The black-and-white photograph half a century ago shows the legendary bathyscaphe "Trieste" at the time of preparation for the 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 deepest depression

Mariana Trench (Mariana Trench) is an oceanic trench, the deepest in the World Ocean. According to measurements in 2011, the bottom of the trench drops to a maximum elevation of 10,920 m.This is data from organizations associated with UNESCO, and they roughly correspond to measurements made by the lander, which showed a maximum depth of 10,916 m.This place is called the Challenger Abyss - in honor of the English ship. discovered a depression in the 19th century.

The depression is a tectonic fault.

In 2012, an American oceanographic expedition discovered four ridges up to 2.5 km high at the bottom of the Mariana Trench. According to the University of New Hampshire, they formed about 180 million years ago in the process of constant movement of lithospheric plates. The marginal part of the Pacific Plate is gradually "leaving" under the Philippine Plate. And then folding is formed in the form of mountains near the border of the lithospheric plates.

In the 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 / cm 2.

Temperatures at the bottom of the Mariana Trench (Mariana Trench) are surprisingly high due to hydrothermal vents, nicknamed "black smokers". They constantly heat the water and keep the overall temperature in the basin at about 3 ° C.

The first attempt to measure the depth of the Mariana Trench (Mariana Trench) was made in 1875 by the crew of the English oceanographic vessel Challenger during a scientific expedition to the World Ocean. The British discovered the Mariana Trench quite by accident, during a routine bottom measurement using a lot (Italian hemp rope and lead weight). For all 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.

The measurement, made in 1899 from the board of the American coal miner "Nero", showed a great depth: 9636 m.

In 1951, the bottom of the depression was measured by the British survey vessel “Challenger”, named after its predecessor, informally called “Challenger II”. Now, with the help of the 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. However, 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 vessel "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 vessel "Sumner", they showed a depth of 10994 ± 40 m.

It has not yet been possible to obtain absolutely accurate readings even with the most modern equipment. The operation of the echo sounder is hampered by the fact that the speed of sound in water depends on its properties, which manifest themselves differently depending on the depth.


Dive into the Mariana Trench

The existence of the Mariana Trench has been known for a long time, and there are technical possibilities for descending to the bottom, but over the past 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 (Mariana Trench), devices with people on board dropped to its bottom twice and automatic devices four times (as of April 2017).

On January 23, 1960, the Trieste bathyscaphe sank to the bottom of the Mariana Trench (Mariana Trench). On board were the Swiss oceanographer Jacques Picard (1922-2008) and the US Navy lieutenant, explorer Don Walsh (born 1931). The bathyscaphe was designed by Jacques Picard's father, a physicist, inventor of the stratospheric balloon and bathyscaphe Auguste Piccard (1884-1962).

The descent of "Trieste" lasted 4 hours 48 minutes, the crew periodically interrupted it. Plexiglass glass cracked at a depth of 9 km, but the descent continued until the Trieste sank to the bottom, where the crew saw a 30-centimeter flat fish and some crustacean creature. Having spent about 20 minutes at a depth of 10,912 m, the crew began the ascent, which took 3 hours 15 minutes.

Man made another attempt to descend to the bottom of the Mariana Trench (Mariana Trench) in 2012, when American filmmaker James Cameron (born 1954) became the third to reach the bottom of the Challenger Abyss. Earlier, he repeatedly dived on Russian Mir spacecraft into the Atlantic Ocean to a depth of over 4 km during the filming of the movie Titanic. Now, on the Dipsy Challenger bathyscaphe, he sank into the abyss in 2 hours 37 minutes - almost a widow faster than the Trieste - and spent 2 hours 36 minutes at a depth of 10898 m. After that, he rose to the surface in just an hour and a half. At the bottom, Cameron saw only creatures that looked like shrimps.

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 living there. Pogonophores were discovered - a new family of marine invertebrates living in chitinous tubes. Disputes about their scientific classification are still ongoing.

The main inhabitants of the Mariana Trench (Mariana Trench), living at the very bottom, are barophilic (developing only at high pressure) bacteria, the simplest creatures of the foraminifera - unicellular in shells and xenophiophores - amoebas, reaching 20 cm in diameter and living by shoveling silt.

Foraminifera managed to get the Japanese automatic deep-sea probe "Kaiko" in 1995, which sank to 10911.4 m and took soil samples.

Larger inhabitants of the gutter live throughout its entire thickness. Deep life made them either blind or with highly developed eyes, often telescopic. Many have photophores - organs of luminescence, a kind of bait for prey: in some, on long processes, like in an angler fish, while in others it is in the mouth right away. Some accumulate a luminous liquid and, in case of danger, douse the enemy with it in the manner of a "light curtain".

