Knjiga Urantije
DIO III. Povijest Urantije
POGLAVLJE 58 : USPOSTAVA ŽIVOTA NA URANTIJI
Paper 58
Life Establishment on Urantia
Life Establishment on Urantia
U CIJELOJ Sataniji postoji samo šezdeset i jedan svijet sličan Urantiji, planet namijenjen modifikaciji života. Većina naseljenih svjetova nastanjuje se prema ustaljenim tehnikama; na takvim sferama Nositelji Života imaju malo slobode u svojim planovima usađivanja života. Ali otprilike jedan od deset svjetova označen je kao decimalni planet i upisan u poseban registar Nositelja Života; i na takvim planetima dopušteno nam je poduzimati određene životne eksperimente u nastojanju da modificiramo ili možda unaprijedimo standardne svemirske tipove živih bića.
58:0.1 (664.1)
IN ALL Satania there are only sixty-one worlds similar to Urantia, life-modification planets. The majority of inhabited worlds are peopled in accordance with established techniques; on such spheres the Life Carriers are afforded little leeway in their plans for life implantation. But about one world in ten is designated as a decimal planet and assigned to the special registry of the Life Carriers; and on such planets we are permitted to undertake certain life experiments in an effort to modify or possibly improve the standard universe types of living beings.
Prije 600 milijuna godina komisija Nositelja Života poslana s Jeruzema stigla je na Urantiju i započela proučavanje fizičkih uvjeta kao pripremu za pokretanje života na svijetu broj 606 sustava Satanije. To je trebalo biti naše šest stotina i šesto iskustvo u uspostavi nebadonskih uzoraka života u Sataniji i naša šezdeseta prilika za unošenje promjena i uvođenje modifikacija u osnovne i standardne nacrte života lokalnog svemira.
58:1.1 (664.2)
600,000,000 years ago the commission of Life Carriers sent out from Jerusem arrived on Urantia and began the study of physical conditions preparatory to launching life on world number 606 of the Satania system. This was to be our six hundred and sixth experience with the initiation of the Nebadon life patterns in Satania and our sixtieth opportunity to make changes and institute modifications in the basic and standard life designs of the local universe.
U Sataniji su Nositelji Života predvidjeli natrij-kloridni tip života; zbog toga nisu mogli poduzeti nikakve korake prema implantaciji života sve dok oceanske vode nisu postale dovoljno slane. Urantijski tip protoplazme može funkcionirati jedino u odgovarajućoj otopini soli. Sav praživot — biljni i životinjski — evoluirao je u slanim staništima. A ni daleko naprednije organizirane kopnene životinje ne bi mogle nastaviti živjeti kad ista ta neophodna otopina soli ne bi cirkulirala njihovim krvotokom koji slobodno kupa, doslovce potapa, svaku sićušnu živu stanicu u toj „slanoj dubini”.
58:1.3 (664.4)
The Satania Life Carriers had projected a sodium chloride pattern of life; therefore no steps could be taken toward planting it until the ocean waters had become sufficiently briny. The Urantia type of protoplasm can function only in a suitable salt solution. All ancestral life—vegetable and animal—evolved in a salt-solution habitat. And even the more highly organized land animals could not continue to live did not this same essential salt solution circulate throughout their bodies in the blood stream which freely bathes, literally submerses, every tiny living cell in this “briny deep.”
Vaši primitivni preci slobodno su se kretali slanim oceanom; danas ta ista oceanu nalik slana otopina slobodno kruži vašim tijelima, potapajući svaku pojedinu stanicu kemijskom tekućinom koja je u svim bitnim svojstvima usporediva sa slanom vodom koja je potaknula prve protoplazmatske reakcije prvih živih stanica na planetu.
58:1.4 (664.5)
Your primitive ancestors freely circulated about in the salty ocean; today, this same oceanlike salty solution freely circulates about in your bodies, bathing each individual cell with a chemical liquid in all essentials comparable to the salt water which stimulated the first protoplasmic reactions of the first living cells to function on the planet.
No kako ovo razdoblje započinje, Urantija se u svakom pogledu razvija prema stanju pogodnom za održavanje prvih oblika morskog života. Polako ali sigurno fizički razvoj na Zemlji i u susjednim područjima svemira priprema pozornicu za kasnije pokušaje uspostave onih životnih oblika za koje smo odlučili da će biti najbolje prilagođeni fizičkom okruženju koje se postupno razvijalo — kako zemaljskom tako i svemirskom.
58:1.5 (664.6)
But as this era opens, Urantia is in every way evolving toward a state favorable for the support of the initial forms of marine life. Slowly but surely physical developments on earth and in adjacent space regions are preparing the stage for the later attempts to establish such life forms as we had decided would be best adapted to the unfolding physical environment—both terrestrial and spatial.
Na planetu na kojem život ima morsko porijeklo, idealne uvjete za implantaciju života pružaju brojna unutrašnja mora, duga obalna linija plitkih voda i zaštićenih uvala; upravo se takav raspored zemaljskih voda ubrzano razvijao. Ta drevna unutrašnja mora rijetko su bila dublja od sto pedeset do sto osamdeset metara, a sunčeva svjetlost može prodrijeti kroz oceansku vodu na dubinu veću od sto osamdeset metara.
58:1.7 (665.2)
On a planet where life has a marine origin the ideal conditions for life implantation are provided by a large number of inland seas, by an extensive shore line of shallow waters and sheltered bays; and just such a distribution of the earth’s waters was rapidly developing. These ancient inland seas were seldom over five or six hundred feet deep, and sunlight can penetrate ocean water for more than six hundred feet.
