In our article, we want to talk about the mysterious Mariana Trench. This is the deepest point on the surface of the Earth. By and large, this is where our knowledge of this place ends. But the Mariana Trench, the monsters that live in it, are eternal and assumptions. Her secrets are as deep as she is.
The first mystery of the Mariana Trench
One of the mysteries of the depression is its depth. Until recently, it was believed that the Mariana Trench, as it is more correct to call this place from a scientific point of view, has a depth of more than eleven kilometers. However, the latest modern technical measurements give a value of 10994 kilometers. Although, it is worth noting that this value is also very relative, since diving to the bottom of the Mariana Trench is a technically very complex event, which is influenced by many factors. Scientists talk about a possible error of forty meters.
Where is the Mariana Trench located?
The Mariana Trench is located in the western Pacific Ocean, off the coast of Guam and Micronesia. Its deepest point is called the Challenger Abyss and is located 340 kilometers from
Answering the question where the Mariana Trench is located, you can give its exact geographical coordinates- 11°21′ s. sh. 142°12′ E e. This place got its name due to the fact that nearby are located part of a state such as Guam.
What is the Mariana Trench?
What is the Mariana Trench? The ocean carefully hides its true size. One can only guess about them. It's not just a "very deep hole". The gutter itself stretched along the seabed for one and a half thousand kilometers. The cavity has a V-shape, that is, it is much wider from above, and the walls narrow down.
The bottom of the Mariana Trench is characterized by a flat relief, and the width varies from 1 to 5 kilometers. Its upper part is eighty kilometers wide.
This place is one of the most inaccessible on our earth.
Do you need to explore the cavity?
It seems that life at such depths is simply impossible. Therefore, it makes no sense to study such an abyss. However, the secrets of the Mariana Trench have always interested and attracted researchers. It's hard to believe, but in our time space is easier to explore than such depths. Many people have been outside the Earth, and only three brave men have sunk to the bottom of the trough.
Gutter study
The British were the first to explore the Mariana Trench. In 1872, the Challenger ship with scientists entered the waters of the Pacific Ocean to study the trench. It was found that this point is the deepest on the globe. Since then, people have been haunted by the secrets and creatures of the Mariana Trench.
Time passed, research was carried out, a new depth value was established - 10863 meters.
Research is carried out by lowering deep-sea vehicles. Most often these are unmanned automatic vehicles. And in 1960, Jacques Picard and Don Walsh descended to the very bottom on the Trieste bathyscaphe. In 2012, he braved Jace Cameron on the Deepsea Challenger.
Russian researchers also studied the Mariana Trench. In 1957, the ship "Vityaz" headed for the gutter area. Researchers not only measured the depth of the trench (11022 meters), but also found the presence of life at a depth of more than seven kilometers. This event made a revolution in the world of science in the mid-twentieth century. At that time, it was believed that there could be no living creatures at such depths. This is where all the fun begins. How many stories and legends exist about this place - just do not count. So what exactly is the Mariana Trench? Do monsters really live here or are they just fairy tales? Let's try to figure it out.
Mariana Trench: monsters, riddles, secrets
As we mentioned earlier, the first brave daredevils to descend to the bottom of the depression were Jacques Picard and Don Walsh. They descended on a heavy bathyscaphe called Trieste. The thickness of the walls of the structure was thirteen centimeters. She was submerged to the bottom for five hours. Having reached the deepest point, the researchers managed to stay there for only twelve minutes. Then immediately began the ascent of the bathyscaphe, which took three hours. No matter how surprising this may seem, living organisms were found at the bottom. The fish of the Mariana Trench are flat creatures, similar to a flounder, no more than thirty centimeters long.
In 1995, the Japanese descended into the abyss. And in 2009, a miracle device called Nereus descended to the deepest point. He not only took a number of photos, but also took soil samples.
In 1996, the New York Times published the materials of the next dive of the apparatus from the research vessel Challenger. It turns out that when the equipment was lowered, after a while, the instruments recorded the strongest metal rattle. This fact was the reason for the immediate rise of equipment to the surface. What the researchers saw stunned them. The steel structure was badly dented, and the thick, strong cable looked like it had been sawn down. Here is such an unexpected surprise presented by the Mariana Trench. Whether the monsters so crushed the technique or representatives of the alien mind, or mutated octopuses ... A variety of proposals were made, each of which was more incredible than the previous one. However, no one ever found the true reason, since there was no evidence for any of the theories. All assumptions were at the level of fantastic guesses. But the secrets of the Mariana Trench have not yet been revealed.
