What is the deepest ocean trench on earth. Where are the deepest places in the oceans

Incredible Facts

The earth is still full of secrets despite the fact that many of them have been revealed. scientists and researchersfor many years.

About several unusual places created by people, but mostly by nature, you can find out here.

Plunge into the depths of our planet and imagine how many undiscovered secrets our planet keeps in itself.


The deepest well in the world (the deepest well in the USSR)

In the Murmansk region, in 1970, 10 kilometers west of the city of Zapolyarny, there is the Kola super-deep well SG-Z, the depth of which is 12,262 meters, which makes it the deepest well in the world. The cost of drilling is equal to the cost of the project to fly to the moon. In 1989, the Guinness Book of Records registered the well as the deepest on Earth. It was drilled in order to study the boundaries of the lithosphere of our planet.

The deepest subway

Kiev metro station "Arsenalnaya" ("Arsenalna") is the deepest in the world. It is located on the Sviatoshynsko-Brovary line and was opened on November 6, 1960. The "English type" station has a short middle hall, and its depth is 105.5 meters.

deepest ocean

The Pacific Ocean is not only the largest ocean in terms of area, but also the deepest.

Deepest trench (deepest place in the ocean, deepest trench)

The Mariana Trench (or Mariana Trench) is an oceanic deep-sea trench. Its name comes from the nearby Mariana Islands. The deepest part of the depression is called the "Challenger Deep" and it goes deep to 11,035 meters.

The deepest lake in the world

Lake Baikal, which many Russians call the sea, is a lake of tectonic origin and is located in the southern part of Eastern Siberia. In addition to being the deepest lake in the world - 1642 meters, Baikal is also the largest natural reservoir of fresh water. Here is a unique variety of flora and fauna - more than 1,700 varieties of plants and animals, 2/3 of which are not found anywhere else on the planet. In addition, the lake is considered the oldest on Earth - its age is about 25 million years.

deepest sea

The Philippine Sea, located near the Philippine archipelago, has an average depth of 4,108 meters, and is considered the deepest due to the Philippine Trench, the deepest point of which is 10,540 meters.

The deepest river

The length of the Congo River is 4344-4700 kilometers, the basin area is 3,680,000 square kilometers, and the maximum depth is more than 230 meters, which makes it the deepest in the world. It is also worth noting that this is the second river in terms of water content on Earth after the Amazon and the only major river that crosses the equator 2 times. As the lower reaches of the Congo begin to break through the South Guinean Uplands in a deep gorge, it forms the Livingston Falls, and it is here that the river reaches its greatest depths.

The deepest mine

At the moment, the deepest mine in the world can be called the Tau Tona mine, which is located 70 kilometers from Johannesburg (South Africa). The name of the mine can be translated from one African language as "great lion". Gold is mined here, and so far this deposit has a depth of about 4 km, but mining is carried out at a depth of 2.3 to 3.595 kilometers.

The deepest cave

The Krubera-Voronya cave, located in Abkhazia, can be called the deepest in the world (at least among the studied caves). The entrance to the cave is located at an altitude of approximately 2,256 meters in the Orto-Balagan tract. It is worth noting that the cave of Krubera-Voronya was discovered by Georgian speleologists in 1960. At the moment, it has been explored to a depth of 95 meters.

The deepest trench in the World Ocean is the Mariana Trench (or the Mariana Trench). Located between the Pacific Ocean and the Philippine Sea, the trench was first measured in 1875 and got its name from the Mariana Islands.

Numerous studies and measurements have established that the deepest point of the World Ocean is at a level of 10,994 m and has the name "Challenger abyss" (after the name of the corvette of the same name, which first explored the trench). The length of the trench is about 1500 km. Despite such a significant depth and extent, there are no signs of the presence of the Mariana Trench under the ocean water on the surface. Every year, hundreds of merchant ships from Japan to Australia and also from North America to the Philippines pass over it unhindered.

The whole history of mankind is an ongoing research. Considering that 71% of the Earth's surface is covered by the little-studied World Ocean with an average depth of 3.7 km, there are still a lot of secrets and mysteries that mankind has not yet unraveled.

At the moment, the most studied and deepest underwater plain is the Abyssal Plain. Its depth varies from 2 to 6 km. Only with the use of modern equipment has it become possible to study the landscape of the plain. In addition, hundreds of volcanoes and mountain ranges, formed as a result of the movement of ancient tectonic plates, remain unexplored under the thickness of oceanic waters. Landscape depressions at the bottom of the oceans, having a depth of more than 6 kilometers, are commonly called trenches. Similar trenches are found in all the oceans of the Earth, but their maximum accumulation is in the Pacific.