Since 2009, the territory of the trench has been part of the American Conservation Area Mariana Trench National Marine Monument with an area of \u200b\u200b246,608 km 2. The zone includes only the underwater part of the trough 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 Abyss is not included in this zone, as it is located in the oceanic territory of the Federated States of Micronesia.


general information

Location: West Pacific.
Origin: tectonic.
Administrative affiliation :

Numbers

Length: 2550 km
Width: 69 km.
Challenger Abyss : depth - about 11 km, width - 1.6 km.
Deepest point : 10,920 ± 10 m (Challenger Abyss, 340 km southwest of Guam (USA), 2011).
Average slope : 7-9 °.
Bottom pressure: 106.6 megapascals (MPa).
Nearby islands : 287 km southwest of Fais Island (Yap Islands, Federated States of Micronesia) 304 km. northeast of Guam (unincorporated organized territory of the United States).
Average water temperature at the bottom : + 3.3 ° C.

Curious facts

  • To emphasize the size of the depression, its depth is often compared with the very high mountain Lands - Everest (8848 m). It is proposed to imagine that if Everest were at the bottom of the Mariana Trench, more than two kilometers would still remain from the top of the mountain to the surface of the Pacific Ocean.
  • The research vessel "Vityaz" is a 109-meter double-deck single-rotor motor ship with a displacement of 5710 tons. Launched in 1939 at the German shipyard "Schihau" in Bremerhaven (Germany). Originally it was a cargo-passenger ship called "Mars". During the Second World War, it was a military transport, took out more than 20 thousand refugees from East Prussia. After the war on reparations, he first ended up in England, then in the USSR. Since 1949 - a research vessel of the Institute of Oceanology of the USSR Academy of Sciences, named "Vityaz" in memory of the famous Russian corvettes of the 19th century. Depicted on postage stamps of the USSR. Since 1994, it has been permanently moored at the pier of the Museum of the World Ocean in the very center of Kaliningrad. Design feature: winches for anchorage, bottom trawling and soil sampling at a depth of 11 thousand meters.
  • To date, only 5% of the bottom of the World Ocean has been studied in relative detail.
  • In 1951, after the members of the Challenger expedition measured the depth of the trench with an echo sounder (10 899 m), it was decided - just in case - to measure it with a good old rope lot. The measurement showed a slight deviation: 10 863 m.
  • British writer Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930), describing in his novel "The Maracot's Abyss" diving to the bottom of a deep-sea basin, predicted future exploration of the Mariana Trench using controlled vehicles. His predictions turned out to be much more realistic than the description given earlier by the French science fiction writer Jules Verne (1828-1905) in the novel 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, where the Nautilus submarine descends to a depth of 16,000 meters and rises to the surface, “ emerging from the water like a flying fish ", in just 4 minutes.
  • ■ After descending into the Mariana Trench, the Trieste bathyscaphe was used for deep diving more than once. In 1963, with his help, the US Navy tracked down the wreckage of the sunken nuclear submarine Thresher, lying at a depth of 2560 m, along with a crew of 129 people. As a result of numerous modifications, almost nothing of the original device has survived. The bathyscaphe is currently on display in the hall National Museum United States Navy in Washington DC.
  • Underwater pogonophore creatures are very difficult to study. These are the thinnest filamentous worms, often only one tenth of a millimeter thick, with a length of up to two to three tens of centimeters, besides, enclosed in rather strong tubes.

Today we will tell you about the deepest oceanic place on the planet - the Mariana Trench and its deepest point - the "Challenger Abyss".

“The Mariana Trench (or the Mariana Trench) is an oceanic deep-sea trench in the western Pacific Ocean, the deepest known on Earth. Named for the nearby Mariana Islands.

The deepest point of the Mariana Trench is the “Challenger Deep”. It is located in the southwestern part of the depression, 340 km southwest of the island of Guam (coordinates of the point: 11 ° 22 ′ N 142 ° 35 ′ E (G) (O)). According to measurements in 2011, its depth is 10,994 ± 40 m below sea level.

The deepest point of the depression, called the Challenger Deep, is farther from sea level than Mount Everest is above it.

Even from school, many people know that the depth of the Mariana Trench is 11 km, and this is the deepest place on the planet. However, with a slight correction, it is the deepest known. That is, theoretically, there may be even deeper depressions ... but they are still unknown. Even the most high mountain in the world - Everest - will successfully fit into the gutter and still have a place.

The Mariana Trench is rich in records and titles: and it became famous not only for its depth, but also for its mysteriousness, terrible inhabitants of the underwater depths, "monsters" guarding the earth's bottom, secrets, unexploredness, primordiality, darkness, etc. In general - the Cosmos inside out is the bottom of the Mariana Trench. There are versions that life has become clogged in the Mariana Trench.

MARIANA TRENCH. Puzzles Mariana Depressions:

The video shows and tells that at such a huge depth, the pressure is higher than from powder gases when fired from a hunting rifle, about 1100 times more than atmospheric pressure: 108.6 MPa (Mariana Trench - bottom) to 104 MPa (powder gases). Glass and wood turn into powder under such conditions.

Still, it is not clear then how there is life and sinister underwater monsters, about which there are legends?

The length of the trench along the Mariana Islands is 1.5 km.

“It has a V-shaped profile: steep (7-9 °) slopes, a flat bottom 1-5 km wide, which is divided by rapids into several closed depressions.