Another mysterious story
Another incredibly mysterious case occurred with a team of German researchers who lowered their apparatus called the Highfish to the bottom. At some point, the device stopped diving, and the cameras installed on it gave an image of the huge size of the lizard, which was actively trying to chew on an unknown thing. The team drove the monster away from the device using an electrical discharge. The creature was frightened and swam away and did not appear again. It is unfortunate that such events were not recorded by the apparatus, so that there would be irrefutable evidence.
After this incident, the Mariana Trench began to grow with new facts, legends and conjectures. The crews of the ships now and then reported about a huge monster in these waters, which is towing ships at great speed. It became difficult to make out what is true and what is speculation. The Mariana Trench, whose monsters haunted many people, is still the most mysterious point on the planet.
Hard Facts
Along with the most incredible legends about the Mariana Trench, there are quite specific, but incredible facts. There is no doubt about them, since they are confirmed by evidence.
In 1948, lobster fishermen (Australian) reported a large transparent fish that was at least thirty meters long. They saw her at sea. Based on their description, it looks like a very ancient shark (species Carcharodon megalodon) that lived several million years ago. Scientists from the remains managed to restore the appearance of a shark. The monstrous creature was 25 meters long and weighed one hundred tons. Her mouth was two meters in size, and each tooth was at least ten centimeters. Just imagine this monster. It was the teeth of such a creature that were discovered by oceanologists at the bottom of the vast Pacific Ocean. The youngest of them is at least eleven thousand years old.
This unique find suggests that not all such creatures died out a couple of million years ago. Perhaps at the very bottom of the hollow, these incredible predators are hiding from human eyes. Exploration of the mysterious depths continues to this day, because the abyss is fraught with many secrets, which people have not yet come close to revealing.
At the bottom of the depression, living organisms experience tremendous pressure. It would seem that in such conditions, nothing living can exist. However, this opinion is erroneous. Mollusks calmly live here, their shells do not suffer from pressure at all. They are not even affected by hydrothermal vents that emit methane and hydrogen. Unbelievable, but true!
Another mystery is a hydrothermal spring called "Champagne". Bubbles of carbon dioxide seethe in its waters. This is the only such object in the world and it is located precisely in the depression, which gave scientists reason to talk about the possible origin of life in water in this very place.
The Daikoku volcano is located in the Mariana Trench. In its crater there is a lake of molten sulfur, which boils at a huge temperature of 187 degrees. You won't find anything like this anywhere else on earth. The only analogue of such a phenomenon is in space (on the moon of Jupiter called Io).
Amazing place
Giant single-celled amoeba live in the Mariana Trench, the size of which reaches ten centimeters. They live next to uranium, lead, and mercury that are harmful to living beings. However, they not only do not die from them, but also feel great.
The Mariana Trench is the biggest miracle on earth. It combines everything inanimate and living. Everything that kills life under normal conditions, at the bottom of the depression, on the contrary, gives strength to the survival of living organisms. Isn't it a miracle? How much still unknown is fraught with this place!
The Mariana Trench is a fracture in the earth's crust located in the ocean. It is one of the famous objects in the world. We will find out where the Mariana Trench is located on the map and what it is known for.
What it is?
The Mariana Trench is an oceanic trench, or a break in the earth's crust, located under water. It got its name from the nearby Mariana Islands. In the world, this object is known as the deepest place. The depth of the Mariana Trench in meters is 10994. This is 2000 meters more than the highest mountain on the planet - Everest.
For the first time, the British learned about this depression in 1875 on the Challenger ship. At the same time, the first measurement of its depth was made, which amounted to 8367 meters.
How was the Mariana Trench formed?
It represents the boundary between two lithospheric plates. There is a break in the earth's crust, formed as a result of the movements of these plates. The depression is V-shaped and is 1,500 kilometers long.
Location
How to find the Mariana Trench on the world map? It is located in the Pacific Ocean, in its eastern part, between the Philippine and Mariana Islands. The coordinates of the deepest point of the depression are 11 degrees north latitude and 142 degrees east longitude.
Rice. 1. The Mariana Trench is located in the Pacific Ocean
Research
The enormous depth of the Mariana Trench determines the pressure at the bottom, which is 108.6 MPa. This is a thousand times more pressure on the surface of the Earth. Naturally, it is extremely difficult to conduct research in such conditions. However, the secrets and mysteries of the deepest place in the world attract many scientists.