The main difficulty associated with the study of the flora and fauna of such extreme depths is associated with an insufficient level of development of technology. To take samples from the bottom of depressions, plains and trenches, the "capture" method is used. This method is quite economical, but the pressure at such colossal depths reaches 108.6 MPa (1072 times higher than atmospheric pressure), which necessitates the use of the most durable materials.

So, one of the latest studies of the Mariana Trench was made in March 2012 by the American film director James Cameron. A single-seat bathyscaphe was used to take samples of living organisms and rocks, as well as to take photos and videos. "Deepsea Challenger"(see photo above), which reached a depth of 10,908 meters.

In areas of more active thermal springs, coral polyps that live at sufficient depth grow up to 1.5 meters with meter tentacles, while their relatives from shallower depths have a growth of about 10 centimeters. Currently, the study of the Mariana Trench continues. Scientists claim that about 2-5% of the filling of the bottom of the deepest place on the planet has been investigated.

Our planet never ceases to amaze us and present new amazing stories about itself. Below is a list of ten interesting and some of the deepest places on Earth.

El Zacatón is the world's deepest sinkhole filled with water. It is located in the northeast of the state of Tamaulipas, Mexico. Its diameter on the surface is approximately 116 m, the total depth 339 meters. The temperature of the water in the funnel is 30°C and smells slightly of sulfur. This place is very popular among divers.


Tagebau Hambach is a quarry used for brown coal mining. Located in Elsdorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was opened in 1978. It is the deepest open mine in the world, the depth of which is about 370 meters, an area of ​​33.89 square kilometers.


Woodingdean is an eastern suburb of Brighton and Hove located in East Sussex, England. It is notable for the fact that on its territory there is the deepest well in the world, dug by hand between 1858-1862. The depth of the well is 392 meters.

Lake Baikal


Baikal is a lake of tectonic origin, located on the territory of Russia, in the southern part of Eastern Siberia, on the border between the Irkutsk region and the Republic of Buryatia. It is the deepest lake in the world (maximum depth 1642 meters) and the largest natural reservoir of fresh water. The age of the lake is estimated at 25–30 Ma. Its area is 31,722 km² (without islands), which is comparable to the territories of countries such as Belgium, the Netherlands or Denmark.


Cave Krubera (Voronya) is the deepest cave in the world, located in the Arabica mountain range in Abkhazia. Its depth is 2 196 m. It is the only known cave on Earth that exceeds a depth of 2 thousand meters. It was discovered and first explored to a depth of 95 m by Georgian speleologists (head L.I. Maruashvili) in 1960. Then she got her first name: Krubera cave, in honor of the Russian scientist A.A. Kruber.


Kidd Mine is a mine located in Timmins, Ontario, Canada. It is the deepest base metal mine in the world. Its maximum depth is almost 3 thousand m. It began operations in 1966 as a quarry, but over time turned into an underground mine, which still produces copper, zinc and several other metals.


The Litke Trough is an oceanic trench located in northeastern Greenland, 350 kilometers north of Svalbard. This is the deepest point in the Arctic Ocean - 5449 m. For the first time, this chute was discovered and explored in 1955 by an expedition on the icebreaker Fyodor Litke. It ranks 20th among the deepest trenches in the world.


The Milwaukee Trench or the Milwaukee Deep is the deepest point in the Atlantic Ocean, located 122.3 km north of the coast of Puerto Rico. Its maximum depth is 8380 meters(according to unverified data 9560 m). The chute was named after the American light cruiser USS Milwaukee (CL-5), which first discovered it on February 14, 1939.


The Mariana Trench or the Mariana Trench is the deepest oceanic trench, as well as the least explored place on the planet, located in the western Pacific Ocean between Japan and Papua New Guinea near the Mariana Islands. It was first discovered in 1875 by a British expedition aboard the Challenger. Using sonar, the ship's crew then recorded a depth of 10,900 meters. According to measurements taken in 2011, the depth of the depression is 10 994 ± 40 m below sea level.

The well itself (welded). 2012

The Kola super-deep well is the deepest borehole in the world, located in Russia, in the Murmansk region, about 10 km from the city of Zapolyarny. Its depth is 12262 meters; diameter of the upper part - 92 cm. It was laid down in 1970 and drilled exclusively for research purposes. It was originally planned to reach the mark of 16 thousand meters, but due to technical problems, as well as due to financial difficulties in 1991, work had to be stopped ahead of schedule. Now, due to financial difficulties and lack of state support, the issue of its final closure is being decided.

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From time immemorial, the oceanic abyss has attracted the close attention of man, but only relatively recently has he been able to satisfy his curiosity by plunging to the bottom of the oceans. The Mariana Trench, often referred to as the Mariana Trench, is by far the deepest point on the planet.

