Secrets of the Mariana Trench. Discoveries at the bottom of the Mariana Trench Secrets of the World Ocean and the Mariinsky Trench

In honor of which it, in fact, got its name. The basin is a crescent-shaped ravine on the ocean floor with a length of 2,550 km. with an average width of 69 km. According to the latest measurements (2014), the maximum depth of the Mariana Trench is 10 984 m. This point is located at the southern end of the trough and is called the Challenger Deep. Challenger Deep).

The trench was formed at the junction of two lithospheric tectonic plates - the Pacific and the Philippine. The Pacific Plate is older and heavier. For millions of years, she "creeped" under the younger Philippine plate.

Opening

For the first time, the Mariana Trench was discovered by a scientific expedition of a sailing ship " Challenger". This corvette, which was originally a warship, was converted into a scientific vessel in 1872 specifically for the Royal Society of London for the Advancement of Natural Knowledge. The ship was equipped with biochemical laboratories, means for measuring depth, water temperature and soil sampling. In the same year, in December, the ship set off for scientific research and spent three and a half years at sea, covering a journey of 70,000 nautical miles. At the end of the expedition, which was recognized as one of the most scientifically successful since the famous geographical and scientific discoveries of the 16th century, over 4,000 new animal species were described, almost 500 underwater objects were deep-seated and soil samples were taken from various parts of the oceans.

Against the backdrop of important scientific discoveries made by the Challenger, the discovery of an underwater trough, the depth of which strikes the imagination of even contemporaries, not to mention scientists of the 19th century, stood out in particular. True, initial depth measurements showed that its depth was just over 8,000 m, but even this value was enough to talk about the discovery of the deepest point known to man on the planet.

The new depression was called the Mariana Trench - in honor of the nearby Mariana Islands, which in turn are named after Marianne of Austria, Queen of Spain, wife of King Philip IV of Spain.

Exploration of the Mariana Trench continued only in 1951. English survey ship Challenger II explored the trench with an echo sounder and found that its maximum depth is much greater than previously thought, and is 10,899 m. This point was given the name "Challenger Abyss" in honor of the first expedition of 1872-1876.

Abyss Challenger

Abyss Challenger is a relatively small flat plain in the south of the Mariana Trench. Its length is 11 km and its width is about 1.6 km. Along its edges are gentle slopes.

Its exact depth, which is called a meter per meter, is still unknown. This is due to the errors of the echo sounders and sonars themselves, the changing depth of the oceans, as well as the uncertainty that the very bottom of the abyss remains motionless. In 2009, the US vessel Kilo Moana (eng. RV Kilo Moana) determined a depth of 10,971 m with an error probability of 22-55 m. the value is fixed in reference books and is currently considered the closest to the real one.

diving

Only four scientific apparatuses have visited the bottom of the Mariana Trench, and only two expeditions were people.

Project "Nekton"

The first descent into the Abyss of the Challenger took place in 1960 on a manned submersible " Trieste”, named after the Italian city of the same name, where it was created. It was flown by an American lieutenant in the US Navy Don Walsh and Swiss oceanographer Jacques Piccard. The apparatus was designed by Jacques' father, Auguste Piccard, who already had experience in creating bathyscaphes.

Trieste made its first dive in 1953 in the Mediterranean Sea, where it reached a then record depth of 3,150 m. In total, the bathyscaphe made several dives between 1953 and 1957. and the experience of its operation has shown that it can dive to more serious depths.

Trieste was bought out by the US Navy in 1958 when the United States became interested in seabed exploration in the Pacific region, where some island states came under its de facto jurisdiction as victorious countries in World War II.

After some improvements, in particular, even more compaction of the outer part of the hull, Trieste began to prepare for diving into the Mariana Trench. Jacques Piccard remained the pilot of the bathyscaphe, since he had the greatest experience in managing Trier in particular and bathyscaphes in general. His companion was Don Walsh, then a US Navy lieutenant who served on a submarine and later became a well-known scientist and marine specialist.

The project of the first dive to the bottom of the Mariana Trench received a code name Project "Nekton", although this name did not catch on among the people.

The dive began on the morning of January 23, 1960 at 8:23 local time. To a depth of 8 km. the apparatus descended at a speed of 0.9 m/s, and then slowed down to 0.3 m/s. The researchers saw the bottom only at 13:06. Thus, the time of the first dive was almost 5 hours. At the very bottom of the bathyscaphe was only 20 minutes. During this time, the researchers measured the density and temperature of the water (it was + 3.3ºС), measured the radioactive background, observed an unknown fish, similar to flounder, and a shrimp suddenly found themselves at the bottom. Also, based on the measured pressure, the immersion depth was calculated, which amounted to 11,521 m, which was later corrected to 10,916 m.

Being at the bottom of the Abyss of the Challenger, they explored and managed to refresh themselves with a chocolate bar.

After that, the bathyscaphe was freed from the ballast and the ascent began, which took less time - 3.5 hours.