The depression is located at the junction of two tectonic plates, in the zone of movement along faults, where the Pacific plate goes under the Philippine plate. "

The opening of the Mariana Trench took place in 1875:

“The first measurements (and discovery) of the Mariana Trench were carried out in 1875 from the British three-masted corvette Challenger (Challenger). Then, with the help of a deep-sea lot, the depth was established at 8367 meters (with repeated measurements - 8184 m).

In 1951, an English expedition aboard the Challenger research vessel recorded a maximum depth of 10,863 meters using an echo sounder.

Back in 1951, this point was given the name Challenger Abyss.

Later, during several expeditions, the depth of the Mariana Trench was established at more than 11 km, the last measurement (end of 2011) recorded a depth of 10,994 m (+/- 40 m):

“According to the results of measurements carried out in 1957 during the 25th voyage of the Soviet research vessel Vityaz (headed by Aleksey Dmitrievich Dobrovolsky), the maximum depth of the trough was 11,023 m (updated data, initially the depth was reported as 11,034 m).

On January 23, 1960, Don Walsh and Jacques Piccard dived in the Trieste submersible. They recorded a depth of 10,916 m, which also became known as the "Trieste depth".

Unmanned Japanese submarine "Kaiko" in March 1995 collected soil samples in this place and recorded a depth of 10,911 m.

On May 31, 2009, an unmanned submarine Nereus took soil samples at the site. The collected silt is mostly composed of foraminifera. During this dive, a depth of 10,902 m was recorded.

More than two years later, on December 7, 2011, researchers at the University of New Hampshire published the results of a submerged robot that recorded a depth of 10,994 m (+/- 40 m) using sound waves. "

And yet, despite many obstacles, difficulties, dangers - three people in the entire history of the existence of the Mariana Trench managed to reach the bottom, naturally, being in special devices. On March 26, 2012, director James Cameron rode the Deepsea Challenger single-handedly to the bottom of the Abyss.

The plot of the First channel "James Cameron - diving to the bottom of the Mariana Trench":

And here is Jace Cameron's film "Challenge the Abyss 3D | Journey to the Bottom of the Mariana Trench":

The film was produced in collaboration with National Geographic and is in documentary format. Before some of his box-office creations (like Titanic), the director also sank to the bottom of the depths to the place of events, so before his “visit” to the Mariana Trench in 2012, many were waiting for either a grandiose masterpiece, or a video with monsters living in the darkness of the ocean. ...

The film is documentary, but most importantly - Cameron did not see there giant octopus, monsters, "leviathans", multi-headed creatures, although for the first time he stayed at the bottom of the Mariana Trench for more than three hours. There were small marine derivatives of no more than 2.5 cm ... but those very outlandish flat fish, huge creatures that bite into a steel cable, were not there .. although he was not there for 12 minutes.

To the questions about whether the director saw any terrible creature at the bottom of the depression, he answered: “Probably everyone would like to hear that I saw some sea monster, but it was not there ... There was nothing alive, more than 2- 2.5 cm ".

Public reaction to Cameron's "Abyss" film has been mixed. To some, the picture seemed boring and incomparable with his works like Titanic, Avatar, someone said that the film is real and in its "tediousness" shows the way of interaction of one of the seven billion people on the planet and the deepest abyss.

From reviews for the film:

“Of course, the content of the film can hardly be called exciting. Most of the time the viewer spends in endless boring meetings and tests in the laboratory. But I believe that this hard and long path from a dream to its realization must have been shown. It is he who most of all inspires to work for the sake of his idea. "

I mentioned the film precisely because the path that led the director to the creation of creation is the basis for the interaction of the secrets of nature and mortal man.

People are frightened and attracted by the unknown, rebelliousness, depth, danger, mortality, mystery, eternity, loneliness, independence of the depths, distant, heights of nature. And the title of the film - "Challenge to the Abyss ..." - of course, for a reason: at a certain stage of development of potential, a person either wants to touch the unknown, or even forget about its existence, to live the commonplace.

Cameron, with the ability and zeal, decided to make this leap into the depths. This is the desire to rise to a step close to God, and pride, and perpetuate this abyss in oneself and perpetuate oneself in the abyss, understanding the frailty of matter and much more.

Many people drop in, some are out of curiosity, some are out of nothing to do. But only a few will risk coming close.

Let us recall the famous saying of F. Nietzsche: “If you peer into the abyss for a long time, the abyss will begin to peer into you,” or another translation: “For a person who has been looking into the abyss for a long time, the abyss begins to live in the eyes”, or the full text of the quote: “Who fights with monsters, he should beware lest he become a monster himself. And if you stare into the abyss for a long time, then the abyss also looks into you. " Here we are talking about the dark sides of the soul and the world, if you attract evil - evil will attract you, although there are many interpretation options.