Mariana Trench

1. Where is located?

This object has the following geographical coordinates: 11°21′ north latitude and 142°12′ east longitude. It got its name due to the nearby archipelago of the Mariana Islands (under the jurisdiction of the United States). The deepest depression on the planet stretches along the islands for more than 1500 km.

2. What does it look like?

Visually, it looks like a V-shaped profile with rather steep slopes - within 7-9 °. The flat bottom of the basin, the width of which is within 1-5 km, is divided by separate ridges into separate zones.

3. What is the pressure at the bottom of the depression?

It should be noted that at the bottom the water pressure is more than 108.6 MPa, which is almost 1100 times higher than the normal atmospheric pressure on the surface.

The Mariana Trench sits between two tectonic plates, just where the Pacific Plate is gradually buckling under the Philippine Plate.


4. Fourth pole

Due to the lack of necessary technical means, for a long time it was inaccessible to human penetration. In this regard, she received the nickname "fourth pole". At the same time, in fairness, we note that the geographic poles are the North and South, and the geomorphological poles are Everest (Chomolungma) and the Mariana Trench.

Despite the fact that the North and South Poles, together with were successfully conquered by man, this particular place was inaccessible for a long time.

5. Depth measurement in 1951

1951 - The first depth data was obtained by the British research vessel Challenger. According to his measurements, it was a record 10863 meters.

6. Depth measurement in 1957

1957 - the Soviet research vessel Vityaz, during its 25th anniversary voyage, established the true depth of the Mariana Trench. The initial data showed a figure of 11034 meters, the final figure was a depth of 11022 meters.

7. How was the depth of the Mariana Trench measured?

Such a large difference in the magnitude of the depth is explained by the presence of certain difficulties in the measurement.

It is well known that the speed of sound propagation in water directly depends on its properties and depth. In this regard, the acoustic properties at different depths are measured simultaneously by several special technical devices, namely, a barometer and a thermometer.

Focusing on the readings of these devices, the value of the final value determined by the echo sounder was amended by Soviet scientists.

8. Which is higher/deeper, Everest or Mariana Trench?

According to scientific research in 1995, the depth was 10920 meters. In 2009, this figure increased to 10,971 meters.

In view of this, the deepest point of this natural formation, which is referred to in the international scientific community as the Challenger Deep (Challenger Abyss), is much further from the surface of the oceans than Mount Everest rises above it.

9. First dive to the bottom

On January 23, 1960, US Navy Lieutenant Don Walsh, together with research scientist Jacques Picard, carried out the first dive in the history of mankind.

Especially for these purposes, they used the Trieste bathyscaphe, which was the development of the Swiss scientist Auguste Picard. The previous model of the world's first deep-sea submersible FNRS-2 was used as the basis for this device.

10. Where did the name bathyscaphe come from?

As the son of Auguste, Jacques Picard provided significant assistance to his father-designer.

The main work on the creation of a deep-sea bathyscaphe was carried out in the Italian city on the Adriatic Sea - in the city of Trieste. Hence the name of the device.

11. First dive "Trieste"

Trieste's first dive was successful in August 1953. Until the onset of 1957, the bathyscaphe repeatedly dived in the Mediterranean Sea.

Jacques Picard, together with his father, who at that time was 69 years old, was the pilot of the apparatus.

During one of the regular dives, a record depth of 3150 meters was reached at that time.

12. What did the Trieste bathyscaphe look like?

As well as all subsequent models, the tryste bathyscaphe was visually a hermetically sealed special steel gondola, which had the shape of a sphere for the crew of the apparatus. The bathyscaphe was attached to a large float filled with gasoline in order to ensure the proper level of buoyancy.

At that time, the Trieste was distinguished by a revolutionary solution to an urgent problem in the event of a side swaying.

Having started diving at 16:22 CET, the bathyscaphe began to gradually sink into the oceanic abyss - all this time the daredevils observed a myriad of brightly glowing deep-sea fish.

13. Temperature at the bottom of the Mariana Trench

Jacques Piccard and John Walsh reached the deepest point in the world's oceans after 30 minutes - other sources say it took them more than 12 minutes. Explorers of the oceanic abyss were very cold - at the bottom the water temperature was a little over 2 ° Celsius.

14. What depth did Picard and Walsh record?

Special devices of the Trieste bathyscaphe recorded the depth of the fearless research - 11521 meters (according to, again, other data, the depth was 11022 meters). The corrected figure was considered to be 10918 meters.

15. Dive and ascent time

The whole procedure for submerging the bathyscaphe took more than 5 hours; it returned to the surface after 3 hours.

16. Life at the bottom

Scientists were sincerely surprised to find highly organized life at such ocean depths, where eternal darkness reigns. Through the windows, Picard and Walsh had the opportunity to observe flat fish hitherto unknown to science, which visually resembled a flounder and reached almost 30 cm in length.