Submersible "Kaiko"

Kaiko (Kaikō) is the second of four vehicles that reached the bottom of the Mariana Trench. But he went there twice. This uninhabited remote-controlled underwater vehicle was created by the Japan Agency for Marine Science and Technology (JAMSTEC) and was intended to study the deep seabed. The device was equipped with three video cameras, as well as two manipulator arms controlled remotely from the surface.

He made over 250 dives and made a huge contribution to science, but he made his most famous trip in 1995, diving to a depth of 10,911 m in the Challenger Abyss. It took place on March 24 and samples of extremophile benthic organisms were brought to the surface - the so-called animals that can survive in the most extreme environmental conditions.

Kaiko returned to the Challenger Abyss again a year later, in February 1996, and took samples of soil and microorganisms from the bottom of the Mariana Trench.

Unfortunately, Kaiko was lost in 2003 after a break in the cable connecting it to the carrier vessel.

Deep-sea vehicle "Nereus"

Unmanned remote-controlled deep-sea vehicle " Nereus" (eng. Nereus) closes the top three vehicles that reached the bottom of the Mariana Trench. His dive took place in May 2009. Nereus reached a depth of 10,902 m. He was sent to the site of the very first expedition to the bottom of the Challenger Abyss. He spent 10 hours at the bottom, broadcasting live video from his cameras to the carrier ship, after which he collected water and soil samples and successfully returned to the surface.

The device was lost in 2014 during a dive into the Kermadec trench at a depth of 9,900 m.

Deepsea Challenger

The last dive to the bottom of the Mariana Trench to date was made by the famous Canadian director James Cameron, inscribed not only in the history of cinema, but also in the history of great research. It happened on March 26, 2012 on a single-seat bathyscaphe Deepsea Challenger built by Australian engineer Ron Alloon in collaboration with National Geographic and Rolex. The main objective of this dive was to collect documentary evidence of life at such extreme depths. From the soil samples taken, 68 new animal species were discovered. The director himself said that the only animal he saw at the bottom was an amphipod, an amphipod that looked like a small shrimp about 3 cm long. The footage formed the basis of a documentary about his dive into the Challenger Abyss.

James Cameron became the third person on Earth to visit the bottom of the Mariana Trench. He set a diving speed record - his bathyscaphe reached a depth of 11 km. in less than two hours. He also became the first person to reach this depth in a solo dive. At the bottom, he spent 6 hours, which is also a record. Bathyscaphe Trieste was at the bottom of only 20 minutes.

Animal world

The first expedition of Trieste with great surprise told that there is life at the bottom of the Mariana Trench. Although it was previously believed that the existence of life in such conditions is simply not possible. According to Jacques Piccard, they saw at the bottom a fish resembling an ordinary flounder, about 30 cm long, as well as amphipod shrimp. Many marine biologists are skeptical that the Trier crew actually saw a fish, but they do not so much question the words of the researchers as they are inclined to believe that they mistook a sea cucumber or other invertebrate for a fish.

During the second expedition, the Kaiko took soil samples and indeed found a lot of tiny organisms that can survive in absolute darkness at temperatures close to 0 ° C and under monstrous pressure. Not a single skeptic remained who questioned the existence of life everywhere in the ocean, even in the most incredible conditions. The truth remained not clear how such deep-sea life is developed. Or are the only representatives of the Mariana Trench - the simplest microorganisms, crustaceans and invertebrates?

In December 2014, a new species of sea slugs was discovered - a family of deep-sea marine fish. The cameras recorded them at a depth of 8,145 m, which at that time was an absolute record for fish.

In the same year, cameras recorded several more species of huge crustaceans, which differ from their shallow-water relatives in deep-sea gigantism, which is generally inherent in many deep-sea species.

In May 2017, scientists reported the discovery of another new species of sea slugs, which were found at a depth of 8,178 m.

All deep-sea inhabitants of the Mariana Trench are almost blind, slow and unpretentious animals that can survive in the most extreme conditions. Popular stories that the Challenger Abyss is inhabited by marine, megalodon and other huge animals are nothing more than fiction. The Mariana Trench is fraught with many secrets and mysteries, and new species of animals are no less interesting to scientists than relic animals known since the Paleozoic. Being at such a depth for millions of years, evolution has made them completely different from shallow-water species.

Current research and future diving

The Mariana Trench continues to attract the attention of scientists around the world, despite the high cost of research and their poor practical application. Ichthyologists are interested in new types of animals and their adaptive abilities. Geologists are interested in this region from the point of view of the processes taking place in the lithospheric plates and the formation of underwater mountain ranges. Simple researchers dream of just visiting the bottom of the deepest trench on our planet.

Several expeditions to the Mariana Trench are currently planned:

1. American company Triton Submarines designs and manufactures private submersibles. The newest Triton 36000/3 model, consisting of a crew of 3, is planned to be sent to the Challenger Abyss in the near future. Its characteristics allow reaching a depth of 11 km. in just 2 hours.

2. Company Virgin Oceanic(Virgin Oceanic), which specializes in private shallow diving, is developing a single-seat submersible that can take a passenger to the bottom of the chute in 2.5 hours.

3. American company DOER marine working on a project deep search"- one or two-seater bathyscaphe.

4. In 2017, the famous Russian traveler Fedor Konyukhov announced that he plans to reach the bottom of the Mariana Trench.

