THE PISTENBULLY 300 Polar Antarctic vehicle is a 8.5-tonne heavy-duty(重型的，耐用的) specialised monster built to withstand(承受，抵御) extreme polar conditions. It features wide tracks, massive pulling strength, powerful cranes and multi-purpose tools designed for the toughest ice and snow operations. No Antarctic base should be without one. Research led by Liu Guofeng at China University of Geosciences in Beijing, however, suggests the PistenBully may be capable of more than just fetching and carrying.(然而，北京中国地质大学刘国锋领导的研究表明，PistenBully 的能力可能不止于搬运。) As Dr Liu writes in the Journal of Glaciology, it is also able to do actual science.
PistenBully 300 极地南极车辆是一台重达8.5吨的重型专用怪兽，专为抵御极端极地条件而打造。它配备宽履带、强大的牵引力、强力起重机和多功能工具，专为最严酷的冰雪作业设计。任何南极基地都应配备一台。然而，北京中国地质大学刘国锋领导的研究表明，PistenBully 的能力可能不止于搬运货物。正如刘博士在《冰川学杂志》上所写，它还能从事真正的科学研究。
Antarctica’s ice sheet is the largest reservoir(水库，蓄水池) of freshwater on Earth, but it is shrinking. Just above the ice proper, but below the surface snow, is a transition zone 50-100 metres thick called the firn(粒雪，永久积雪) layer. This is where snow is compressed into ice. It is also where meltwater from above is captured in pores and refrozen. Knowing the firn layer’s exact thickness and understanding how it behaves is crucial to predicting what will happen, over the long term, to the ice sheet and thus to the world’s sea levels.(了解粒雪层的精确厚度及其行为方式，对于预测冰盖长期变化乃至全球海平面上升至关重要。) Visualising this subsurface melange(混合物，混杂体) is difficult, though.
南极冰盖是地球上最大的淡水水库，但正在缩小。就在冰层之上、表层雪之下，有一个50至100米厚的过渡带，称为粒雪层。这里是雪被压缩成冰的地方。也是上方融水被孔隙捕获并重新冻结的地方。了解粒雪层的精确厚度及其行为方式，对于预测冰盖长期变化乃至全球海平面上升至关重要。然而，对这一地下混合体的可视化却很困难。
Current practice, borrowed from(借鉴自) oil- and gas-prospecting, is to use an “active source”. This is geologist-speak(地质学家术语) for dropping a stick of dynamite(炸药) down a drill hole and listening to the explosion’s sound, propagated through the rock—or, in this case, ice. The listening is done by sensors called geophones(地震检波器). Since sound travels at different speeds through water, ice and snow, a computer analysis of when and how powerfully the echoes arrive at different geophones permits construction of a high-resolution image of the firn layer.(由于声音在水、冰和雪中的传播速度不同，计算机分析回声到达不同检波器的时间和强度，就能构建出粒雪层的高分辨率图像。)
目前的做法借鉴自石油和天然气勘探，即使用“主动震源”。这是地质学家的说法，指将一根炸药棒投入钻孔，并聆听通过岩石（或此处的冰）传播的爆炸声。聆听由称为地震检波器的传感器完成。由于声音在水、冰和雪中的传播速度不同，计算机分析回声到达不同检波器的时间和强度，就能构建出粒雪层的高分辨率图像。