇灵。而在这里,我们找到了一处热泉,同受她保护的河口下的冷流混合在一起,将这些传说变为现实。Thenextmorning,Iwokeupand--第二天早上,当我醒来的时候Iaskedfortea.Iwashandedamug,ateabagand,well,pointedtowardstheriver.Tomysurprise,thewaterwascleanandhadapleasanttaste,whichisalittleweirdforgeothermalsystems.我说想喝杯茶。于是有人递给我一个马克杯,一个茶包,然后,指着那条河。让我惊讶的是,河水是如此的清澈,喝起来也很可口,这对于地热系统来说是有点异常的。Whatwasamazingisthatthelocalshadalwaysknownaboutthisplace,andthatIwasbynomeansthefirstoutsidertoseeit.Itwasjustpartoftheireverydaylife.Theydrinkitswater.Theytakeinitsvapor.Theycookwithit,cleanwithit,evenmaketheirmedicineswithit.更神奇的一点是,本地人似乎一直都知道有这么个地方,而我也绝不是第一个发现此地的外来人。这些都是他们的家常便饭。他们饮用河里的水;享用这些蒸汽;用河水烹饪;清洁,甚至用这些河水来制药。Imettheshaman,andheseemedlikeanextensionoftheriverandhisjungle.Heaskedformyintentionsandlistenedcarefully.Then,tomytremendousrelief--Iwasfreakingout,tobehonestwithyou--asmilebegantosnakeacrosshisface,andhejustlaughed.我见到了萨满大师,似乎他也成了这条河和丛林的一部分。他询问我的来意,用心倾听。不久,我便感到压力减轻了--老实告诉你,我当时可吓坏了--他嘴角微微上扬,他笑了。Ihadreceivedtheshaman'sblessingtostudytheriver,ontheconditionthatafterItakethewatersamplesandanalyzetheminmylab,whereverIwasintheworld,thatIpourthewatersbackintothegroundsothat,astheshamansaid,thewaterscouldfindtheirwaybackhome.我对这条河的研究得到了萨满大师的祝福,他只有一点要求,那便是待我取样并带回实验室分析后,不管我在世界的哪一个角落,我要把这些水倒回地上,萨满大师说,这样这些水便能回到河流里。Despitehisskepticism,hewasstillexpectingtosee