1. Established in 2009 Maritime National Monument of the Mariana Islands. It does not include the islands themselves, but covers only their marine territory, with an area of ​​​​more than 245 thousand km². Almost the entire Mariana Trench was included in the monument, although its deepest point, the Challenger Abyss, did not fall into it.

2. At the bottom of the Mariana Trench, the water column exerts a pressure of 1,086 bar. This is a thousand times more than standard atmospheric pressure.

3. Water compresses very poorly and at the bottom of the gutter its density increases by only 5%. This means that 100 liters of ordinary water at a depth of 11 km. will occupy a volume of 95 liters.

4. Although the Mariana Trench is considered the deepest point on the planet, it is not the closest point to the center of the Earth. Our planet is not a perfect spherical shape, and its radius is about 25 km. less at the poles than at the equator. Therefore, the deepest point at the bottom of the Arctic Ocean is 13 km. closer to the center of the Earth than in the Challenger Abyss.

5. The Mariana Trench (and other deep-sea trenches) have been proposed to be used as nuclear waste cemeteries. It is assumed that the movement of the plates will "push" the waste under the tectonic plate deep into the Earth. The proposal is not devoid of logic, but the dumping of nuclear waste is prohibited by international law. In addition, the zones of joints of lithospheric plates give rise to earthquakes of enormous force, the consequences of which are unpredictable for buried waste.

There are 5 oceans on Earth, which occupy a significant part of the land. Having conquered space and made a landing of a man on the moon, sending autonomous spacecraft to the most distant planets of the solar system, people know negligibly little about what is hidden in the depths of the sea on their native planet.

What is the Mariana Trench?

This is the name of the deepest known place in the Pacific Ocean today. It is a trough formed by the convergence of tectonic plates. The maximum depth of the Mariana Trench is approximately 10,994 meters (2011 data). There are other trenches in all the other oceans, but not as deep. Only the Java Trench (7729 meters) can be compared with the Mariana Trench.

Location

The deepest place on Earth is located in the western Pacific Ocean, off the Mariana Islands. The gutter stretches along them for one and a half thousand kilometers. The bottom of the depression is flat, its width is from 1 to 5 kilometers. The gutter got its name in honor of the islands next to which it is located.

"Challenger Abyss"

This name has the deepest place (10,994 meters) of the Mariana Trench. Here it must be clarified that it is not yet possible to obtain the exact dimensions of this gigantic trough of the ocean floor. The speed of sound at different depths is very different, and the Mariana Trench has a very complex structure, so the data obtained using the echo sounder is always slightly different.

Discovery history

People have long known that deep seas exist in the seas and oceans. In 1875, the English corvette Challenger opened one of these points. What depth of the Mariana Trench was recorded then? It was 8367 meters. The measurement instruments at that time were far from ideal, but even this result made a stunning impression - it became clear that the deepest point of the ocean floor on the planet had been found.

Gutter studies

In the 19th century, it was simply impossible to explore the bottom of the Mariana Trench. At that time, there was no technology to descend to such a depth. Without modern means of immersion, this was tantamount to suicide.

A re-examination of the trench took place many years later, in the next century. Measurements made in 1951 showed a depth of 10,863 meters. Then, in 1957, members of the Soviet scientific vessel "Vityaz" were engaged in the study of the depression. According to their measurements, the depth of the Mariana Trench was 11,023 meters.

The last study of the gutter was carried out in 2011.

Cameron's Great Journey

The Canadian director became the third person in the history of research into the Mariana Trench to descend to its bottom. He was the first in the world to do it alone. Prior to its sinking, the trough was explored by Don Walsh and Jacques Picard in 1960 using the Trieste submersible. In addition, Japanese scientists tried to find out what the depth of the Mariana Trench is using the Kaiko probe for this. And in 2009, the Nereus apparatus descended to the bottom of the gutter.

Descent to such an incredible depth is associated with a huge number of risks. First of all, a man is threatened by a monstrous pressure of 1100 atmospheres. It can damage the body of the device, which will lead to the death of the pilot. Another serious danger that awaits when descending to a depth is the cold that reigns there. It can not only lead to equipment failure, but also kill a person. The bathyscaphe can collide with rocks and get damaged.

For many years, James Cameron dreamed of visiting the deepest point of the Mariana Trench - the "Challenger Abyss". In order to carry out his plan, he equipped his own expedition. Especially for this, an underwater vehicle was designed and built in Sydney - a single-seat bathyscaphe Deepsea Challenger, equipped with scientific equipment, as well as photo and video cameras. In it, Cameron sank to the bottom of the Mariana Trench. This event took place on March 26, 2012.

In addition to photographs and video filming, the Deepsea Challenger bathyscaphe had to take new measurements of the chute and try to give accurate data on its dimensions. Everyone was worried about one question: "How much?" The depth of the Mariana Trench, according to the readings of the apparatus, was 10,908 meters.

The director was impressed by what he saw below. Most of all, the bottom of the depression reminded him of a lifeless lunar landscape. He did not meet the terrible inhabitants of the abyss. The only creature he saw through the porthole of the bathyscaphe was a small shrimp.

