NC国家研究员发现El Nino可能是Magellan在太平洋航行的关键因素

A new paper by North Carolina State University archaeologist Dr. Scott Fitzpatrick shows that Ferdinand Magellan’s historic circumnavigation of the globe was likely influenced in large part by unusual weather conditions – including what we now know as El Niño – which eased his passage across the Pacific Ocean, but ultimately led him over a thousand miles from his intended destination.

Magellan于1519年从西班牙出发，希望对西班牙语宣称香料群岛的财富或Moluccas。两年后，探险者在登陆关岛的时候首次与太平洋岛屿文化联系 - 北北部1,500英里。他是如何让它的？他是怎么想念斯宾群岛的？

The paper, co-authored by Fitzpatrick and University of Calgary researcher Dr. Richard Callaghan, uses computer modeling and historical data to determine the role oceanographic conditions may have played in Magellan’s smooth voyage after rounding the notorious Cape Horn at the southernmost tip of South America and in his decision to sail far north of the Spice Islands – which Magellan knew lay along the equator.

本文，“麦哲伦越过太平洋：使用计算机模拟来检查世界上最大的航行之一的海洋效应，”在5月16日问题的“随机样本”部分突出了科学，并将发表在太平洋历史学报在八月。

The paper concludes that unusually benign weather conditions, likely associated with an El Niño event, allowed Magellan to sail north and may have persuaded him to continue in that direction to avoid starvation – making Magellan’s voyage not only the first to circumnavigate the globe, but apparently the earliest historical record of an El Niño event.

具体而言，纸质发现，麦哲伦可能在霍尔喇叭周围航行，直接进入ElNiñO事件的尾端，导致比通常的情况更平稳的航行，并让他轻松地沿着海岸乘坐到北部智利。Fitzpatrick和Callaghan也假设，在离开智利海岸后，Magellan可能选择继续在他的北航线上继续，以利用盛行的风和潮流，让他们以良好的速度移动，让他休息他的水手，谁然后患上了汗衫和其他疾病。

麦哲伦声称，由于令人担忧的担忧，他远离香料群岛的北部，因为岛上没有食物，而Fitzpatrick和Callaghan发现了一些证明这一假设的证据。Their paper notes that the Pacific region appears to have been experiencing an El Niño event in 1519 and 1520 – during the bulk of Magellan’s voyage – and that an El Niño is often associated with drought and accompanying famines in the area.

Fitzpatrick是NC州社会学和人类学系的人类学助理教授，是创始人和共同编辑中国岛屿与沿海考古杂志。

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