Upravo je s takvih obala, pod blagim i ujednačenim klimatskim uvjetima kasnijeg doba, primitivni biljni život pronašao put na kopno. Visok udio ugljika u atmosferi pružio je novim kopnenim oblicima života priliku za brz i bujan rast. Iako je takva atmosfera tada bila idealna za rast biljaka, sadržavala je toliko ugljikova dioksida da na površini Zemlje ne bi mogla živjeti nijedna životinja, a još manje čovjek.
58:1.8 (665.3)
And it was from such seashores of the mild and equable climes of a later age that primitive plant life found its way onto the land. There the high degree of carbon in the atmosphere afforded the new land varieties of life opportunity for speedy and luxuriant growth. Though this atmosphere was then ideal for plant growth, it contained such a high degree of carbon dioxide that no animal, much less man, could have lived on the face of the earth.
Planetarna atmosfera propušta do Zemlje približno jednu dvomilijarditski dio ukupnog sunčevog zračenja. Kad bi se svjetlost koja pada na Sjevernu Ameriku naplaćivala po cijeni od dva centa po kilovatsatu, godišnji račun za rasvjetu iznosio bi više od osamsto kvadrilijuna dolara. Dnevni račun Chicaga za sunčevu svjetlost premašio bi sto milijuna dolara. Treba imati na umu da od Sunca primate i druge oblike energije — svjetlost nije jedini Sunčev doprinos koji dopire do vaše atmosfere. Na Urantiju se slijevaju goleme sunčeve energije koje obuhvaćaju valne duljine i iznad i ispod područja koje ljudski vid može prepoznati.
58:2.1 (665.4)
The planetary atmosphere filters through to the earth about one two-billionth of the sun’s total light emanation. If the light falling upon North America were paid for at the rate of two cents per kilowatt-hour, the annual light bill would be upward of 800 quadrillion dollars. Chicago’s bill for sunshine would amount to considerably over 100 million dollars a day. And it should be remembered that you receive from the sun other forms of energy—light is not the only solar contribution reaching your atmosphere. Vast solar energies pour in upon Urantia embracing wave lengths ranging both above and below the recognition range of human vision.
Zemljina atmosfera gotovo je potpuno neprozirna za velik dio Sunčeva zračenja na krajnjem ultraljubičastom dijelu spektra. Većinu tih kratkih valnih duljina apsorbira sloj ozona koji se nalazi na visini od približno šesnaest kilometara iznad Zemljine površine i proteže se još približno toliko prema svemiru. Ozon koji prožima to područje, kad bi se nalazio pod uvjetima kakvi vladaju na Zemljinoj površini, tvorio bi sloj debeo svega oko dva i pol milimetra; ipak, ta razmjerno mala i naizgled beznačajna količina ozona štiti stanovnike Urantije od viška opasnog i razornog ultraljubičastog zračenja prisutnog u Sunčevoj svjetlosti. No kad bi taj ozonski sloj bio samo neznatno deblji, bili biste lišeni vrlo važnih i blagotvornih ultraljubičastih zraka koje danas dopiru do Zemljine površine i koje su izvor jednog od vaših najvažnijih vitamina.
58:2.2 (665.5)
The earth’s atmosphere is all but opaque to much of the solar radiation at the extreme ultraviolet end of the spectrum. Most of these short wave lengths are absorbed by a layer of ozone which exists throughout a level about ten miles above the surface of the earth, and which extends spaceward for another ten miles. The ozone permeating this region, at conditions prevailing on the earth’s surface, would make a layer only one tenth of an inch thick; nevertheless, this relatively small and apparently insignificant amount of ozone protects Urantia inhabitants from the excess of these dangerous and destructive ultraviolet radiations present in sunlight. But were this ozone layer just a trifle thicker, you would be deprived of the highly important and health-giving ultraviolet rays which now reach the earth’s surface, and which are ancestral to one of the most essential of your vitamins.
Pa ipak, neki vaši manje maštoviti smrtni mehanisti i dalje ustraju u tome da materijalno stvaranje i ljudsku evoluciju promatraju kao puku slučajnost. Srednja bića Urantije prikupila su više od pedeset tisuća činjenica iz fizike i kemije koje smatraju nespojivima sa zakonima slučaja i za koje tvrde da nepogrešivo ukazuju na prisutnost inteligentne svrhe u stvaranju materijalnog svijeta. A sve to ne uključuje njihov popis s više od stotinu tisuća nalaza izvan područja fizike i kemije za koje tvrde da dokazuju prisutnost uma u planiranju, stvaranju i održavanju materijalnog svemira.
58:2.3 (665.6)
And yet some of the less imaginative of your mortal mechanists insist on viewing material creation and human evolution as an accident. The Urantia midwayers have assembled over fifty thousand facts of physics and chemistry which they deem to be incompatible with the laws of accidental chance, and which they contend unmistakably demonstrate the presence of intelligent purpose in the material creation. And all of this takes no account of their catalogue of more than one hundred thousand findings outside the domain of physics and chemistry which they maintain prove the presence of mind in the planning, creation, and maintenance of the material cosmos.