After a successful voyage, James Cameron decided to donate his bathyscaphe to the Oceanographic Institute so that it could continue to be used to explore the depths of the sea.

Creepy Dwellers of the Deep

The lower the bottom of the ocean, the less sunlight penetrates through the water column. The depth of the Mariana Trench is the reason that impenetrable darkness always reigns in it. But even the absence of light cannot become an obstacle to the origin of life. Darkness gives birth to beings who have never seen the sun. And they, in turn, have only recently been able to see marine biologists.

The sight is not for the faint of heart. Almost all the inhabitants of the Mariana Trench seem to be born from the imagination of an artist who creates monsters for horror films. Seeing them for the first time, you might think that they do not live next to a person on the same planet, but are alien creatures, they look so alien.

To some extent, this is true - very little is known about the oceans and their inhabitants. The bottom of the Mariana Trench has been explored to date less than the surface of Mars. Therefore, for a long time it was believed that at such a depth, without sunlight, life is impossible. It turned out that this was not the case. The depth of the Mariana Trench, gigantic pressure and cold are not an obstacle to the birth of amazing creatures living in complete darkness.

Most of them have an ugly appearance due to terrible living conditions. The pitch darkness reigning in the depths made the marine inhabitants of these places completely blind. Many fish have huge teeth, such as howliods, which swallow their prey whole.

What can living beings eat so far from the surface of the ocean? At the bottom of the depression, the remains of living organisms accumulate, forming a multi-meter layer of bottom silt. The inhabitants of the depths feed on these deposits. Predatory fish have luminous parts of the body with which they attract small fish.

The gutter is inhabited by bacteria that can develop only at high pressure, unicellular organisms, jellyfish, worms, mollusks, sea cucumbers. The depth of the Mariana Trench gives them the opportunity to reach very large sizes. For example, the amphipods found at the bottom of the gutter are 17 centimeters long.

Amoeba

Xenophyophores (amoebae) are single-celled organisms that can only be seen with a microscope. But at a depth, these inhabitants of the Mariana Trench reach gigantic sizes - up to 10 centimeters. Previously, they were found at a depth of 7500 meters. An interesting feature of these organisms, in addition to their size, is the ability to accumulate uranium, lead and mercury. Outwardly, deep-sea amoebas look different. Some are disk or tetrahedral shaped. Xenophyophores feed on bottom sediments.

Hirondellea gigas

Large amphipods (amphipods) have been found in the Mariana Trench. These deep-sea crayfish feed on dead organic matter that accumulates at the bottom of the depression and have a keen sense of smell. The largest specimen found was 17 centimeters long.

Holothurians

Sea cucumbers are another representatives of organisms that live at the bottom of the Mariana Trench. This class of invertebrates feeds on plankton and bottom sediments.

Conclusion

The Mariana Trench has not yet been properly explored. No one knows what creatures inhabit it and how many secrets it keeps.

10 Curious Things You Can Find in the Mariana Trench
No one is surprised anymore that we have detailed maps of almost everything in our solar system - the Moon, Mars, even Uranus.

But one place that we know very little is closer to us than any planet or satellite - the ocean floor. Even though it is only a few kilometers away, we have only mapped about five percent of the seabed.

It represents a greater mystery to us than even, for example, Pluto.

Despite the fact that the oceans are closer to us than the outer planets of the solar system, people explored only five percent of the ocean floor, which remains one of the greatest mysteries of our planet.

The deepest part of the ocean Mariana Trench or Mariana Trench is one of the most famous places, about which we still do not know very much.

With water pressure that is a thousand times greater than at sea level, diving into this place is akin to suicide.

But thanks to modern technology and a few brave souls who, risking their lives, went down there, we learned a lot of interesting things about this amazing place.

Mariana Trench on the map. Where is she?

The Mariana Trench or the Mariana Trench is located in the western pacific to the east (about 200 km) from 15 Mariana Islands near Guam. It is a crescent-shaped trench in the earth's crust, about 2550 km long and 69 km wide on average.

Mariana Trench coordinates: 11°22′ north latitude and 142°35′ east longitude.

Depth of the Mariana Trench

According to the latest research in 2011, the depth of the deepest point of the Mariana Trench is about 10,994 meters ± 40 meters. For comparison, the height of the highest peak in the world - Everest is 8,848 meters. This means that if Everest were in the Mariana Trench, it would be covered by another 2.1 km of water.

Here are other interesting facts about what you can meet along the way and at the very bottom of the Mariana Trench.

Temperature at the bottom of the Mariana Trench

1. Very hot water

Going down to such a depth, we expect that it will be very cold there. The temperature here reaches just above zero, varying 1 to 4 degrees Celsius.

However, at a depth of about 1.6 km from the surface of the Pacific Ocean, there are hydrothermal vents called “black smokers”. They shoot water that heats up to 450 degrees Celsius.

This water is rich in minerals that help support life in the area. Despite the temperature of the water, which is hundreds of degrees above the boiling point, she does not boil here due to incredible pressure, 155 times higher than on the surface.