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As already mentioned, the first studies were carried out in 1875. But the equipment of that time did not allow not only to sink to the bottom of the depression, but even to accurately measure its depth. The first dive was carried out in 1960 - then the Trieste bathyscaphe sank to a depth of 10915 meters. This study has many interesting facts unfortunately still unexplained.
The instruments recorded sounds reminiscent of the grinding of a saw on metal. With the help of monitors, vague shadows were visible, outlines resembling dragons or dinosaurs. The recording was carried out for an hour, then the scientists decided to urgently raise the bathyscaphe to the surface. When the apparatus was lifted, a lot of damage was found on the metal, which at that time was considered heavy-duty. A cable of enormous length and a width of 20 cm was half sawn. Who could have done this is still considered unknown.
Rice. 2. The bathyscaphe Trieste was immersed in the Mariana Trench
The German expedition "Highfish" also immersed its bathyscaphe in the Mariana Trench. However, they only reached a depth of 7 km and then encountered some difficulties. Attempts to remove the device were unsuccessful. Turning on the infrared cameras, the scientists saw a huge pangolin holding a bathyscaphe. Whether this was true, no one can say today.
The deepest place of the depression was recorded in 2011 by diving to the bottom of a special robot. He reached the mark of 10994 meters. This area was called the Challenger Deep.
Is there anyone who descended to the bottom of the Mariana Trench, except for robots and submersibles? Such dives were carried out by several people:
- Don Walsh and Jacques Picard - research scientists descended on the Trieste bathyscaphe in 1960 to a depth of 10915 meters;
- James Cameron, an American director, made a solo dive to the very bottom of the Challenger abyss, collecting many samples, photos and videos.
In January 2017, he announced his desire to dive into the Mariana Trench famous traveler Fedor Konyukhov.
Who lives at the bottom of the hollow
Despite the enormous depth and high pressure of the water column, the Mariana Trench is not uninhabited. Until recently, it was believed that life stops at a depth of 6000 m and no animals are able to endure the enormous pressure. In addition, at the level of 2000 m, the passage of light stops and below there is only darkness.
Recent studies have found that even below 6000 m there is life. So, who lives at the bottom of the Mariana Trench:
- worms up to one and a half meters long;
- crustaceans;
- shellfish;
- octopuses;
- sea stars;
- many bacteria.
All these inhabitants have adapted to withstand pressure and darkness, therefore they have specific shapes and colors.
Rice. 3. Inhabitant of the Mariana Trench
What have we learned?
So, we found out in which ocean the Mariana Trench is located - the deepest place in the world. Its depth significantly exceeds the height of the largest mountain in the world. Despite the harsh conditions, the depression is inhabited by a variety of inhabitants. Until now, this place is a big mystery, which scientists from all over the world are trying to solve.
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The Mariana Trench is located in the western part of the Pacific Ocean, not far from the Mariana Islands, just two hundred kilometers away, due to the neighborhood with which it got its name. It is a huge marine reserve in the status of a national monument of the United States, therefore it is under state protection. Fishing and mining are strictly prohibited here, but you can swim and enjoy the beauty.
In shape, the Mariana Trench resembles a grandiose crescent - 2550 km long and 69 km wide. The deepest point - 10994 m below sea level - is called the "Challenger Abyss".
Discovery and first observations
The Mariana Trench began to explore the British. In 1872, the Challenger sailing corvette entered the waters of the Pacific Ocean with scientists and the most advanced equipment of those times. After taking measurements, we set the maximum depth - 8367 m. The value, of course, differs markedly from the correct result. But even this was enough to understand: the deepest point of the globe was discovered. So the next riddle of nature was “challenged” (translated from English “Challenger” - “challenging”). Years passed, and in 1951 the British carried out "work on the mistakes." Namely: a deep-sea echo sounder recorded a maximum depth of 10863 meters.
Then the baton was intercepted by Russian researchers who sent the Vityaz research vessel to the area of the Mariana Trench. In 1957, with the help of special equipment, they were not only able to fix the depth of the depression, equal to 11022 m, but also established the presence of life at a depth of more than seven kilometers. Thus, having made a small revolution in the scientific world of the middle of the 20th century, where there was a strong opinion that there are no and cannot be such deeply living beings. This is where the most interesting begins ... Many stories about underwater monsters, huge octopuses, unprecedented bathyscaphees crushed into a cake by huge paws of animals ... Where is the truth and where is the lie - let's try to figure it out.