Donjih osam do deset kilometara Zemljine atmosfere čini troposfera; to je područje vjetrova i zračnih struja koje stvaraju vremenske pojave. Iznad nje nalazi se unutarnja ionosfera, a iznad nje stratosfera. Penjući se od Zemljine površine, temperatura neprekidno opada tijekom prvih desetak do trinaest kilometara, gdje doseže približno 57 stupnjeva Celzija ispod ništice. Taj temperaturni raspon od oko 54 do 57 stupnjeva ispod ništice ostaje nepromijenjen tijekom sljedećih šezdesetak kilometara uspona; to područje stalne temperature naziva se stratosfera. Na visini od sedamdeset do osamdeset kilometara temperatura ponovno počinje rasti, a taj se porast nastavlja sve dok na razini polarne svjetlosti ne dosegne oko 650 stupnjeva Celzija; upravo ta intenzivna toplina ionizira kisik. No temperatura u tako razrijeđenoj atmosferi teško se može uspoređivati s toplinom kakvu mjerite na Zemljinoj površini. Imajte na umu da se polovica vaše atmosfere nalazi unutar prvih pet kilometara. Visinu Zemljine atmosfere označavaju najviše vrpce polarne svjetlosti — oko šest stotina četrdeset kilometara.
58:2.6 (666.3)
The lower five or six miles of the earth’s atmosphere is the troposphere; this is the region of winds and air currents which provide weather phenomena. Above this region is the inner ionosphere and next above is the stratosphere. Ascending from the surface of the earth, the temperature steadily falls for six or eight miles, at which height it registers around 70 degrees below zero F. This temperature range of from 65 to 70 degrees below zero F. is unchanged in the further ascent for forty miles; this realm of constant temperature is the stratosphere. At a height of forty-five or fifty miles, the temperature begins to rise, and this increase continues until, at the level of the auroral displays, a temperature of 1200° F. is attained, and it is this intense heat that ionizes the oxygen. But temperature in such a rarefied atmosphere is hardly comparable with heat reckoning at the surface of the earth. Bear in mind that one half of all your atmosphere is to be found in the first three miles. The height of the earth’s atmosphere is indicated by the highest auroral streamers—about four hundred miles.
Pojave polarne svjetlosti izravno su povezane sa Sunčevim pjegama, tim Sunčevim ciklonama koje se vrte u suprotnim smjerovima iznad i ispod Sunčeva ekvatora, baš kao što se i tropski uragani na Zemlji okreću u suprotnim smjerovima sjeverno i južno od ekvatora. Takvi atmosferski poremećaji vrte se u suprotnim smjerovima kada nastaju iznad ili ispod ekvatora.
58:2.7 (666.4)
Auroral phenomena are directly related to sunspots, those solar cyclones which whirl in opposite directions above and below the solar equator, even as do the terrestrial tropical hurricanes. Such atmospheric disturbances whirl in opposite directions when occurring above or below the equator.
Sposobnost Sunčevih pjega da mijenjaju frekvencije svjetlosti pokazuje da ta središta Sunčevih oluja djeluju poput golemih magneta. Takva magnetska polja mogu izbacivati nabijene čestice iz kratera Sunčevih pjega kroz svemir do vanjskih slojeva Zemljine atmosfere, gdje njihov ionizirajući utjecaj stvara spektakularne prikaze polarne svjetlosti. Zato su pojave polarne svjetlosti najizraženije kada je aktivnost Sunčevih pjega na vrhuncu — ili neposredno nakon toga — u vrijeme kada su pjege uglavnom smještene bliže Sunčevu ekvatoru.
58:2.8 (666.5)
The power of sunspots to alter light frequencies shows that these solar storm centers function as enormous magnets. Such magnetic fields are able to hurl charged particles from the sunspot craters out through space to the earth’s outer atmosphere, where their ionizing influence produces such spectacular auroral displays. Therefore do you have the greatest auroral phenomena when sunspots are at their height—or soon thereafter—at which time the spots are more generally equatorially situated.
Čak i igla kompasa reagira na ovaj Sunčev utjecaj jer se pri izlasku Sunca neznatno zakreće prema istoku, a kako se Sunce približava zalasku, neznatno prema zapadu. To se događa svakoga dana, ali za vrijeme vrhunca ciklusa Sunčevih pjega ova je promjena smjera kompasa dvostruko veća. Ova dnevna lutanja kompasa odgovor su na pojačanu ionizaciju gornjih slojeva atmosfere koju uzrokuje Sunčeva svjetlost.
58:2.9 (666.6)
Even the compass needle is responsive to this solar influence since it turns slightly to the east as the sun rises and slightly to the west as the sun nears setting. This happens every day, but during the height of sunspot cycles this variation of the compass is twice as great. These diurnal wanderings of the compass are in response to the increased ionization of the upper atmosphere, which is produced by the sunlight.
58:2.10 (666.7)
It is the presence of two different levels of electrified conducting regions in the superstratosphere that accounts for the long-distance transmission of your long- and short-wave radiobroadcasts. Your broadcasting is sometimes disturbed by the terrific storms which occasionally rage in the realms of these outer ionospheres.
Tijekom ranijih razdoblja materijalizacije svemira, prostorna područja bila su ispresijecana golemim oblacima vodika, upravo onakvim astronomskim nakupinama prašine kakve danas obilježavaju mnoga područja udaljenog prostora. Velik dio organizirane tvari koju užarena sunca razgrađuju i raspršuju kao energiju zračenja izvorno je bio izgrađen u tim rano nastalim prostornim oblacima vodika. Pod određenim neuobičajenim uvjetima do raspada atoma dolazi i u jezgri većih masa vodika. Sve te pojave izgradnje i razgradnje atoma, kao i u visoko zagrijanim maglicama, popraćene su pojavom bujica kratkih prostornih energetskih zraka. Ova raznolika zračenja prati vrsta prostorne energije koja nije poznata na Urantiji.