Inhabitants of the Mariana Trench

2. Giant toxic amoeba

A few years ago, at the bottom of the Mariana Trench, they discovered giant 10-centimeter amoebas, called xenophyophores.

These single-celled organisms probably got so big because of the environment they live in at a depth of 10.6 km. The cold temperature, high pressure, and lack of sunlight most likely contributed to these amoeba got huge.

In addition, xenophyophores have incredible abilities. They are resistant to many elements and chemicals, including uranium, mercury and lead, which would kill other animals and people.

3. Clams

The strong water pressure in the Mariana Trench does not give any animal with a shell or bones a chance to survive. However, in 2012, shellfish were discovered in a trough near serpentine hydrothermal vents. Serpentine contains hydrogen and methane, which allows living organisms to form.

TO How did mollusks keep their shells under such pressure?, remains unknown.

In addition, hydrothermal vents release another gas, hydrogen sulfide, which is deadly to shellfish. However, they learned to bind the sulfur compound into a safe protein, which allowed the population of these mollusks to survive.

At the bottom of the Mariana Trench

4. Pure liquid carbon dioxide

hydrothermal source Champagne The Mariana Trench, which lies outside the Okinawa Trench near Taiwan, is the only known underwater area where liquid carbon dioxide can be found. The spring, discovered in 2005, got its name from the bubbles that turned out to be carbon dioxide.

Many believe that these springs, called "white smokers" because of the lower temperature, may be the source of life. It was in the depths of the oceans with low temperatures and an abundance of chemicals and energy that life could originate.

The deepest part of our ocean, the Mariana Trench, is better known than the rest of the ocean floor, although we still know almost nothing about it. With a depth of 11 kilometers and with incredible pressure at the very bottom, the cavity is a very destructive place for anyone who dares to go down there and concoct a map.

But thanks to modern technology and a few brave souls who risked their lives to explore the cavity, we still know something about it. So if you're ever in the mood to go down to the Mariana Trench, here's what you can find there.

Incredibly hot water

If you are going to dive 11 kilometers deep, the water will become extremely cold very quickly. At this depth, the water temperature is slightly above zero, from 1 to 4 degrees Celsius. But you will also have to grab clothes for all seasons.

Summer is especially useful - when you get close to hydrothermal springs at a depth of about 1.6 kilometers. In a world where water is one step away from turning to ice, there are several geysers that heat water to around 450 degrees Celsius.

The water from these holes (also known as "black smokers") shoots out tons of minerals that help life thrive in the area. The creatures who have managed to be born in the Mariana Trench are in dire need of these minerals and the energy of geysers, since at such a depth not a single ray of the sun breaks through the water column. They are forced to swim near hot water or die.

Despite the high temperature, this water does not boil. This is due to intense pressure (155 times more than on the surface). With increased pressure, the boiling point rises.

Volcano Daikoku, which is located at a depth of about 414 meters on the way to the Mariana Trench, is the source of one of the rarest phenomena on our planet. Here is lake of pure molten sulfur. The only place where liquid sulfur can be found is Jupiter's moon Io.

In this pit, called the "cauldron", a bubbling black emulsion boils at 187 degrees Celsius. Although scientists have not been able to explore this place in detail, it is possible that even more liquid sulfur is contained deeper. It may reveal the secret of the origin of life on Earth.

According to the Gaia hypothesis, our planet is one self-governing organism in which all living and non-living things are connected to support its life. If this hypothesis is correct, then a number of signals can be observed in the natural cycles and systems of the Earth. So the sulfur compounds created by organisms in the ocean must be stable enough in the water to allow them to pass into the air and back to land again.

7. Bridges

At the end of 2011, in the Mariana Trench, it was discovered four stone bridges, which stretched from one end to the other for 69 km. They appear to have formed at the junction of the Pacific and Philippine tectonic plates.

One of the bridges Dutton Ridge, which was discovered back in the 1980s, turned out to be incredibly high, like a small mountain. At the highest point the ridge reaches 2.5 km over the Challenger Deep.

Like many aspects of the Mariana Trench, the purpose of these bridges remains unclear. However, the very fact that these formations were discovered in one of the most mysterious and unexplored places is amazing.

Giant poisonous amoeba

If you saw a newborn puppy, about 10 centimeters long, your first reaction was very cheerful and probably full of tenderness. But if you see a 10 cm amoeba, you will probably quickly pack your suitcase and drive away, holding back a scream.

In the Mariana Trench, such amoebas are everywhere. They are called xenophyophores. And although they are single-celled, they became large precisely due to the cold temperature, high pressure and lack of sunlight. It was these parameters that caused the nightmarish size of the amoeba.

In addition, these amoebas are immune to many elements and chemicals that would kill most of the species on Earth. Absorbing minerals and particles from water, xenophyophores have developed immunity even to uranium, mercury, lead and many other very harmful substances.

These amoebas were once found at a depth of 10.6 kilometers, but no one would be surprised if one day they are found even deeper.

Pure liquid carbon dioxide

Most of the hydrothermal vents we talked about earlier emit nothing but hot water. But here is one such geyser instead of water releases pure liquid carbon dioxide.

