What is the depth of the deepest ocean trench. Depth of the Mariana Trench. Inhabitants of the Mariana Trench

The Mariana Trench (Marian Trench) is a deep-sea trench located in the western Pacific Ocean. Today, the Mariana Trench is the deepest place on the planet. The deepest point of the trough is called the Challenger Deep.

The history of research on the Mariana Trench begins in 1875, when the British corvette Challenger lowered a deep-water lot into the trench and recorded a depth of 8367 m. In 1951, the British repeated the experiment using an echo sounder and recorded a maximum depth of 10,863 m. In 1957, a Russian expedition on the Vityaz vessel, she was able to record a new depth of the depression - 11,023 m. Studies in 1995 and 2011 showed new figures - 10,920 and 10,994 m, respectively.

3 people were able to visit the bottom of the Mariana Trench. In 1960, the bathyscaphe Trieste sank to the bottom of the depression, on board of which were explorer Jacques Picard and US Navy Lieutenant John Walsh. They descended to a depth of 10,918 m and dispelled the myth that life at such a depth is impossible. Bathyscaphe "Trieste" found flat fish about 30 cm long at the bottom of the cavity.

In 1995, the Japanese probe Kaiko was lowered into the depression, with the help of which new microorganisms, foraminifera, were discovered.

In 2012, American director James Cameron descended on the Deepsea Challenger bathyscaphe to the bottom of the Mariana Trench. He reached a depth of 10,898 m. The bathyscaphe was equipped with all possible recording equipment, so Cameron was able to capture unique footage of underwater life.

Map of the Mariana Trench

On the satellite map The Mariana Trench looks like a large fold on the ocean floor. The depression is a trough that stretches for 1500 km. The width of the depression is from 1 to 5 km. Mountains were found at the bottom of the trench, which were formed about 180 million years ago in the process of movement of lithospheric plates. The pressure at the bottom of the Mariana Trench is 108.6 MPa, which is 1072 times higher than Atmosphere pressure at the level of the oceans.

Mysteries and secrets of the Mariana Trench

Research complexity ocean depths led to the fact that many myths and legends began to form around the Mariana Trench. Some believe that prehistoric monsters live at the bottom of the depression, others believe that Cthulhu sleeps there.

During the descent to the bottom of the hollow of the Ezh research apparatus belonging to the Glomar Challenger vessel, the recording instruments recorded some kind of metallic rattle. It was decided to take the device on board. When the device was taken out of the water, they found that the 20-centimeter cable, on which the "Hedgehog" was lowered into the hollow, was half sawn through.

Not far from Japan, in the depths of the sea, the deepest trench in the world's oceans, the Mariana Trench, hid. This geographical feature got its name due to the islands of the same name located nearby. Scientists call this phenomenon the "Fourth Pole", along with the South, North and most high point planet - Mount Everest.

Geolocation

The coordinates of the Mariana Trench are 11°22` north latitude and 142°35` east longitude. coastal islands the trench surrounds for a length of more than 2.5 thousand km, and a width of about 69 km. In its form, it resembles English letter V, widened at the top and narrowed at the bottom. This formation was the result of the impact of the boundaries of tectonic plates. The maximum depth of the world ocean in this place is 10994 (plus or minus 40 m).

Rice. 1. Mariana Trench on the map

Compared to Everest, the largest depression is farther from the surface of the Earth than the largest high peak. The mountain has a length of 8848 m, and climbing it was much easier than overcoming the incredible pressure, plunging into the abyss of the sea.

The deepest place in the Mariana Trench is the Challenger Deep point, which means “Challenger Deep” in English. It was first explored by a British ship of the same name. They recorded a depth of 11521m.

First studies

The deepest point of the oceans was conquered only in 1960 by two daredevils: Don Walsh and Jacques Picard. They dived on the Trieste bathyscaphe and became the first people in the world to descend first to a depth of 3,000 meters, and then to 10,000 meters. The bottom mark was recorded as early as 30 minutes after the dive. In total, they spent about 3 hours at a depth, and froze significantly. Indeed, in addition to the enormous pressure, there is also low temperature water - about 2 degrees Celsius.

Rice. 2. Mariana Trench in section

In 2012, famous director James Cammeron (“Titanic”) conquered the deepest trench, becoming the third person on Earth to descend this far. It was the most important expedition, during which unique photo and video materials were obtained, as well as bottom samples were taken. Contrary to popular belief, at the bottom is not sand, but mucus - a product of processing the remains of fish bones and plankton.

Flora and fauna

The underwater world of the largest crack has been studied very poorly. It was first discovered that life in this part of the Earth is possible in 1950. Then Soviet scientists suggested that some of the simplest creatures managed to adapt in chitinous pipes. The new family was named pogonophores.

What have we learned?

We learned which part of the Earth is the deepest. This is the Mariana Trench. The deepest point is the Challenger Abyss (11,521 m). The first expedition to the bottom ended successfully in 1960. In conditions pitch darkness, pressure and constant toxic fumes, a special world has formed here with its unique animals and simple organisms. It is very difficult to say what the world of the Mariana Trench really is, because it has only been studied by 5%.

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Deep ocean trenches (troughs) are one of the most typical elements of the relief of the transition zone between the mainland and the ocean. They are a long narrow depression of the ocean floor with a depth of more than 6000 m. They are usually located on the outer, oceanic, side of the ridges of island arcs. The deepest trenches are in the Pacific Ocean. The deepest is the Mariana Trench - up to 11022 m.