But the very words “abyss”, “abyss” mean something dangerous, dark, akin to the source of dark forces. Around the Mariana Trench there are a lot of legends, far from good legends, who did not invent anything: both monsters live there, and monsters of unclear etiology can swallow deep-sea research vehicles with and without people alive, gnaw through 20-centimeter cables, and terrible devilish creatures seem to in hell they scurry among the black waves of the deep, terrify extremely rare human guests, and in the circles discussing the deepest gutter, versions are expressed that people who could breathe under water used to live here, and almost life here originated, etc. People want to see darkness in this abyss. And, in general, they see her ...

Before Cameron conquered the Mariana Abyss, this was done in 1960:

“On January 23, 1960, Jacques Piccard and US Navy Lieutenant Don Walsh dived into the Mariana Trench to a depth of 10,920 meters on the Trieste bathyscaphe. The dive took about 5 hours, and the time spent at the bottom was 12 minutes. It was an absolute depth record for manned and unmanned vehicles.

Two researchers then discovered at a terrible depth only 6 species of living creatures, including flat fish up to 30 cm in size ”.

The monsters were scared of James Cameron, or they were not in the mood to pose in front of the camera that day, or there really was no one there - it will remain a mystery, however, during previous underwater expeditions, including without the participation of people, various forms of life, fish, hitherto never seen, strange creatures, creatures that look like monsters, giant octopuses. But let's not forget that "monsters" are all unexplored creatures.

Several times in the depths of the Mariana Trench, vehicles without people (with people only twice), for example, on May 31, 2009, an automatic underwater vehicle Nereus sank to the bottom of the Mariana Trench. According to measurements, it sank 10,902 meters below sea level. At the bottom, Nereus filmed a video, took some photos and even collected sediment samples at the bottom.

Here are some photos of those who were met at the depths of the Mariana Trench by the expedition cameras:

In the photo, the bottom of the Mariana Trench:

“Mystery of the Mariana Trench. Great secrets of the ocean. " Ren-TV program.

Still, a big secret remains that there, at the bottom of the Mariana Trench ... We are frightened in absentia by monsters, but in fact no one, in particular Cameron, who spent 3 hours at the bottom of the trench, did not find strange objects there ... silence ... depth ... eternity.

And the most important questions - "how can monsters live there if there is tremendous pressure at the bottom, there is no light, oxygen ??". The answer of scientific experts:

“The inexplicable and incomprehensible has always attracted people, so scientists around the world are so eager to answer the question:“ What is hidden in the depths of the Mariana Trench? ”

Can living organisms live at such a great depth, and how should they look, given that they are pressed by huge masses of oceanic waters, the pressure of which exceeds 1100 atmospheres?

The difficulties associated with the study and comprehension of the creatures living in these unimaginable depths are enough, but human ingenuity knows no boundaries. For a long time, oceanologists considered it madness to hypothesize that life could exist at depths of more than 6,000 meters in impenetrable darkness, under monstrous pressure and at temperatures close to zero.

However, the results of research by scientists in the Pacific Ocean showed that in these depths, well below the 6,000-meter mark, there are huge colonies of living organisms pogonophora ((rogonophora; from the Greek pogon - beard and phoros - carrying), a type of marine invertebrates living in long chitinous tubes open at both ends).

Recently, manned and automatic, made of heavy-duty materials, underwater vehicles equipped with video cameras have opened the veil of secrecy. The result was the discovery of a rich animal community, made up of both well-known and less familiar marine groups.

Thus, at depths of 6000 - 11000 km, the following were found:

- barophilic bacteria (developing only at high pressure);

- of the protozoa - foraminifera (a detachment of protozoa of the subclass of rhizopods with a cytoplasmic body dressed with a shell) and xenophyophores (barophilic bacteria from protozoa);

- from multicellular organisms - polychaete worms, isopods, amphipods, holothurians, bivalves and gastropods.

At depths, there is no sunlight, no algae, constant salinity, low temperatures, abundance of carbon dioxide, enormous hydrostatic pressure (increases by 1 atmosphere for every 10 meters).

What do the inhabitants of the abyss eat?

Food sources of deep-seated animals are bacteria, as well as rain of "corpses" and organic detritus coming from above; deep animals are either blind or with very developed eyes, often telescopic; many fish and cephalopods with photofluoroids; in other forms, the surface of the body or its parts glows.

Therefore, the appearance of these animals is as terrible and incredible as the conditions in which they live. Among them - a frightening-looking worms 1.5 meters long, without a mouth and anus, mutant octopuses, extraordinary starfish and some soft-bodied creatures two meters long, which have not yet been identified at all.

Despite the fact that scientists have taken a huge step in the study of the Mariana Trench, questions have not diminished, new mysteries have emerged that still have to be solved. And the ocean abyss knows how to keep its secrets. Will people be able to reveal them in the near future? "

The Mariana Trench, given that this is the most famous deep point on the planet, is too little studied, people have flown into space dozens of times more, and we know more about space than about the bottom of an 11 kilometer trench. Probably everything is ahead ...

Now anyone can watch the fantastic underwater world of the Mariana Trench, the deepest place on our planet, captured on video, or even enjoy live video transmission from an 11-kilometer depth. But even relatively recently, the Mariana Trench was considered the most unexplored point on the map of the Earth.