Outside the Okinawa Trough near Taiwan is the Champagne Geyser in the Mariana Trench, the only known underwater area where liquid carbon dioxide exists. Discovered in early 2005, the geyser got its name from bubbles that at first glance seemed harmless. Upon closer inspection, it turned out that these bubbles are CO2.

Although the absorption of pure carbon dioxide would be fatal to many of us, it seems that such geysers - by the way, "white smokers" - due to their low temperature, could be the source of life itself. The old "primordial soup" theory says that life began in deep water near similar hydrothermal vents. Champagne provides an abundance of chemicals, energy and all at low temperatures - the perfect recipe for life to form and flourish.

shellfish

The powerful water pressure in the Mariana Trench does not allow anything with a hard shell or bones to survive, so it is full of sea cucumbers and giant amoebas. If you take a turtle there, it will be crushed by its own "house".

However, shell-covered animals such as mollusks have recently been discovered in the Hollow. They were found in 2012 mainly near serpentine hydrothermal vents. The serpentine stone is rich in minerals essential for life, hydrogen and methane, allowing life to thrive around it. No one yet knows how the clams grew their shells under such pressure, and they don't talk either.

However, these springs also emit another gas, hydrogen sulfide, which under normal conditions is deadly to molluscs. Fortunately for them, they have developed the ability to bind sulfides into harmless proteins, thereby reducing their toxicity to zero.

James Cameron

Yes, who directed Titanic. One of the most famous directors in the world is a fan of ocean life and has even equipped his own expedition to the bottom of the Mariana Trench.

Since its discovery in 1875, the deepest part of the Trench, known as the Challenger Deep, has hosted as many as three people (compare twelve people on the moon). The first two, Don Walsh and Jacques Piccard, made it to the bottom on January 23, 1960. Since their vessel was called the Challenger, the conquered depth was also designated accordingly. Where the "Deep" part came from, no one knows.

More than 52 years passed before another explorer ventured into the cold waters, although he was a simple director. On March 26, 2012, Cameron descended to the bottom of the trench and took some photographs, the first shots of the Challenger Deep.

What does the earth look like underwater? Most likely, on a pile of wet sand. But if you go deeper and deeper, the earth will change much and much. The fact is that everything in the Mariana Trench drains to the very bottom, forming a blanket of unsightly viscous silt.

Sand as we know it is not really there. In its place, ahem, there is only death. More precisely, her traces. The bottom of the Hollow consists of crushed shells and plankton corpses that have been sinking to the bottom over the years. Due to the enormous pressure of the water, everything eventually turns into a greyish-yellow, almost silky silt. Considering the time of the Basin's existence (many scientists believe that this is the oldest place in the ocean), one can only wonder how deep the muddy bottom sinks before the Earth itself begins.

liquid sulfur

The underwater volcano Daikoku lies about 40 atmospheres (414 meters) down the Basin. Given its depth of 11 kilometers, this is not particularly impressive. But Daikoku contains one of the rarest sights on the planet, a lake of pure molten sulfur. The only analogue of such a lake is on Io, a satellite of Jupiter. But we are unlikely to get there.

Named "The Cauldron" for obvious reasons, this pit bubbling black mixture at 187 degrees Celsius. It has not yet been studied in detail, but white smoke emanating from one of the surrounding craters indicates that there may be more than one "cauldron". But if so, life could well have originated in the Mariana Trench.

According to the Gaia Hypothesis, an old and critiqued world view, the entire planet is a single and self-regulating entity when organic life and inorganic minerals come together to sustain the life of the planet. Of course, this is largely a myth, but scientists believe that sulfur released into the atmosphere goes through a cycle and endows life with valuable minerals. That is, even sulfur could be the reason for maintaining life on Earth.

Bridges

At the end of 2011, four stone bridges were discovered in the Mariana Trench, stretching from one end to the other (about 69 kilometers). Apparently, the bridges were formed by the meeting of the Pacific and Philippine tectonic plates. The Pacific Plate eventually collided with the Philippine Plate, and underwater materials from both sides collided with each other to form what we see today.

One of the bridges, Dutton Ridge, was discovered back in the 1980s but was only filmed in low resolution. However, this also helped to determine that Dutton Ridge is incredibly high, almost like a small mountain. At its highest peak, its ridge reaches a height of 2.5 kilometers above the Challenger Deep. That is, it is located at an 8-kilometer depth.

Like many other aspects of the Hollow, these bridges serve unknown purposes. After all, not many underwater creatures use bridges.

Monument

Unfortunately, so far no one has installed a statue or an underwater hotel for tourists in the Mariana Trench. But the Depression itself is a monument, a reserve, protected by the United States.

In January 2009, President George W. Bush signed legislation designating the Mariana Trench as a national monument covering over 246,000 square kilometers. It is the largest marine reserve in the world, even larger than the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument.

Since it is a national monument, there are strict rules for visiting it. Fishing is strictly prohibited, so you will not be able to catch amoebas. Swimming is allowed, but do not swim below the buoys.

Nothing

Of course, we are not going to say that there is nothing at all in the Mariana Trench. That would be stupid given everything we've mentioned so far. Neither the giant amoeba nor the bizarre fish you might encounter on the way down will prepare you for what you'll find below: absolutely nothing.