58:3.1 (666.8)
During the earlier times of universe materialization the space regions are interspersed with vast hydrogen clouds, just such astronomic dust clusters as now characterize many regions throughout remote space. Much of the organized matter which the blazing suns break down and disperse as radiant energy was originally built up in these early appearing hydrogen clouds of space. Under certain unusual conditions atom disruption also occurs at the nucleus of the larger hydrogen masses. And all of these phenomena of atom building and atom dissolution, as in the highly heated nebulae, are attended by the emergence of flood tides of short space rays of radiant energy. Accompanying these diverse radiations is a form of space-energy unknown on Urantia.
Ovaj energetski naboj kratkih kozmičkih zraka u prostoru svemira četiri stotine puta nadilazi sve druge oblike energije zračenja koji postoje u organiziranim domenama svemira. Emisija kratkih kozmičkih zraka, bilo da dolazi iz užarenih maglica, snažnih električnih polja, vanjskog prostora ili golemih oblaka vodikove prašine, kvalitativno je i kvantitativno modificirana kolebanjima te naglim promjenama temperature, gravitacije i elektroničkih pritisaka.
58:3.2 (667.1)
This short-ray energy charge of universe space is four hundred times greater than all other forms of radiant energy existing in the organized space domains. The output of short space rays, whether coming from the blazing nebulae, tense electric fields, outer space, or the vast hydrogen dust clouds, is modified qualitatively and quantitatively by fluctuations of, and sudden tension changes in, temperature, gravity, and electronic pressures.
Ove pojave koje uvjetuju nastanak prostornih zraka određene su mnogim kozmičkim zbivanjima, kao i putanjama kružeće tvari koje variraju od modificiranih kružnica do izrazito izduženih elipsi. Fizički uvjeti također mogu biti znatno izmijenjeni jer je spin elektrona ponekad usmjeren suprotno od gibanja grubljih oblika tvari, čak i unutar istog fizičkog područja.
58:3.3 (667.2)
These eventualities in the origin of the space rays are determined by many cosmic occurrences as well as by the orbits of circulating matter, which vary from modified circles to extreme ellipses. Physical conditions may also be greatly altered because the electron spin is sometimes in the opposite direction from that of the grosser matter behavior, even in the same physical zone.
Golemi oblaci vodika pravi su kozmički kemijski laboratoriji koji sadrže sve faze razvoja energije i preobrazbe tvari. Veliki energetski procesi odvijaju se i u rubnim plinovima velikih dvojnih zvijezda koje se tako često preklapaju i zbog toga u velikoj mjeri međusobno miješaju. No nijedna od tih golemih i nadaleko rasprostranjenih energetskih aktivnosti prostora nema ni najmanji utjecaj na pojave organiziranog života — zametnu plazmu živih bića. Ti energetski uvjeti prostora bitni su za temeljno okružje uspostave života, ali nisu djelotvorni u kasnijim promjenama nasljednih čimbenika zametne plazme kao što su to neke dulje zrake energije zračenja. Život koji iniciraju Nositelji Života u potpunosti je otporan na svu tu čudesnu bujicu kratkih kozmičkih zraka.
58:3.4 (667.3)
The vast hydrogen clouds are veritable cosmic chemical laboratories, harboring all phases of evolving energy and metamorphosing matter. Great energy actions also occur in the marginal gases of the great binary stars which so frequently overlap and hence extensively commingle. But none of these tremendous and far-flung energy activities of space exerts the least influence upon the phenomena of organized life—the germ plasm of living things and beings. These energy conditions of space are germane to the essential environment of life establishment, but they are not effective in the subsequent modification of the inheritance factors of the germ plasm as are some of the longer rays of radiant energy. The implanted life of the Life Carriers is fully resistant to all of this amazing flood of the short space rays of universe energy.
To što nas nazivaju Nositeljima Života ne bi vas trebalo zbuniti. Mi možemo prenositi život na planete i to doista činimo, ali na Urantiju nismo donijeli život. Život na Urantiji jedinstven je i izvoran ovom planetu. Ova je sfera svijet modifikacije života; sav život koji se ovdje pojavio oblikovali smo upravo ovdje na planetu, i ne postoji nijedan drugi svijet u cijeloj Sataniji, pa ni u cijelom Nebadonu, koji ima život istovjetan onome na Urantiji.
58:4.1 (667.5)
That we are called Life Carriers should not confuse you. We can and do carry life to the planets, but we brought no life to Urantia. Urantia life is unique, original with the planet. This sphere is a life-modification world; all life appearing hereon was formulated by us right here on the planet; and there is no other world in all Satania, even in all Nebadon, that has a life existence just like that of Urantia.
Prije 550 milijuna godina korpus Nositelja Života vratio se na Urantiju. U suradnji s duhovnim moćima i nadfizičkim silama organizirali smo i pokrenuli izvorne životne uzorke ovoga svijeta te ih usadili u gostoljubive vode planeta. Sav planetarni život (izuzev izvanplanetarnih ličnosti) sve do vremena Kaligastije, Planetarnog Princa, potekao je iz naša tri izvorna, istovjetna i istodobna usađivanja morskog života. Ta tri usađivanja života označena su kao: središnje ili euroazijsko-afričko, istočno ili australsko-azijsko i zapadno, koje obuhvaća Grenland i Amerike.
58:4.2 (667.6)
550,000,000 years ago the Life Carrier corps returned to Urantia. In co-operation with spiritual powers and superphysical forces we organized and initiated the original life patterns of this world and planted them in the hospitable waters of the realm. All planetary life (aside from extraplanetary personalities) down to the days of Caligastia, the Planetary Prince, had its origin in our three original, identical, and simultaneous marine-life implantations. These three life implantations have been designated as: the central or Eurasian-African, the eastern or Australasian, and the western, embracing Greenland and the Americas.