The sensational discovery of the "Challenger" team

We also know from the school curriculum that high point The earth's surface is the summit of Mount Everest (8848 m), but the lowest is hidden under the waters of the Pacific Ocean and is located at the bottom of the Mariana Trench (10 994 m). We know a lot about Everest, climbers have conquered its peak more than once, there are enough photographs of this mountain, taken both from the ground and from space. If Everest is all in sight and does not represent any mystery for scientists, then the depths of the Mariana Trench keep many secrets, because at the moment only three daredevils managed to get to its bottom.

The Mariana Trench is located in the western part of the Pacific Ocean; it got its name from the Mariana Islands, which are located next to it. A unique deep place on the seabed has received the status of a national monument, it is forbidden to fish and extract minerals here, in fact it is a huge marine reserve. The shape of the depression resembles a huge crescent moon, reaching 2,550 km in length and 69 km in width. The bottom of the depression is 1 to 5 km wide. The deepest point of the depression (10,994 m below sea level) was named "Challenger Abyss" in honor of the British vessel of the same name.

The honor of the discovery of the Mariana Trench belongs to the team of the British research vessel Challenger, which in 1872 carried out depth measurements at a number of points in the Pacific Ocean. When the ship was in the area, at the next measurement of the depth, a hitch arose: the kilometer cable went overboard, but the bottom could not be reached. At the direction of the captain, a couple of kilometer stretches were added to the rope, but, to everyone's surprise, and they were not enough, they had to be added again and again. Then it was possible to establish a depth of 8367 meters, which, as it became known later, was significantly different from the real one. However, the underestimated value was quite enough to understand: the deepest place was found in the World Ocean.

It is amazing that already in the 20th century, in 1951, it was the British who, using a deep-sea echo sounder, clarified the data of their compatriots, this time the maximum depth of the depression turned out to be more significant - 10 863 meters.

Six years later, Soviet scientists began to study the Mariana Trench, who arrived in this region of the Pacific Ocean on the research vessel Vityaz. Using special equipment, they recorded the maximum depth of the depression at 11,022 meters, and most importantly, they were able to establish the presence of life at a depth of about 7,000 meters. It is worth noting that in the scientific world then there was an opinion that due to the monstrous pressure and lack of light at such depths, there are no manifestations of life.


Immersion in the world of silence and darkness

In 1960, people first visited the bottom of the depression. How difficult and dangerous such a dive was, can be judged by the colossal water pressure, which at the lowest point of the depression is 1072 times higher than the average atmospheric pressure. US Navy Lieutenant Don Walsh and explorer Jacques Piccard dived to the bottom of the depression using the Trieste submersible. Bathyscaphe "Trieste" with walls 13 cm thick was created in the Italian city of the same name and was a rather massive structure.

They lowered the bathyscaphe to the bottom for five long hours; Despite such a long descent, the researchers spent only 20 minutes at the bottom at a depth of 10,911 meters; it took them about 3 hours to climb. Within minutes of staying in the abyss, Walsh and Picard were able to make a very impressive discovery: they saw two 30-centimeter flat fish, similar to a flounder, who swam past their porthole. Their presence at such a depth became a real scientific sensation!

In addition to the discovery of the existence of life at such a breathtaking depth, Jacques Picard was able to experimentally refute the then prevailing opinion that there is no upward movement of water masses at depths of more than 6,000 m. In terms of ecology, this was an important discovery, because some nuclear powers were going to carry out the disposal of radioactive waste in the Mariana Trench. It turns out that Picard prevented large-scale radioactive contamination of the Pacific Ocean!

After the immersion of Walsh and Picard for a long period, only unmanned submachine guns descended into the Mariana Trench, and there were only a few of them, because they were very expensive. For example, on May 31, 2009, the American deep-sea craft Nereus reached the bottom of the Mariana Trench. He not only conducted underwater photo and video filming at incredible depths, but also took soil samples. The instruments of the deep-sea vehicle recorded the depth reached by it at 10,902 meters.

On March 26, 2012 at the bottom of the Mariana Trench again there was a man, it was the famous director, creator of the legendary film "Titanic" James Cameron.

He explained his decision to make such a dangerous journey to the “bottom of the Earth” as follows: “Almost everything has been investigated on the earth's land. In space, the chiefs prefer to send people to circle around the Earth, and to send machines to other planets. For the joys of discovering the unknown, one field of activity remains - the ocean. Only about 3% of its water volume has been explored, and what is next is unknown, "Cameron dived in the DeepSea Challenge bathyscaphe, it was not very comfortable, the researcher was in a half-bent state for a long time, since the diameter of the apparatus's interior was only about 109 cm The bathyscaphe, equipped with powerful cameras and unique equipment, allowed the popular director to shoot fantastic landscapes of the deepest place on the planet. Later, together with The National Geographic, James Cameron created the thrilling documentary "Challenge to the Abyss".