While James Cameron dived into the Challenger Deep in 2012, he watched everything he wanted before mechanical failure forced him back to the surface. While he was there, he came to a shocking conclusion: apart from the occasional shrimp, his constant companion was loneliness.

There are no terrible sea monsters, miracles of evolution or cruel and beautiful manifestations of nature in all its primitiveness in the Mariana Trench. There was only James and a small metal ball with no one to talk to.

As Cameron himself said, the very bottom of the ocean is "lunar ... empty ... closed ...", and at the bottom of the depression the director felt isolated from all mankind.

Let's hope that future dives in the Challenger Deep will help to uncover many secrets.

Nov 25, 2016 Galinka

The Mariana Trench (or the Mariana Trench) is the deepest place on the earth's surface. It is located on the western edge of the Pacific Ocean, 200 kilometers east of the Mariana Archipelago.

Paradoxically, humanity knows much more about the secrets of space or mountain peaks than about the depths of the ocean. And one of the most mysterious and unexplored places on our planet is just the Mariana Trench. So what do we know about him?

Mariana Trench - the bottom of the world

In 1875, the crew of the British corvette Challenger discovered a place in the Pacific Ocean where there was no bottom. Kilometer after kilometer the rope of the lot went overboard, but there was no bottom! And only at a depth of 8184 meters the descent of the rope stopped. Thus, the deepest underwater crack on Earth was discovered. It was named the Mariana Trench, after the nearby islands. Its shape (in the form of a crescent) and the location of the deepest section, called the "Challenger Abyss", were determined. It is located 340 km south of the island of Guam and has coordinates 11°22′ N. sh., 142°35′ E d.

“The fourth pole”, “the womb of Gaia”, “the bottom of the world” has since been called this deep-water depression. Oceanographic scientists have long tried to find out its true depth. Studies of different years gave different values. The fact is that at such a colossal depth, the density of water increases as it approaches the bottom, so the properties of the sound from the echo sounder also change in it. Using barometers and thermometers at different levels along with echo sounders, in 2011 the depth value in the Challenger Abyss was set at 10994 ± 40 meters. This is the height of Mount Everest plus another two kilometers from above.

The pressure at the bottom of the underwater crevasse is almost 1100 atmospheres, or 108.6 MPa. Most of the deep-sea vehicles are designed for a maximum depth of 6-7 thousand meters. During the time that has passed since the discovery of the deepest canyon, it was possible to successfully reach its bottom only four times.

In 1960, the Trieste deep-sea bathyscaphe, for the first time in the world, descended to the very bottom of the Mariana Trench in the area of ​​​​the Challenger Abyss with two passengers on board: US Navy Lieutenant Don Walsh and Swiss oceanographer Jacques Picard.

Their observations led to an important conclusion about the presence of life at the bottom of the canyon. The discovery of the upward flow of water was also of great ecological importance: based on it, the nuclear powers refused to bury radioactive waste at the bottom of the Mariana Trough.

In the 90s, the gutter was explored by the Japanese unmanned probe Kaiko, which brought samples of silt from the bottom, in which bacteria, worms, shrimp were found, as well as pictures of a hitherto unknown world.

In 2009, the American robot Nereus conquered the abyss, raising samples of silt, minerals, samples of deep-sea fauna and photos of inhabitants of unknown depths from the bottom.

In 2012, James Cameron, the author of Titanic, Terminator and Avatar, dived into the abyss alone. He spent 6 hours at the bottom, collecting samples of soil, minerals, fauna, as well as taking photographs and 3D video. Based on this material, the film "Challenge to the Abyss" was created.

Amazing discoveries

In the trench at a depth of about 4 kilometers is the active Daikoku volcano, spewing liquid sulfur, which boils at 187 ° C in a small depression. The only lake of liquid sulfur was discovered only on Jupiter's moon Io.

At 2 kilometers from the surface, "black smokers" swirl - sources of geothermal water with hydrogen sulfide and other substances that, upon contact with cold water, turn into black sulfides. The movement of sulfide water resembles puffs of black smoke. The water temperature at the point of release reaches 450 ° C. The surrounding sea does not boil only because of the density of the water (150 times greater than at the surface).

In the north of the canyon there are "white smokers" - geysers spewing liquid carbon dioxide at a temperature of 70-80 ° C. Scientists suggest that it is in such geothermal "boilers" that one should look for the origins of life on Earth. Hot springs "warm up" the icy waters, supporting life in the abyss - the temperature at the bottom of the Mariana Trench is in the range of 1-3 ° C.

Life beyond life

It would seem that in an atmosphere of complete darkness, silence, icy cold and unbearable pressure, life in the hollow is simply unthinkable. But studies of the depression prove the opposite: there are living creatures almost 11 kilometers under water!

The bottom of the sinkhole is covered with a thick layer of mucus from organic sediments that have been descending from the upper layers of the ocean for hundreds of thousands of years. Mucus is an excellent nutrient medium for barrophilic bacteria, which form the basis of the nutrition of protozoa and multicellular organisms. Bacteria, in turn, become food for more complex organisms.