Prije 500 milijuna godina primitivni morski biljni život već je bio čvrsto uspostavljen na Urantiji. Grenland i arktička kopnena masa, zajedno sa Sjevernom i Južnom Amerikom, započeli su svoje dugo i sporo pomicanje prema zapadu. Afrika se pomaknula nešto južnije stvarajući između sebe i matične kopnene mase udubljenje koje se pružalo u smjeru istok–zapad, današnji sredozemni bazen. Antarktika, Australija i kopno koje danas označavaju pacifički otoci odvojili su se na jugu i istoku te su od toga vremena otplovili daleko od svojih nekadašnjih položaja.
58:4.3 (668.1)
500,000,000 years ago primitive marine vegetable life was well established on Urantia. Greenland and the arctic land mass, together with North and South America, were beginning their long and slow westward drift. Africa moved slightly south, creating an east and west trough, the Mediterranean basin, between itself and the mother body. Antarctica, Australia, and the land indicated by the islands of the Pacific broke away on the south and east and have drifted far away since that day.
Mi smo posadili primitivni oblik morskog života u zaštićenim uvalama tropskih središnjih mora duž istočno-zapadnog procjepa raspadajuće kontinentalne kopnene mase. Pri izvedbi triju implantacija morskog života cilj nam je bio osigurati da svaka velika kopnena masa ponese taj život sa sobom u svojim toplovodnim morima kako se kopno bude razdvajalo. Predvidjeli smo da će u kasnijem razdoblju nastanka kopnenog života te kontinentalne kopnene mase biti razdvojene golemim oceanima.
58:4.4 (668.2)
We had planted the primitive form of marine life in the sheltered tropic bays of the central seas of the east-west cleavage of the breaking-up continental land mass. Our purpose in making three marine-life implantations was to insure that each great land mass would carry this life with it, in its warm-water seas, as the land subsequently separated. We foresaw that in the later era of the emergence of land life large oceans of water would separate these drifting continental land masses.
Tako se nastavio kontinentalni drift. Zemljina jezgra postala je gusta i čvrsta poput čelika, izložena pritisku od gotovo 25.000 tona po kvadratnom palcu, a zbog golemog gravitacijskog pritiska bila je, i još uvijek jest, veoma vruća u svojoj dubokoj unutrašnjosti. Temperatura raste od površine prema središtu sve dok u samom središtu ne postane neznatno viša od površinske temperature Sunca.
58:5.1 (668.3)
The continental land drift continued. The earth’s core had become as dense and rigid as steel, being subjected to a pressure of almost 25,000 tons to the square inch, and owing to the enormous gravity pressure, it was and still is very hot in the deep interior. The temperature increases from the surface downward until at the center it is slightly above the surface temperature of the sun.
Vanjskih tisuću i šeststo kilometara Zemljine mase sastoji se uglavnom od različitih vrsta stijena. Ispod njih nalaze se gušći i teži metalni elementi. Tijekom ranih i preatmosferskih razdoblja svijet je bio gotovo fluidan, u rastaljenom i izrazito užarenom stanju, pa su teži metali potonuli duboko u unutrašnjost. Oni koji se danas nalaze blizu površine predstavljaju izlučevine drevnih vulkana, kasnije opsežne tokove lave i novije meteorske naslage.
58:5.2 (668.4)
The outer one thousand miles of the earth’s mass consists principally of different kinds of rock. Underneath are the denser and heavier metallic elements. Throughout the early and preatmospheric ages the world was so nearly fluid in its molten and highly heated state that the heavier metals sank deep into the interior. Those found near the surface today represent the exudate of ancient volcanoes, later and extensive lava flows, and the more recent meteoric deposits.
Vanjska kora bila je debela oko šezdeset i četiri kilometra. Ovaj vanjski omotač bio je poduprt i počivao neposredno na rastaljenom moru bazalta promjenjive debljine, pokretnom sloju rastaljene lave koji se nalazio pod visokim pritiskom, ali je uvijek težio teći amo-tamo radi izjednačavanja promjenjivih planetarnih pritisaka, čime je pridonosio stabilizaciji Zemljine kore.
58:5.3 (668.5)
The outer crust was about forty miles thick. This outer shell was supported by, and rested directly upon, a molten sea of basalt of varying thickness, a mobile layer of molten lava held under high pressure but always tending to flow hither and yon in equalization of shifting planetary pressures, thereby tending to stabilize the earth’s crust.
58:5.4 (668.6)
Even today the continents continue to float upon this noncrystallized cushiony sea of molten basalt. Were it not for this protective condition, the more severe earthquakes would literally shake the world to pieces. Earthquakes are caused by sliding and shifting of the solid outer crust and not by volcanoes.
Morsko dno gušće je od kopnenih masa i upravo zato kontinenti ostaju iznad razine mora. Kada se morsko dno izdigne iznad površine mora, pokazuje se da je uglavnom sastavljeno od bazalta, oblika lave znatno težeg od granita koji tvori kopnene mase. Isto tako, kad kontinenti ne bi bili lakši od oceanskog dna, gravitacija bi povukla rubove oceana preko kopna, ali takve se pojave ne opažaju.
58:5.6 (668.8)
The sea bottoms are more dense than the land masses, and this is what keeps the continents above water. When the sea bottoms are extruded above the sea level, they are found to consist largely of basalt, a form of lava considerably heavier than the granite of the land masses. Again, if the continents were not lighter than the ocean beds, gravity would draw the edges of the oceans up onto the land, but such phenomena are not observable.