It is worth noting that during his stay at the bottom of the deepest depression in the world, Cameron saw neither monsters, nor representatives of an underwater civilization, nor an alien base. However, he literally looked into the eyes of the "Challenger Abyss". According to him, during his short trip, he experienced indescribable sensations. The ocean floor seemed to him not only deserted, but somehow "lunar ... lonely." He experienced a real shock from the feeling of "complete isolation from all of humanity." True, the problems with the equipment of the bathyscaphe, perhaps, in time interrupted the "hypnotic" effect of the abyss on the famous director, and he rose to the surface to the people.


From giant amoebas to underwater bridges

In recent years, many discoveries have been made in the study of the Mariana Trench. For example, in the bottom soil samples taken by Cameron, scientists have found more than 20 thousand of a wide variety of microorganisms. Among the inhabitants of the depression, there are also giant 10-centimeter amoebas called xenophyophores. According to scientists, unicellular amoebae, most likely, have reached such incredible sizes due to the rather hostile environment at a depth of 10.6 km, in which they are forced to inhabit. High pressure, cold water and lack of light for some reason clearly did them good, contributing to their gigantism.

In the Mariana Trench, mollusks have also been found. It is unclear how their shells withstand the immense pressure of water, but they feel very comfortable at depth, and they are located next to hydrothermal vents that release hydrogen sulfide, which is deadly for ordinary mollusks. However, local mollusks, having shown incredible abilities for chemistry, somehow adapted to process this destructive gas into protein, which allowed them to live where, at first glance, it is impossible to live.

Many of the inhabitants of the Mariana Trench are quite unusual. For example, scientists have found a fish here with a transparent head, in the center of which are its eyes. Thus, in the course of evolution, fish eyes received reliable protection against possible injury. At a great depth, there are many bizarre and sometimes even scary fish, here it was possible to record on video a jellyfish of fantastic beauty. Of course, we do not yet know all the inhabitants of the Mariana Trench; in this regard, scientists still have many discoveries.

There are many interesting things in this mysterious place for geologists. So, in a depression at a depth of 414 meters, the Dai-koku volcano was discovered, in the crater of which there is a lake of bubbling molten sulfur right under the water. As scientists say, the only analogue of such a lake known to them is only on the satellite of Jupiter - Io. Also in the Mariana Trench, scientists have found the only underwater source of liquid carbon dioxide on earth, named "Champagne" in honor of the famous French alcoholic drink. There are also so-called black smokers in the depression, these are hydrothermal springs operating at a depth of about 2 kilometers, thanks to which the water temperature in the Mariana Trench is maintained within rather favorable limits - from 1 to 4 degrees Celsius.

At the end of 2011, scientists discovered very mysterious structures in the Mariana Trench, these are four stone "bridges" stretching from one end to the other end of the trench for 69 kilometers. Scientists still find it difficult to explain how these "bridges" arose, they believe that they were formed at the junction of the Pacific and Philippine tectonic plates.

The study of the Mariana Trench continues. This year, from April to July, scientists from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration worked here on the Okeanos Explorer. Their ship was equipped with a remotely controlled apparatus, with the help of which video filming of the underwater world of the deepest place in the World Ocean was carried out. The video broadcast from the bottom of the depression could be seen not only by scientists, but also by Internet users.

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 about 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 should be noted that this value is very relative, since diving to the bottom of the Mariana Trench is a technically very difficult 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 is the Mariana Trench, you can give its exact geographical coordinates - 11 ° 21 ′ s. sh. 142 ° 12 ′ E The place got this name due to the fact that nearby are located parts 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. This is not just a "very deep hole". The gutter itself stretches along the seabed for one and a half thousand kilometers. The depression is V-shaped, that is, from above it is much wider, and downward there is a narrowing of the walls.

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 difficult to access in our land.

Is it necessary to explore the depression?

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 space is easier to explore nowadays than such depths. Many people have been outside the Earth, and only three brave men sank to the bottom of the trench.

Exploring the gutter

The British were the first to explore the Mariana Trench. In 1872, the Challenger ship with scientists entered the Pacific Ocean to study the trough. 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.

As time went on, research was carried out, a new value of depth was established - 10863 meters.

Research is carried out by launching deep-sea vehicles. Most often these are unmanned automatic vehicles. And in 1960, Jacques Piccard and Don Walsh descended to the very bottom on the Trieste bathyscaphe. In 2012 he ventured on Jace Cameron on the Deepsea Challenger.

Russian researchers also studied the Mariana Trench. In 1957, the ship "Vityaz" headed to the area of \u200b\u200bthe trough. Scientists not only measured the depth of the trough (11022 meters), but also discovered the presence of life at a depth of more than seven kilometers. This event made a kind of revolution in the world of science in the mid-twentieth century. At that time it was believed that at such depths there could be no living beings. This is where the fun begins. How many stories and legends exist about this place - just do not count. So what exactly is the Mariana Trench really? 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, Jacques Piccard and Don Walsh were the first brave daredevils to descend to the bottom of the depression. They descended in a heavy bathyscaphe called Trieste. The wall thickness 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 the ascent of the bathyscaphe immediately began, which took three hours. No matter how surprising this phenomenon may seem, living organisms were found at the bottom. Fish of the Mariana Trench are flat creatures, similar to a flounder, no more than thirty centimeters long.