The ecosystem of the underwater canyon is truly unique. Living beings have managed to adapt to an aggressive, destructive environment under normal conditions, with high pressure, lack of light, a small amount of oxygen and a high concentration of toxic substances. Life in such unbearable conditions gave many inhabitants of the abyss a frightening and unattractive look.

Deep-sea fish have incredible mouths, seated with sharp long teeth. High pressure made their bodies small (from 2 to 30 cm). However, there are also large specimens, such as the xenophyophora amoeba, reaching 10 cm in diameter. The frilled shark and goblin shark, living at a depth of 2000 meters, generally reach 5-6 meters in length.

Representatives of different types of living organisms live at different depths. The deeper the inhabitants of the abyss, the better their organs of vision are, allowing them to catch the slightest glimmer of light on the body of their prey in complete darkness. Some individuals themselves are able to produce directional light. Other creatures are completely devoid of organs of vision, they are replaced by organs of touch and radar. With increasing depth, underwater inhabitants lose their color more and more, the bodies of many of them are almost transparent.

On the slopes where the “black smokers” live, mollusks live, having learned to neutralize the sulfides and hydrogen sulfide that are fatal to them. And, which remains a mystery to scientists so far, under conditions of enormous pressure at the bottom, they somehow miraculously manage to keep their mineral shell intact. Similar abilities are shown by other inhabitants of the Mariana Trench. The study of fauna samples showed a multiple excess of the level of radiation and toxic substances.

Unfortunately, deep sea creatures die due to the change in pressure with any attempt to bring them to the surface. Only thanks to modern deep-sea vehicles it became possible to study the inhabitants of the depression in their natural environment. Representatives of the fauna unknown to science have already been identified.

Secrets and mysteries of the "womb of Gaia"

The mysterious abyss, like any unknown phenomenon, is shrouded in a mass of secrets and mysteries. What does she hide in her depths? Japanese scientists claimed that while feeding goblin sharks, they saw a shark 25 meters long devouring goblins. A monster of this size could only be a megalodon shark, which became extinct almost 2 million years ago! Confirmation is the findings of megalodon teeth in the vicinity of the Mariana Trench, whose age dates back to only 11 thousand years. It can be assumed that specimens of these monsters are still preserved in the depths of the failure.

There are many stories about the corpses of giant monsters thrown ashore. When descending into the abyss of the German bathyscaphe "Highfish", the dive stopped 7 km from the surface. To understand the reason, the passengers of the capsule turned on the lights and were horrified: their bathyscaphe, like a nut, was trying to crack open some prehistoric lizard! Only a pulse of electric current through the outer skin managed to scare away the monster.

On another occasion, when an American submersible was submerging, a scraping of metal began to be heard from under the water. The descent was stopped. When inspecting the lifted equipment, it turned out that the titanium alloy metal cable was half sawn (or gnawed), and the beams of the underwater vehicle were bent.

In 2012, the video camera of the unmanned vehicle "Titan" from a depth of 10 kilometers transmitted a picture of metal objects, presumably UFOs. Soon the connection with the device was interrupted.

Unfortunately, there is no documentary evidence of these interesting facts; they are all based only on eyewitness accounts. Every story has its fans and skeptics, its pros and cons.

Before a risky dive into the trench, James Cameron said that he wanted to see with his own eyes at least some of those secrets of the Mariana Trench, about which there are so many rumors and legends. But he did not see anything that would go beyond the cognizable.

So what do we know about her?

To understand how the Mariana Underwater Gap was formed, it should be remembered that such gaps (troughs) are usually formed along the edges of the oceans under the action of moving lithospheric plates. The oceanic plates, being older and heavier, "creep" under the continental ones, forming deep dips at the junctions. The deepest is the junction of the Pacific and Philippine tectonic plates near the Mariana Islands (Marian Trench). The Pacific Plate is moving at a speed of 3-4 centimeters per year, resulting in increased volcanic activity along both of its edges.

Throughout the length of this deepest failure, four so-called bridges were found - transverse mountain ranges. The ridges were presumably formed due to the movement of the lithosphere and volcanic activity.

The gutter is V-shaped in cross-section, strongly widening upwards and narrowing downwards. The average width of the canyon in the upper part is 69 kilometers, in the widest part - up to 80 kilometers. The average width of the bottom between the walls is 5 kilometers. The slope of the walls is almost sheer and is only 7-8°. The depression stretches from north to south for 2500 kilometers. The trough has an average depth of about 10,000 meters.

Only three people have been to the very bottom of the Mariana Trench to date. In 2018, another manned dive to the “bottom of the world” is planned at its deepest section. This time, the well-known Russian traveler Fyodor Konyukhov and polar explorer Artur Chilingarov will try to conquer the depression and find out what it hides in its depths. At present, a deep-sea bathyscaphe is being manufactured and a research program is being drawn up.

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. There are many interesting facts in this study, which, unfortunately, still do not have explanations.

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, the well-known traveler Fyodor Konyukhov announced his desire to dive into the Mariana Trench.

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 only darkness is located below.

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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