Secrets, riddles and legends
The first daredevils who dared to dive to the "bottom of the Earth" were US Navy Lieutenant Don Walsh and explorer Jacques Picard. They dived on the Trieste bathyscaphe, which was built in the Italian city of the same name. A very heavy structure with thick 13-centimeter walls was immersed to the bottom for five whole hours. Having reached the lowest point, the researchers stayed there for 12 minutes, after which the ascent was immediately begun, which took approximately 3 hours. At the bottom, fish were found - flat, similar to flounder, about 30 centimeters long.
Research continued, and in 1995 the Japanese descended into the "abyss". Another "breakthrough" was made in 2009 with the help of the Nereus automatic underwater vehicle: this miracle of technology not only took several photos at the deepest point of the Earth, but also took soil samples.
In 1996, the New York Times published a shocking story about equipment from the American scientific vessel Glomar Challenger diving into the Mariana Trench. The spherical apparatus for deep-sea travel was affectionately nicknamed the “hedgehog” by the team. Some time after the start of the dive, the instruments recorded terrifying sounds, reminiscent of the grinding of metal on metal. The “Hedgehog” was immediately raised to the surface, and they were horrified: the huge steel structure was crushed, and the strongest and thickest (20 cm in diameter!) Cable seemed to be sawn. There were many explanations immediately. Some said that these were “tricks” of the monsters inhabiting the natural object, others were inclined to the version of the presence of an alien mind, and still others believed that there were mutated octopuses! True, there was no evidence, and all assumptions remained at the level of conjecture and speculation ...
The same mysterious case happened to the German research team, which decided to lower the Highfish apparatus into the waters of the abyss. But for some reason he stopped moving, and the cameras impartially showed on the monitor screens an image of the shocking size of the lizard, which was trying to gnaw through the steel "thing". The team was not taken aback and by an electric discharge from the device “scared away” an unknown beast. He sailed away, and did not appear again ... It remains only to regret that for some reason those who came across such unique inhabitants of the Mariana Trench did not have the equipment that would allow them to be photographed.
At the end of the 90s of the last century, at the time of the "discovery" of the monsters of the Mariana Trench by the Americans, the "fouling" of this geographical object with legends began. Fishermen (poachers) talked about glows from its depths, lights running back and forth, various unidentified flying objects emerging from there. Crews of small ships reported that ships in the area were "towing at great speed" by a monster with incredible strength.
Confirmed testimonies
Depth of the Mariana TrenchAlong with the many legends associated with the Mariana Trench, there are incredible facts, confirmed by irrefutable evidence.
Found giant shark toothIn 1918, Australian lobster fishermen told of a translucent white fish about 30 meters long that they saw in the sea. According to the description, it looks like an ancient shark of the species Carcharodon megalodon, which lived in the seas 2 million years ago. Scientists from the surviving remains were able to recreate the appearance of a shark - a monstrous creature 25 meters long, weighing 100 tons and an impressive two-meter mouth with teeth 10 cm each. Can you imagine such "teeth"! And it was they who were recently found by oceanologists at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean! The "youngest" of the discovered artifacts ... "only" 11 thousand years old!
This find allows us to be sure that not all megalodons died out two million years ago. Perhaps the waters of the Mariana Trench hide these incredible predators from human eyes? Research continues, the depths are still fraught with many unsolved mysteries.
Features of the deep sea world
The water pressure at the lowest point of the Mariana Trench is 108.6 MPa, that is, it exceeds the normal atmospheric pressure by 1072 times. A vertebrate animal simply cannot survive in such monstrous conditions. But, oddly enough, shellfish have taken root here. How their shells withstand such colossal water pressure is not clear. The discovered mollusks are an incredible example of "survival". They exist near serpentine hydrothermal springs. Serpentine contains hydrogen and methane, which not only do not pose a threat to the “population” found here, but also contribute to the formation of living organisms in such a seemingly aggressive environment. But hydrothermal springs also emit a gas that is deadly for molluscs - hydrogen sulfide. But the "cunning" and life-hungry mollusks have learned to process hydrogen sulfide into protein, and continue, as they say, clover to live in the Mariana Trench.
Another incredible mystery of the deep-sea object is the Champagne hydrothermal spring, named after the famous French (and not only) alcoholic drink. It's all about the bubbles that "boil" in the waters of the source. Of course, these are by no means the bubbles of your favorite champagne - this is liquid carbon dioxide. Thus, the world's only underwater source of liquid carbon dioxide is located in the Mariana Trench. Such sources are called "white smokers", their temperature is below ambient temperature, and there are always vapors around them that look like white smoke. Thanks to these sources, hypotheses were born about the origin of all life on earth in water. Low temperature, an abundance of chemicals, colossal energy - all this created excellent conditions for the ancient representatives of flora and fauna.