In 1995, the Japanese sank into the abyss. And in 2009, a miracle device called the 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 immersion of the apparatus from the research vessel Challenger. It turns out that when the equipment began to be lowered, after a while the instruments recorded the strongest metal grinding. 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 seemed to be sawed. Such an unexpected surprise came from the Mariana Trench. Whether monsters so crumpled the technology or representatives of an alien intelligence, or mutated octopuses ... A variety of proposals were expressed, each of which was more incredible than the previous one. However, no one 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 incredible mysterious case happened with a team of German researchers, which lowered their apparatus called "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 gnaw at an unknown thing. The team chased the monster away from the apparatus with an electrical discharge. The creature got scared and swam away and did not appear again. It is a pity that such events were not recorded by the apparatus, so that there is irrefutable evidence.

After this incident, the Mariana Trench began to acquire more and more new facts, legends and speculation. The crews of the ships now and then reported a huge monster in these waters, which was towing ships at high speed. It became difficult to make out where the truth is, and where is speculation. The Mariana Trench, whose monsters haunted many people, still remains the most mysterious point on the planet.

Indisputable facts

Along with the most incredible legends about the Mariana Trench, there are very specific, but incredible facts. There is no doubt about them, since they are supported by evidence.

In 1948, lobster fishers (Australian) reported a large transparent fish that was at least thirty meters long. They saw her at sea. Judging by their description, it looks like a very ancient shark (species Carcharodon megalodon), which lived several million years ago. Scientists managed to restore the appearance of a shark from the remains. 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 makes it possible to assume that not all such creatures became extinct a couple of million years ago. Perhaps, at the very bottom of the depression, these incredible predators are hiding from human eyes. Exploration of the mysterious depths continues to this day, since the abyss is fraught with many secrets, to the disclosure of which people have not yet come close.

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 wrong. Mollusks live here quietly, their shells do not suffer from pressure at all. Even hydrothermal vents emitting methane and hydrogen do not affect them. Incredible, but true!

Another mystery is a hydrothermal source called Champagne. Its waters are bubbling with bubbles of carbon dioxide. This is the only such object in the world and it is located exactly in the depression, which gave scientists a reason to talk about the possible origin of life in water in this very place.

There is a Daikoku volcano in the Mariana Trench. In its crater there is a lake of molten sulfur, which boils at an enormous temperature of 187 degrees. Nowhere else on earth can you find such a thing. The only analogue of this phenomenon is in space (on Jupiter's moon Io).

Amazing place

In the Mariana Trench, there are giant unicellular amoebas, the size of which reaches ten centimeters. They live next to uranium, lead, and mercury that are destructive for living beings. However, they not only do not die from them, but also feel great.

The Mariana Trench is the most great miracle on the ground. Everything inanimate and living is combined here. Everything that kills life under normal conditions at the bottom of the depression, on the contrary, gives strength for survival to living organisms. Isn't it a miracle? How much still unknown is this place!

There are many amazing places in this world that have not yet been explored by humans. It turns out that only 5% of the ocean area is subject to science, the rest remains a mystery for her, covered in darkness. One of these mysterious places is the Mariana Trench, the depth of which is of the greatest importance among all the studied areas of the seabed. The Mariana Trench is another name for the place.

Under the thickness sea \u200b\u200bwater the head is a thousand times higher than the pressure that is recorded in the normal sea space. But high-tech devices and not indifferent risky people helped to learn at least a little about the deep crevice. Pacific Ocean - a real reserve in which not only exotic unique animals live, but also there are remarkable topographic objects.

Everyone knows about the existence of this amazing object. Information about it is given to us from a young age, but over time we forget both the numbers and curious facts about this strange and enchanting place. We decided to remind you where the Mariana Trench is and what it is. You can learn a lot about the ocean surface object.

The heroine of our article is named after the islands that are located near the "bottom of the earth". It is located along the islands. In the Mariana Trench, the depth of which, it would seem, is capable of destroying all life, there are some microorganisms that have mutated due to high pressure. This tectonic fault has steep slopes - about 8⁰. Below is a wide area about 5 km, which is divided by stone rapids. The pressure at the very bottom is 108.6 MPa - more than anywhere else on planet Earth.

History of the study of the phenomenon

1872 is considered the date of the discovery of the Mariana Trench, photos of the object appear somewhat later. The British explored the tectonic fault as well as possible on a military corvette in 1951. The depth of the Mariana Trench is becoming known - 1,0863 meters. Since it was the Challenger ship that sank to the very bottom, to the deepest point, it became known as the Challenger Abyss.

Soviet scientists are joining the study. Since 1957, the research vessel "Vityaz" begins to plow the ocean and discovers that the depth of the Mariana Trench is even greater than previously announced - more than 11 kilometers. Our marine researchers established the fact of life at great depths, destroying the scientific stereotypes of that time. Subsequently, the ship was written off as a museum value. Experiments continue to this day. Five years ago, the "bottom of the world" was visited by the automatic device Nereus, which dropped 11 km below the ocean level, and took new photos and videos.