Težina oceana također je jedan od čimbenika koji povećavaju pritisak na morsko dno. Niže, ali razmjerno teže oceansko dno, zajedno s težinom vode iznad njega, približno je jednako težini viših, ali znatno lakših kontinenata. Ipak, svi kontinenti imaju tendenciju pomicanja prema oceanima. Pritisak kontinentalnih masa na razini oceanskog dna iznosi samo oko 138 megapaskala. Drugim riječima, to bi bio pritisak kontinentalne mase koja se uzdiže oko 4.600 metara iznad oceanskog dna. Pritisak vode na oceansko dno iznosi samo iznosi samo oko 34,5 megapaskala. Te razlike u pritisku stvaraju težnju kontinenata da klize prema oceanskom dnu.
58:5.7 (668.9)
The weight of the oceans is also a factor in the increase of pressure on the sea beds. The lower but comparatively heavier ocean beds, plus the weight of the overlying water, approximate the weight of the higher but much lighter continents. But all continents tend to creep into the oceans. The continental pressure at ocean-bottom levels is about 20,000 pounds to the square inch. That is, this would be the pressure of a continental mass standing 15,000 feet above the ocean floor. The ocean-floor water pressure is only about 5,000 pounds to the square inch. These differential pressures tend to cause the continents to slide toward the ocean beds.
Spuštanje oceanskog dna tijekom razdoblja prije pojave života uzdiglo je osamljenu kontinentalnu kopnenu masu do takve visine da je njezin bočni pritisak težio tome da se njezini istočni, zapadni i južni rubovi spuštaju niz padinu preko podložnih poluviskoznih slojeva lave u vode okolnog Tihog oceana. Time je kontinentalni pritisak bio toliko potpuno kompenziran da nije došlo do velikog rascjepa na istočnoj obali toga drevnog azijskog kontinenta, ali od tada se ta istočna obala neprestano nadvija nad ponorom susjednih oceanskih dubina, prijeteći da sklizne u vodeni grob.
58:5.8 (669.1)
Depression of the ocean bottom during the prelife ages had upthrust a solitary continental land mass to such a height that its lateral pressure tended to cause the eastern, western, and southern fringes to slide downhill, over the underlying semiviscous lava beds, into the waters of the surrounding Pacific Ocean. This so fully compensated the continental pressure that a wide break did not occur on the eastern shore of this ancient Asiatic continent, but ever since has that eastern coast line hovered over the precipice of its adjoining oceanic depths, threatening to slide into a watery grave.
Prije 450 milijuna godina dolazi do prijelaza vegetativnih oblika života u životinjske. Ova se metamorfoza odvija u plitkim vodama zaštićenih tropskih uvala i laguna duž obalnih linija kontinenata koji se sve više međusobno udaljavaju. Do ovog razvoja, koji je bio dijelom izvornog životnog plana, dolazi postupno. U tom procesu nastupaju mnoge prijelazne faze između ranih primitivnih biljnih oblika života i kasnijih jasno definiranih životinjskih organizama. Još i danas postoje prijelazni organizmi sluzavih plijesni koje je teško klasificirati bilo kao biljke bilo kao životinje.
58:6.1 (669.2)
450,000,000 years ago the transition from vegetable to animal life occurred. This metamorphosis took place in the shallow waters of the sheltered tropic bays and lagoons of the extensive shore lines of the separating continents. And this development, all of which was inherent in the original life patterns, came about gradually. There were many transitional stages between the early primitive vegetable forms of life and the later well-defined animal organisms. Even today the transition slime molds persist, and they can hardly be classified either as plants or as animals.
Dok se može pratiti evolucija biljnog života u životinjski, i premda postoji postupni slijed biljaka i životinja koje se razvijaju od najjednostavnijih do složenijih i naprednijih organizama, nećete biti u mogućnosti pronaći konkretne vezivne spone ni između glavnih klasa životinjskog carstva ni među najvišim pretljudskim vrstama koje su prethodile pojavi ranih ljudi. Te takozvane „karike koje nedostaju” zauvijek će ostati nedostajuće, iz jednostavnog razloga što nikada nisu ni postojale.
58:6.2 (669.3)
Although the evolution of vegetable life can be traced into animal life, and though there have been found graduated series of plants and animals which progressively lead up from the most simple to the most complex and advanced organisms, you will not be able to find such connecting links between the great divisions of the animal kingdom nor between the highest of the prehuman animal types and the dawn men of the human races. These so-called “missing links” will forever remain missing, for the simple reason that they never existed.
Kada su oceani postigli odgovarajući stupanj slanosti, razvio se životinjski svijet, i bilo je razmjerno jednostavno omogućiti kruženje slane vode kroz tijela morskih organizama. No kada su se oceani povukli i postotak soli znatno povećao, te su iste životinje razvile sposobnost smanjenja slanosti svojih tjelesnih tekućina, baš kao što su organizmi koji su naučili živjeti u slatkoj vodi razvili sposobnost održavanja odgovarajuće razine natrijeva klorida u svojim tjelesnim tekućinama pomoću domišljatih mehanizama očuvanja soli.
58:6.5 (669.6)
At the proper degree of saltiness in the oceans animal life evolved, and it was comparatively simple to allow the briny waters to circulate through the animal bodies of marine life. But when the oceans were contracted and the percentage of salt was greatly increased, these same animals evolved the ability to reduce the saltiness of their body fluids just as those organisms which learned to live in fresh water acquired the ability to maintain the proper degree of sodium chloride in their body fluids by ingenious techniques of salt conservation.