The temperature in the Mariana Trench is also very favorable - from 1 to 4 degrees Celsius. The "black smokers" took care of that. Being the antipode of "white smokers", hydrothermal springs contain a large amount of ore substances, and therefore they are dark in color. These springs are located here at a depth of about 2 kilometers and spew water, the temperature of which is about 450 degrees Celsius. I immediately recall the school physics course, from which we know that water boils at 100 degrees Celsius. So what's going on? Does the spring spew boiling water? Fortunately, no. It's all about the colossal pressure of water - it is 155 times higher than on the surface of the Earth, so H 2 O does not boil, but pretty much "warms up" the waters of the Mariana Trench. The water of these hydrothermal springs is incredibly saturated with various minerals, which also contributes to the comfortable habitation of living beings.
Incredible Facts
How many more mysteries and incredible wonders is fraught with this incredible place? Lots of. At a depth of 414 meters, the Daikoku volcano is located here, which served as another proof that life originated here, at the deepest point on the globe. In the crater of the volcano, under water, there is a lake of the purest molten sulfur. In this "cauldron" sulfur seethes at a temperature of 187 degrees Celsius. The only known analogue of such a lake is located on Jupiter's moon Io. There is nothing else like it on Earth. Only in space. It is no wonder that most of the hypotheses about the origin of life from water are associated with this mysterious deep-sea object in the Pacific Ocean.
Let's remember a little school biology course. The simplest living creatures are amoeba. Tiny, single-celled, they can only be seen through a microscope. They reach, as it is written in textbooks, a length of half a millimeter. Giant toxic amoebas 10 centimeters long have been found in the Mariana Trench. Can you imagine this? Ten centimeters! That is, this single-celled living being can be perfectly examined with the naked eye. Isn't this a miracle? As a result of scientific research, it has been established that amoebas acquired such gigantic sizes for their class of unicellular organisms, adapting to the “savory” life on the seabed. Cold water, coupled with its colossal pressure and lack of sunlight, contributed to the "growth" of amoebas, which are called xenophyophores. The incredible abilities of xenophyophores are quite surprising: they have adapted to the effects of most harmful substances - uranium, mercury, lead. And they live in this environment, like mollusks. In general, the Mariana Trench is a miracle of miracles, where everything living and non-living is perfectly combined, and the most harmful chemical elements that can kill any organism not only do not harm the living, but, on the contrary, contribute to survival.
The local bottom has been studied in some detail and is not of particular interest - it is covered with a layer of viscous mucus. There is no sand there, only the remains of crushed shells and plankton, which have been lying there for thousands of years, and due to the pressure of the water, they have long turned into a thick greyish-yellow mud. And the tranquility and measured life of the seabed are disturbed only by the bathyscaphes of researchers descending here from time to time.
Inhabitants of the Mariana Trench
Research continues
Everything secret and unknown has always attracted a person. And with each secret revealed, there were no fewer new mysteries on our planet. All this fully applies to the Mariana Trench.
At the end of 2011, researchers discovered unique natural stone formations in it, shaped like bridges. Each of them stretched from one end to the other for as much as 69 km. Scientists had no doubt: it is here that the tectonic plates - the Pacific and the Philippine - touch, and stone bridges (there are four in total) formed at their junction. True, the very first of the bridges - Dutton Ridge - was opened in the late 80s of the last century. He impressed then with his size and height, which were the size of a small mountain. At its highest point, located just above the Challenger Deep, this deep-sea "ridge" reaches two and a half kilometers.
Why did nature need to build such bridges, and even in such a mysterious and inaccessible place for people? The purpose of these objects is still unclear. In 2012, James Cameron, the creator of the legendary film Titanic, dived into the Mariana Trench. The unique equipment and powerful cameras installed on his DeepSea Challenge bathyscaphe made it possible to film the majestic and deserted “bottom of the Earth”. It is not known how long he would have been observing local landscapes if some malfunctions had not occurred on the apparatus. In order not to risk his life, the researcher was forced to rise to the surface.