Diving to the "bottom of the Earth" is at least five hours. The rise is somewhat faster. At the very bottom, one cannot be more than 12 minutes, taking into account the technology that was at the disposal of the then researchers. For the study of such terrestrial objects one has to allocate cosmic sums, so work is proceeding slowly.

Where is it

The Mariana Trench is located in the western Pacific Ocean, two hundred meters from the islands of the same name. It looks like a crevice in the form of a crescent, its length is more than 2550 km, and its width reaches almost 70 km.

The results of the study showed that in the Mariana Trench, the depth is about 11 thousand meters. Everest reaches only 8840 m. If you need a comparison, then the highest mountain on Earth can be turned over and placed entirely on the bottom of the Mariana Trench, but more than 2 km of water remains above the top. It is only about the height, the width of the depression and the mountain do not coincide.

Curious facts and stories

  • It's hot there. It turns out that it is not cold at this crazy depth. The thermometer column shows a positive value - up to 4⁰С. There are hot springs in the gorge, they make the water a hundred points hotter. High pressure does not boil the water column.

  • Population. Ignoring the unsuitable conditions for life, the inhabitants of the "bottom of the world" settled down quite well. There live huge amoeba xenophyophores - up to 10 cm. These are the simplest, but they mutated due to hot water and pressure. Amoebas are able to survive in an environment filled with dangerous chemical elements.

  • Molluscs also became inhabitants of the Mariana Trench, although the form from the cover should simply crack under great pressure. But hot springs contain serpentine, which is rich in hydrogen and methane. It is these substances that allow molluscs to survive. They even managed to adapt to hydrogen sulfide secretions, converting them into protein compounds.

  • The birthplace of life on the planet. The Champagne Key at the bottom of the ocean is a unique underwater area that contains liquid CO2. It forms specific bubbles, similar to those found in a glass of sparkling wine. Scientists have suggested that a primary form of life could have appeared around this key in due time. This is due to the presence of all the necessary substances.

  • The cavity is slimy. There is no sand and the like. At the very bottom is a stratum of small shells and dead plankton accumulated over thousands of years. The pressure makes the mass look like mucus.

  • Sulfur in a liquid state of aggregation. The Mariana Trench, the photo of which is not so easy to take, is rich in various geoformations. At a depth of more than 400 meters, there is a whole volcano on the way to it. Near Daikoku is a large lake filled with liquid sulfur, which is not found anywhere else on Earth. The substance boils at a temperature of 187 ° C, and under it, it is assumed, is an even larger layer of liquid sulfur, which could also contribute to the formation of life on our planet.

  • There are bridges there. In 2011, a group of research scientists discovered stone bridges in the Mariana Trench. Four structures stretched between the abyss for almost 70 km. They are located between two tectonic plates - the Pacific and Philippine. One of them was opened even earlier, in the 80s of the XX century. It is very high, more than 2.5 km.

  • The first person to be so deep. Only three people have plucked up the courage in the history of the Mariana Trench since its discovery in 1875. The first was an American, Lieutenant Don Walsh, and with him the scientist Jacques Picard in 1960. The dive was made on the Challenger vessel. In 2012, film director James Cameron on a bathyscaphe visited the Mariana Trench, a photo of which he took as a souvenir. The man had the painful impression of complete loneliness from this place.

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  • The riddle of the sawn cables. The incredible depths are terrifying. And the first explorers were afraid of unseen monsters inside the Mariana Trench. The first fact of collision with the unknown happened at the time of the dive "Glomar Challenger". The recorder began to detect a metallic grinding sound and shadows that appeared around the ship. Teaching worried about expensive titanium equipment in the shape of a hedgehog, and it was decided to raise the research vessel to the ship. The “hedgehog” was damaged after extraction, the titanium 20-centimeter cables were twisted, or rather, half-sawn. There was a complete impression that someone wanted to stop the ship at depth.
  • Prehistoric lizard. During the sinking of the Highfish vessel with the scientists on board, there was a hitch. The device reached 7 km depth and stopped. The researchers turned on the infrared camera. She suddenly snatched from the ocean darkness a huge dinosaur, which bit into the bathyscaphe. With the help of an electric gun, they managed to drive him away.

  • The inhabitants of the Mariana Trench are protected by law. It is an American National Monument and is by right the largest nature reserve in the world. There are several restrictions on staying in this area. Mining is prohibited here, you cannot fish, but you can swim.

The Mayan depression is inhabited by:

1. Scary and not so fish


2. Various octopuses

3. And other incomprehensible creatures

We are close to the fact that the Mariana Trench will soon become closer to modern man. Perhaps, in the near future, tourism will even be carried out there. But so far, this option remains on a par with the possibility of affordable space tourism. It is surprising how much the terrestrial object is in this respect similar to distant stars. He has not been investigated as well as the heavenly bodies. But we at least know for sure that life exists in the Mariana Trench. According to a popular hypothesis, it could have appeared from there. In this case, the study of the deepest place of the World Ocean acquires global significance.

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