58:6.6 (669.7)
Study of the rock-embraced fossils of marine life reveals the early adjustment struggles of these primitive organisms. Plants and animals never cease to make these adjustment experiments. Ever the environment is changing, and always are living organisms striving to accommodate themselves to these never-ending fluctuations.
Fiziološka oprema i anatomska građa svih novih redova života nastaju kao odgovor na djelovanje fizičkih zakona, ali naknadno obdarenje umom dar je ađutantnih duhova uma u skladu s urođenim kapacitetom mozga. Um, premda nije proizvod fizičke evolucije, u potpunosti ovisi o moždanim sposobnostima koje proizlaze iz isključivo fizičkog i evolucijskog razvoja.
58:6.7 (670.1)
The physiologic equipment and the anatomic structure of all new orders of life are in response to the action of physical law, but the subsequent endowment of mind is a bestowal of the adjutant mind-spirits in accordance with innate brain capacity. Mind, while not a physical evolution, is wholly dependent on the brain capacity afforded by purely physical and evolutionary developments.
Ogromna skupina stijenskih sustava koja je u razdoblju osvita života, odnosno proterozoiku, činila vanjsku koru svijeta, danas se pojavljuje na tek malom broju mjesta na Zemljinoj površini. A kada se izdigne ispod svih naslaga kasnijih razdoblja, u njoj se mogu pronaći jedino fosilni ostaci biljnog života i ranih primitivnih životinja. Neke od tih starijih vodenim taloženjem nastalih stijena pomiješane su s kasnijim slojevima, pa katkad sadrže fosilne ostatke nekih ranijih oblika biljnog života, dok se u najvišim slojevima ponekad mogu pronaći i neki od najprimitivnijih oblika ranih morskih životinjskih organizama. Na mnogim mjestima ti najstariji slojeviti stijenski slojevi, koji sadrže fosile ranog morskog života, i životinjskog i biljnog, leže neposredno iznad još starijih neslojevitih stijena.
58:7.1 (670.3)
The vast group of rock systems which constituted the outer crust of the world during the life-dawn or Proterozoic era does not now appear at many points on the earth’s surface. And when it does emerge from below all the accumulations of subsequent ages, there will be found only the fossil remains of vegetable and early primitive animal life. Some of these older water-deposited rocks are commingled with subsequent layers, and sometimes they yield fossil remains of some of the earlier forms of vegetable life, while on the topmost layers occasionally may be found some of the more primitive forms of the early marine-animal organisms. In many places these oldest stratified rock layers, bearing the fossils of the early marine life, both animal and vegetable, may be found directly on top of the older undifferentiated stone.
Fosili iz ovog razdoblja uključuju alge, biljke nalik koraljima, primitivne protozoe i prijelazne organizme nalik spužvama. No odsutnost takvih fosila u najstarijim stijenskim slojevima ne dokazuje nužno da u vrijeme njihova taloženja život nije postojao drugdje. Život je tijekom tih ranih vremena bio rijedak i tek se polako širio površinom Zemlje.
58:7.2 (670.4)
Fossils of this era yield algae, corallike plants, primitive Protozoa, and spongelike transition organisms. But the absence of such fossils in the early rock layers does not necessarily prove that living things were not elsewhere in existence at the time of their deposition. Life was sparse throughout these early times and only slowly made its way over the face of the earth.
Stijene tog drevnog doba danas se nalaze na Zemljinoj površini ili neposredno ispod nje na približno jednoj osmini današnje kopnene površine. Prosječna debljina tih prijelaznih stijenskih naslaga, najstarijih slojevitih stijenskih naslaga, iznosi oko dva i pol kilometra. Na nekim mjestima ti drevni stijenski sustavi dosežu debljinu i do šest i pol kilometara, ali mnogi slojevi koji su pripisani ovom razdoblju zapravo pripadaju kasnijim epohama.
58:7.3 (670.5)
The rocks of this olden age are now at the earth’s surface, or very near the surface, over about one eighth of the present land area. The average thickness of this transition stone, the oldest stratified rock layers, is about one and one-half miles. At some points these ancient rock systems are as much as four miles thick, but many of the layers which have been ascribed to this era belong to later periods.
U Sjevernoj Americi ovaj drevni i primitivni sloj stijena s fosilima izbija na površinu u istočnim, središnjim i sjevernim područjima Kanade. Tu je i isprekidani istočno-zapadni pojas ovih stijena koji se proteže od Pennsylvanije i drevnih planina Adirondack prema zapadu kroz Michigan, Wisconsin i Minnesotu. Drugi se pojasevi pružaju od Newfoundlanda do Alabame i od Aljaske do Meksika.
58:7.4 (670.6)
In North America this ancient and primitive fossil-bearing stone layer comes to the surface over the eastern, central, and northern regions of Canada. There is also an intermittent east-west ridge of this rock which extends from Pennsylvania and the ancient Adirondack Mountains on west through Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. Other ridges run from Newfoundland to Alabama and from Alaska to Mexico.
Stijene iz ovog razdoblja izložene su tu i tamo diljem svijeta, ali nijedne nisu tako lako razumljive za tumačenje kao one oko Gornjeg jezera i u Velikom kanjonu rijeke Colorado, gdje ove primitivne stijene koje sadrže fosile, raspoređene u više slojeva, svjedoče o izdizanjima tla i promjenama Zemljine površine tijekom tih davnih vremena.
58:7.5 (670.7)
The rocks of this era are exposed here and there all over the world, but none are so easy of interpretation as those about Lake Superior and in the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River, where these primitive fossil-bearing rocks, existing in several layers, testify to the upheavals and surface fluctuations of those faraway times.