Together with The National Geographic, the talented director created the documentary "Challenge to the Abyss". In his account of the dive, he called the bottom of the trough "the boundary of life." Emptiness, silence, and - nothing, not the slightest movement or disturbance of water. No sunlight, no shellfish, no algae, much less sea monsters. But this is only at first glance. In the bottom soil samples taken by Cameron, more than twenty thousand different microorganisms were found. Great amount. How do they survive under such incredible water pressure? Still a mystery. Among the inhabitants of the depression, a shrimp-like amphipod has also been found that produces a unique chemical that scientists are testing as a vaccine against Alzheimer's disease.
During his stay at the deepest point not only of the oceans, but of the entire Earth, James Cameron did not meet any scary monsters, or representatives of extinct animal species, or alien bases, not to mention some incredible miracles. The feeling that he was completely alone here was a real shock. The ocean floor seemed deserted and, as the director himself said, "lunar ... lonely." The feeling of complete isolation from all mankind was such that it was beyond words. However, he still tried to do it in his documentary. Well, the fact that the Mariana Trench is silent and shocking with its emptiness should probably not be surprising. After all, she simply sacredly keeps the secret of the origin of all life on Earth ...
The Mariana Trench is the deepest place on our planet. I think almost everyone heard about it or studied it at school, but I myself, for example, have long forgotten both its depth and the facts about how it was measured and studied. So I decided to “refresh” my and your memory
This absolute depth got its name thanks to the nearby Mariana Islands. The entire depression stretched along the islands for one and a half thousand kilometers and has a characteristic V-shaped profile. In fact, this is an ordinary tectonic fault, the place where the Pacific plate comes under the Philippine, just Mariana Trench- this is the deepest place of this kind) Its slopes are steep, on average about 7-9 °, and the bottom is flat, from 1 to 5 kilometers wide, and divided by rapids into several closed sections. The pressure at the bottom of the Mariana Trench reaches 108.6 MPa - this is more than 1100 times more than normal atmospheric pressure!
The first who dared to challenge the abyss were the British - the military three-masted corvette "Challenger" with sailing equipment was rebuilt into an oceanographic vessel for hydrological, geological, chemical, biological and meteorological work in 1872. But the first data on the depth of the Mariana Trench were obtained only in 1951 - according to measurements, the depth of the trench was declared equal to 10,863 m. After that, the deepest point of the Mariana Trench was called the “Challenger Deep”. It is hard to imagine that the highest mountain of our planet, Everest, can easily fit in the depths of the Mariana Trench, and more than a kilometer of water will remain above it to the surface ... Of course, it will fit not in area, but only in height, but the numbers are still amazing ...
The next explorers of the Mariana Trench were already Soviet scientists - in 1957, during the 25th voyage of the Soviet research vessel Vityaz, they not only announced the maximum depth of the trench equal to 11,022 meters, but also established the presence of life at depths of more than 7,000 meters , thereby refuting the then prevailing idea that life was impossible at depths of more than 6000-7000 meters. In 1992, the Vityaz was handed over to the newly formed Museum of the World Ocean. For two years, the ship was being repaired at the plant, and on July 12, 1994, it was permanently moored at the museum pier in the very center of Kaliningrad
On January 23, 1960, the first and only human dive to the bottom of the Mariana Trench was carried out. Thus, the only people who have been “at the bottom of the Earth” were US Navy Lieutenant Don Walsh and researcher Jacques Picard.
During the dive, they were protected by armored, 127 millimeter thick, walls of a bathyscaphe called “Trieste”
Bathyscaphe was named after the Italian city of Trieste, in which the main work on its creation was carried out. According to the instruments on board the Trieste, Walsh and Picard dived to a depth of 11,521 meters, but this figure was later slightly corrected - 10,918 meters.
The dive took about five, and the rise - about three hours, the researchers spent only 12 minutes at the bottom. But even this time was enough for them to make a sensational discovery - at the bottom they found flat fish up to 30 cm in size, similar to flounder !
Studies in 1995 showed that the depth of the Mariana Trench is about 10,920 m, and the Japanese probe "Kaik?", descended into the Challenger Deep on March 24, 1997, recorded a depth of 10,911.4 meters. Below is a diagram of the cavity - when clicked, it will open in a new window in normal size
The Mariana Trench has repeatedly frightened researchers with monsters lurking in its depths. For the first time, the expedition of the American research vessel Glomar Challenger encountered the unknown. Some time after the start of the descent of the apparatus, the sound-recording device began to transmit some kind of metallic rattle to the surface, reminiscent of the sound of sawn metal. At this time, some indistinct shadows appeared on the monitor, similar to giant fairy-tale dragons with several heads and tails. An hour later, scientists became worried that the unique equipment, made in the NASA laboratory from beams of ultra-strong titanium-cobalt steel, having a spherical structure, the so-called “hedgehog” with a diameter of about 9 m, could remain in the abyss of the Mariana Trench forever - so it was decided to immediately raise apparatus on board the ship. The “Hedgehog” was retrieved from the depths for more than eight hours, and as soon as it appeared on the surface, they immediately put it on a special raft. The TV camera and echo sounder were raised on the deck of the Glomar Challenger. The researchers were horrified when they saw how deformed the strongest steel beams of the structure were, as for the 20-cm steel cable on which the “hedgehog” was lowered, the scientists were not mistaken in the nature of the sounds transmitted from the abyss of water - the cable was half sawn. Who tried to leave the device at a depth and why - will forever remain a mystery. Details of this incident were published in 1996 by the New York Times.