17. Another important task

Together with the conquest of the deepest point of the World Ocean, scientists completed another important task - they had a direct impact on the decision of the leading world powers to abandon their intentions to bury radioactive waste at the bottom.

Jacques Picard scientifically proved that at a depth of more than 6000 meters there is no movement of ocean waters - otherwise, the fate of the world would be categorically different ...

18. Japanese probe "Kaiko"

On March 24, 1997, the Japanese deep-sea probe Kaiko sank to the bottom of the Mariana Trench and recorded a depth of 10,911.4 meters.

19. Nereus deep-sea vehicle

May 31, 2009 - The Nereus ROV reached the lowest point of the Mariana Trench. They recorded a depth of 10902 meters. Bathyscaphe filmed a video and took several photographs of the world bottom. Experimental samples of silt deposits at the bottom of this natural formation were also taken.

20. How Nereus was managed

In total, Nereus spent more than 10 hours at the bottom. By analogy with a helicopter, he now and then hung in the water column, controlled by pilots on board a research vessel.

The control was carried out by means of a special fiberglass cable, whose thickness did not exceed the thickness of a human hair. Cable protection was provided by a special plastic casing. Thus, the ship's crew had the opportunity to see everything that happened at the bottom online. Nereus brought soil samples to the surface.

21. Diving on the bathyscaphe Deepsea Challenger

James Cameron made a solo dive on 03/26/2012 and became the third person in history to reach the bottom of the deepest point on the planet and stay there for about two hours. During this time, video and photography were made, and samples were taken from the very bottom. The dive took place on a single-seat bathyscaphe Deepsea Challenger, below you can see the photos.

The Mariana Trench is the deepest point in the oceans. Its depth is further from the level of the World Ocean than the top of Everest, the highest mountain on earth. Only 5% of the world's oceans have been studied, which means that we still have a long way to go to its knowledge.

Which are distinguished by the highest pressure and darkness through which it is almost impossible to see anything. The deepest depressions on Earth, which will be discussed later, have not been fully studied by man to date.

Mariana Trench

She tops the ranking and is also known as the Mariana Trench. Its location is in the Pacific Ocean, not far from the fault. The depth of the fault is 10994 meters, however, according to scientists, this value can vary within 40 meters. The first dive into the Mariana Trench occurred on January 23, 1960. The bathyscaphe, in which US Navy lieutenant Joe Walsh and scientist Jacques Picard were located, sank to 10,918 meters. The first researchers claimed that they saw fish below that looked like a flounder. However, no photographs were taken. Later, two more dives were made. It turned out that the largest depression in the world has mountains at its bottom, which reach a height of about 2500 meters.

Trench Tonga

This depression is only slightly inferior to the Mariana and has a depth of 10882 meters. Its characteristic feature is the speed of movement, which reaches 25.4 cm per year (while the average value of this indicator is about 2 cm). An interesting fact about this trough is that at a depth of approximately 6 km, the Apollo 13 lunar landing stage is located here, which fell here from space.

Philippine Trench

It is located near the Philippine Islands in and takes third place in such a ranking as "The Deepest Trench on Earth." The depth of the Philippine Trench is 10,540 meters. This depression was formed as a result of subduction and is not fully understood due to the fact that the Mariana is of much greater interest.

Kermadec

The gutter is connected in the northern part with the above-mentioned Tonga and reaches a depth of 10047 meters. A thorough study of it, which took place at a depth of about seven and a half kilometers, was carried out in 2008. During the study, rare living creatures were discovered that are distinguished by their original pink color.

Izu-Bonin Trench

The deepest depressions on Earth were predominantly discovered in the twentieth century. In contrast to them, the Izu-Bonin Trench, 9810 meters deep, was first discovered by man at the very end of the nineteenth century. This happened when determining the depth of the bottom for laying a telephone cable. Later it turned out that the trench is an integral part of a whole chain of depressions in the ocean.

Kuril-Kamchatka Trench

The depth of this depression is 9783 meters. It was discovered during the exploration of the previous chute and is characterized by a very small width (59 meters). On the slopes there are many valleys with ledges, terraces and canyons. At the bottom there are depressions separated by thresholds. Detailed studies of it have not yet been carried out due to difficult access.

Puerto Rico Trench

The deepest trenches on Earth are not only in the Pacific Ocean. The Puerto Rico Trench formed on the border with the Caribbean Sea. Its deepest point is located at around 8385 meters. The basin differs from others by relatively high seismic activity, as a result of which underwater eruptions and tsunamis sometimes occur in this place. It should also be noted that the depression is gradually lowering, which is associated with the lowering of the tectonic North American plate.