But the Mediterranean and  Caribbean Seas are really oceans, in the sense that they fall away to deep  abyssal plains where no light can reach.

但地中海和加勒比海实际上是海洋，因为它们延伸至光线无法到达的深海平原。

So these animals are essentially gardening because if they didn't do that, these big, vast abyssal plains of the planet would become big, stagnant, horrible cesspits.

所以这些动物本质上是在园艺，因为如果它们不这样做，地球上这些广阔无垠的深海平原将变成巨大、停滞、 可怕的污水坑。

The depth of the open ocean varies considerably  but the majority of it falls from the continental shelf down to depths of between 3,000 and 6000  meters, in what are known as abyssal plains.

公海的深度差异很大， 但大部分从大陆架延伸到 3,000 至 6,000 米深的地区，即所谓的深海平原。

Barron, who has invested millions of dollars in preliminary environmentalimpact assessments, describes the abyssal plain where the nodules are located as a " lifeless desert" where the impact of mining is likely to be minimal, if felt at all.

巴伦在初步环境影响评估中投入了数百万美元，他将结核所在的深海平原描述为一个 “无生命的沙漠”，采矿的影响可能是极其微小的。

But these continents, in terms of a strict geological definition  actually extend outward some way into the sea, in the form of shallow continental shelves, before  suddenly dropping down into the abyssal plains of the deep oceans.

但按照严格的地质定义，这些大陆实际上以浅大陆架的形式向外延伸到海中，然后突然坠入深海平原。