Another collision with the inexplicable in the depths of the Mariana Trench occurred with the German research apparatus "Highfish" with a crew on board. At a depth of 7 km, the device suddenly stopped moving. To find out the cause of the malfunctions, the hydronauts turned on the infrared camera ... What they saw in the next few seconds seemed to them a collective hallucination: a huge prehistoric lizard, sinking its teeth into the bathyscaphe, tried to crack it like a nut. Recovering from the shock, the crew activated a device called an "electric gun", and the monster, struck by a powerful discharge, disappeared into the abyss ...
On May 31, 2009, the Nereus automatic underwater vehicle sank to the bottom of the Mariana Trench. According to measurements, he sank 10,902 meters below sea level.
At the bottom, Nereus filmed a video, took some photos, and even collected sediment samples from the bottom.
Thanks to modern technology, the researchers managed to capture a few representatives Mariana Trench I invite you to get to know them :)
So, now we know that different octopuses live in the Marianas Depths
Scary and not so scary fish)
And various other obscure creatures :)
Perhaps not much time is left before the moment when technology will allow you to get to know the inhabitants in all their diversity. Mariana Trench and other ocean depths, but so far we have what we have
What do we know about the deep place in the World Ocean? This is the Mariana Trench or the Mariana Trench.
What is her depth? This is not an easy question...
But definitely not 14 kilometers!
In section, the Mariana Trench has a characteristic V-shaped profile with very steep slopes. The bottom is flat, several tens of kilometers wide, divided by ridges into several almost closed sections. The pressure at the bottom of the Mariana Trench is more than 1100 times higher than normal atmospheric pressure, reaching 3150 kg/cm2. The temperature at the bottom of the Mariana Trench (Marian Trench) is surprisingly high thanks to hydrothermal vents, nicknamed "black smokers". They constantly heat the water and maintain the overall temperature in the cavity at around 3°C.
The first attempt to measure the depth of the Mariana Trench (Marian Trench) was made in 1875 by the crew of the English oceanographic vessel Challenger during a scientific expedition across the World Ocean. The British discovered the Mariana Trench quite by accident, during the duty sounding of the bottom with the help of a lot (Italian hemp rope and lead weight). Despite the inaccuracy of such a measurement, the result was amazing: 8367 m. In 1877, a map was published in Germany, on which this place was marked as the Challenger Abyss.
A measurement made in 1899 from the board of the American collier Nero showed already a great depth: 9636 m.
In 1951, the bottom of the depression was measured by the English survey vessel Challenger, named after its predecessor, unofficially referred to as the Challenger II. Now, with the help of an echo sounder, a depth of 10899 m was recorded.
The maximum depth indicator was obtained in 1957 by the Soviet research vessel "Vityaz": 11,034 ± 50 m. It is strange that no one remembered the anniversary date of the generally epoch-making discovery of Russian oceanologists. However, they say that when taking readings, the change in environmental conditions at different depths was not taken into account. This erroneous figure is still present on many physical and geographical maps published in the USSR and Russia.
In 1959, the American research ship Stranger measured the depth of the trench in a rather unusual way for science - using depth charges. Result: 10915 m.
The last known measurements were made in 2010 by the American ship Sumner, they showed a depth of 10994 ± 40 m.
It is not yet possible to obtain absolutely accurate readings even with the help of the most modern equipment. The work of the echo sounder is hindered by the fact that the speed of sound in water depends on its properties, which manifest themselves differently depending on depth.
This is how the strongest hulls of underwater vehicles look after extreme pressure tests. Photo: Sergey Ptichkin / RG
And now it is reported that an autonomous uninhabited underwater vehicle (AUV) has been developed in Russia, capable of operating at a depth of 14 kilometers. From this, conclusions are drawn that our military oceanologists have discovered a depression deeper than the Mariana Trench in the World Ocean.