58:7.6 (670.8)
This stone layer, the oldest fossil-bearing stratum in the crust of the earth, has been crumpled, folded, and grotesquely twisted as a result of the upheavals of earthquakes and the early volcanoes. The lava flows of this age brought much iron, copper, and lead up near the planetary surface.
Malo je mjesta na Zemlji gdje su takvi procesi prikazani jasnije nego u dolini rijeke St. Croix u Wisconsinu. U tom je području došlo do sto dvadeset i sedam uzastopnih izlijevanja lave na kopnu, nakon kojih su slijedila potapanja vodom i posljedično taloženje stijena. Iako danas nedostaje velik dio gornjih sedimentnih stijenskih slojeva i povremenih tokova lave, te premda je donji dio ovog sustava duboko zakopan u Zemlji, ipak je oko šezdeset pet do sedamdeset ovih slojevitih zapisa prošlih doba još uvijek izloženo pogledu.
58:7.7 (670.9)
There are few places on the earth where such activities are more graphically shown than in the St. Croix valley of Wisconsin. In this region there occurred one hundred and twenty-seven successive lava flows on land with succeeding water submergence and consequent rock deposition. Although much of the upper rock sedimentation and intermittent lava flow is absent today, and though the bottom of this system is buried deep in the earth, nevertheless, about sixty-five or seventy of these stratified records of past ages are now exposed to view.
U tim ranim dobima, kada se velik dio kopna nalazio blizu razine mora, uslijedio je dugi niz potapanja i izranjanja kopna. Zemljina kora upravo je ulazila u svoje kasnije razdoblje relativne stabilizacije. Valovita izdizanja i spuštanja ranijeg kontinentalnog drifta pridonijela su učestalosti periodičnog potapanja velikih kopnenih masa.
58:7.8 (671.1)
In these early ages when much land was near sea level, there occurred many successive submergences and emergences. The earth’s crust was just entering upon its later period of comparative stabilization. The undulations, rises and dips, of the earlier continental drift contributed to the frequency of the periodic submergence of the great land masses.
Tijekom ovog razdoblja primitivnog morskog života, prostrana područja kontinentalnih obala tonula su pod more od svega nekoliko metara pa do gotovo jednog kilometra dubine. Velik dio starijih pješčenjaka i konglomerata predstavlja sedimentne naslage tih drevnih obala. Sedimentne stijene koje pripadaju ovoj ranoj stratifikaciji leže neposredno na slojevima koji potječu iz vremena mnogo starijeg od nastanka života, iz razdoblja ranog pojavljivanja svjetskog oceana.
58:7.9 (671.2)
During these times of primitive marine life, extensive areas of the continental shores sank beneath the seas from a few feet to half a mile. Much of the older sandstone and conglomerates represents the sedimentary accumulations of these ancient shores. The sedimentary rocks belonging to this early stratification rest directly upon those layers which date back far beyond the origin of life, back to the early appearance of the world-wide ocean.
Neki od gornjih slojeva ovih prijelaznih stijenskih naslaga sadrže male količine tamno obojenog šejla ili škriljevca, što ukazuje na prisutnost organskog ugljika i svjedoči o postojanju predaka onih biljnih oblika života koji su tijekom kasnijeg karbonskog, odnosno ugljenog doba, prekrili Zemlju. Velik dio bakra u tim stijenskim slojevima nastao je taloženjem iz vode. Dio se nalazi u pukotinama starijih stijena i predstavlja koncentrat ustajale močvarne vode nekadašnjih zaštićenih obalnih područja. Rudnici željeza u Sjevernoj Americi i Europi smješteni su u naslagama i izdancima koji djelomično leže u starijim neslojevitim stijenama, a djelomično u kasnijim slojevitim stijenama prijelaznih razdoblja nastanka života.
58:7.10 (671.3)
Some of the upper layers of these transition rock deposits contain small amounts of shale or slate of dark colors, indicating the presence of organic carbon and testifying to the existence of the ancestors of those forms of plant life which overran the earth during the succeeding Carboniferous or coal age. Much of the copper in these rock layers results from water deposition. Some is found in the cracks of the older rocks and is the concentrate of the sluggish swamp water of some ancient sheltered shore line. The iron mines of North America and Europe are located in deposits and extrusions lying partly in the older unstratified rocks and partly in these later stratified rocks of the transition periods of life formation.
58:7.11 (671.4)
This era witnesses the spread of life throughout the waters of the world; marine life has become well established on Urantia. The bottoms of the shallow and extensive inland seas are being gradually overrun by a profuse and luxuriant growth of vegetation, while the shore-line waters are swarming with the simple forms of animal life.
Čitava ova priča slikovito je ispričana na fosilnim stranicama goleme „kamene knjige” povijesti svijeta. A stranice ovog golemog biogeološkog zapisa nepogrešivo govore istinu, ako samo steknete vještinu njihova tumačenja. Mnoga od tih drevnih morskih dna danas su uzdignuta visoko iznad razine mora, a njihove naslage, taložene tijekom bezbrojnih razdoblja, pripovijedaju o životnim borbama tih ranih dana. Doslovno je istinito, kao što je rekao vaš pjesnik: „Prašina po kojoj gazimo nekoć je bila živa.”
58:7.12 (671.5)
All of this story is graphically told within the fossil pages of the vast “stone book” of world record. And the pages of this gigantic biogeologic record unfailingly tell the truth if you but acquire skill in their interpretation. Many of these ancient sea beds are now elevated high upon land, and their deposits of age upon age tell the story of the life struggles of those early days. It is literally true, as your poet has said, “The dust we tread upon was once alive.”