The message that the device was created and passed its test compression at a pressure corresponding to a depth of 14,000 meters was made during an ordinary press trip of journalists to one of the leading scientific centers, including deep-sea vehicles. It is even strange that no one paid attention to this sensation and has not yet voiced it. And the developers themselves did not particularly open up. Or maybe they are just reinsuring themselves and want to get reinforced concrete evidence? And now we have every reason to wait for a new scientific sensation.
The decision was made to create an uninhabited deep-sea vehicle capable of withstanding pressures that are much higher than what exists in the Mariana Trench. The device is ready to work. If the depth is confirmed, it will become a super sensation. If not, the device will work to the maximum in the same Mariana Trench, study it up and down. In addition, the developers claim that with a not very complicated refinement, the AUV can be made habitable. And it will be comparable to manned flights into deep space.
The existence of the Mariana Trench has been known for quite some time, and there are technical possibilities for descending to the bottom, but in the last 60 years only three people have been able to do this: a scientist, a military man and a film director.
For the entire time of the study of the Mariana Trench (Marian Trench), vehicles with people on board fell to its bottom twice and automatic vehicles fell four times (as of April 2017). This, by the way, is less than people have been on the moon.
On January 23, 1960, the bathyscaphe Trieste sank to the bottom of the abyss of the Mariana Trench (Marian Trench). On board were the Swiss oceanographer Jacques Picard (1922-2008) and the US Navy lieutenant, explorer Don Walsh (born in 1931). The bathyscaphe was designed by the father of Jacques Picard - physicist, inventor of the stratospheric balloon and bathyscaphe Auguste Picard (1884-1962).
A half-century-old black-and-white photograph shows the legendary Trieste bathyscaphe in preparation for a dive. The crew of two was in a spherical steel gondola. It was attached to a float filled with gasoline to provide positive buoyancy.
The descent of the Trieste lasted 4 hours 48 minutes, the crew periodically interrupted it. At a depth of 9 km, the plexiglass cracked, but the descent continued until the Trieste sank to the bottom, where the crew saw a 30-centimeter flat fish and some kind of crustacean creature. Having stayed at a depth of 10912 m for about 20 minutes, the crew began the ascent, which took 3 hours and 15 minutes.
Man made another attempt to descend to the bottom of the Mariana Trench (Marian Trench) in 2012, when American film director James Cameron (born 1954) became the third to reach the bottom of the Challenger Abyss. Previously, he repeatedly dived on Russian Mir submersibles into the Atlantic Ocean to a depth of more than 4 km during the filming of the movie Titanic. Now, on the Dipsy Challenger bathyscaphe, he descended into the abyss in 2 hours and 37 minutes - almost a widow faster than the Trieste - and spent 2 hours and 36 minutes at a depth of 10898 m. After which he rose to the surface in just an hour and a half. At the bottom, Cameron saw only creatures that looked like shrimp.
The fauna and flora of the Mariana Trench are poorly studied.
In the 1950s Soviet scientists during the expedition of the ship "Vityaz" discovered life at depths of more than 7 thousand meters. Before that, it was believed that there was nothing alive there. Pogonophores were discovered - a new family of marine invertebrates that live in chitinous tubes. Disputes about their scientific classification are still going on.
The main inhabitants of the Mariana Trench (Marian Trench), living at the very bottom, are barophilic (developing only at high pressure) bacteria, the simplest creatures of foraminifera - unicellular in shells and xenophyophores - amoeba, reaching 20 cm in diameter and living by shoveling silt.
Foraminifera managed to get the Japanese automatic deep-sea probe "Kaiko" in 1995, plunged to 10911.4 m and took soil samples.
Larger inhabitants of the gutter live throughout its thickness. Life at depth has made them either blind or with highly developed eyes, often telescopic. Many have photophores - organs of luminescence, a kind of bait for prey: some have long shoots, like an anglerfish, while others have it all right in their mouths. Some accumulate a luminous liquid and, in case of danger, douse it with the enemy in the manner of a "light curtain".
Since 2009, the territory of the depression has been part of the American conservation area Mariana Trench Marine National Monument with an area of 246,608 km2. The zone includes only the underwater part of the trench and the water area. The reason for this action was the fact that the Northern Mariana Islands and the island of Guam - in fact, American territory - are the island boundaries of the water area. The Challenger Deep is not included in this zone, as it is located on the oceanic territory of the Federated States of Micronesia.
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