The Mariana Trench is a narrow depression in the western Pacific Ocean, stretching along the Mariana Islands for almost 1,500 km, with its center at 15° N. latitude. and 147°30′ E It has a V-shaped profile, slopes steep at 7-9°, a flat bottom 1-5 km wide, divided by rapids into several closed depressions with a depth of 8-11 km. The maximum depth - 11022 m - is located in the southern part, measured by the Soviet research vessel "Vityaz" in 1957; it is also the greatest depth of the oceans.

The Mariana Trench is a type of peripheral trench. These are trenches located along the periphery of the oceans. This type trenches is widespread in the Pacific Ocean, limited in the Indian Ocean, and highly localized in the Atlantic and Mediterranean. They are usually parallel to island arcs and young coastal mountains, and tend to have a highly asymmetric transverse profile. On the ocean side, this type of trough is adjacent to a deep-sea ocean floor, and on the opposite side - an island ridge or a high mountain range. The excess of the crests of mountain ranges or island ridges above the deep-water bottom can be more than 17 km.

Studies of the Mariana Trench were initiated by an expedition (December 1872 - May 1876) of the English ship Challenger (HMS Challenger), which carried out the first systematic measurements of the depths of the Pacific Ocean. This three-masted, sail-rigged military corvette was rebuilt as an oceanographic vessel for hydrological, geological, chemical, biological, and meteorological work in 1872.

"Vityaz" in Kaliningrad on the eternal parking

Also, a significant contribution to the study of the Mariana Trench was made by Soviet researchers. In 1958, an expedition on the Vityaz established the presence of life at depths of more than 7000 m, thereby refuting the then prevailing idea that life was impossible at depths of more than 6000-7000 m. In 1960, the Trieste bathyscaphe was immersed to the bottom Mariana Trench to a depth of 10915 m.

Half a century ago, on January 23, 1960, a significant event took place in the history of the conquest of the oceans. Bathyscaphe Trieste, manned French explorer Jacques Piccard (1922–2008) and US Navy lieutenant Don Walsh reached the deepest point of the ocean floor - the Challenger Deep, located in the Mariana Trench and named after the English ship Challenger, with which in 1951 the first data about it were obtained.

The dive lasted 4 hours 48 minutes and ended at 10911 m relative to sea level. In this terrible depth, where a monstrous pressure of 108.6 MPa (which is more than 1100 times greater than normal atmospheric pressure) flattens all living things, the researchers made the most important oceanological discovery: they saw two 30-centimeter fish similar to flounder swimming past the porthole. Before that, it was believed that at depths exceeding 6000 m, no life exists.

Thus, an absolute record of diving depth was set, which cannot be surpassed even theoretically. Picard and Walsh were the only people to visit the bottom of the Challenger abyss. All subsequent dives to the deepest point of the world ocean, for research purposes, were already made by unmanned bathyscaphes-robots. But there were not so many of them either, since “visiting” the Challenger abyss is both time-consuming and expensive.

One of the achievements of this dive, which has a beneficial effect on the ecological future of the planet, was the refusal nuclear powers from the disposal of radioactive waste at the bottom of the Mariana Trench. The fact is that Jacques Picard experimentally refuted the then prevailing opinion that at depths of more than 6000 m there is no upward movement of water masses.

Bathyscaphe was named after Italian city Trieste, in which the main work on its creation was carried out. According to the instruments on board the Trieste, Walsh and Picard dived to a depth of 11,521 meters, but this figure was later slightly corrected - 10,918 meters.

The dive took about five, and the ascent took about three hours, at the bottom, the researchers stayed only 12 minutes. But even this time was enough for them to make a sensational discovery - at the bottom they found flat fish up to 30 cm in size, similar to flounder !

(Piccard Auguste, Piccard) (1884—1962) , Swiss physicist. In flights on stratospheric balloons of his own design, he reached a height 15,780 m (1931) and 16,370 m (1932). On bathyscaphes of his own design, he descended to a depth 1380 m (1948) and 3160 m (1953).)

Bathyscaphe Trieste was designed by the Swiss scientist Auguste Picard, taking into account his previous development, the world's first bathyscaphe FNRS-2.

Great help in the construction of the bathyscaphe was provided by his son, Jacques Picard. The device got its name in honor of the city of Trieste, Italy, where the main work on its creation was carried out. Trieste was launched in August 1953 and made several dives in the Mediterranean from 1953 to 1957. Jacques Picard became the main pilot, and his father, who at that time was already 69 years old, also participated in the first dives. In one of the dives, the device reached a record depth of 3150 m at that time.

In 1958, Trieste was bought by the US Navy, since at that time the United States began to show interest in exploring the ocean depths, but did not yet have such devices. After the purchase, the design of the bathyscaphe was finalized - a stronger and more durable gondola was manufactured at the Krupp plant in Essen, Germany. The new gondola turned out to be somewhat heavier, and the float capacity also had to be increased. The main pilot and technician of the apparatus in 1958-1960 remained Jacques Picard, who by that time had extensive diving experience.

Trieste, like other bathyscaphes, was a pressurized spherical steel gondola for the crew, attached to a large float filled with gasoline to provide buoyancy. Main specifications device:

The length of the float is 15 m.

Float capacity - 85 mі.

The diameter of the gondola is 2.16 m.

The wall thickness of the gondola is 127 mm.

The weight of the gondola in the air is 13 tons.

The weight of the gondola in the water is 8 tons.

The crew of the bathyscaphe - 2 people.

The Trieste dive proved that the time has come when a person can directly, visually study the world of the bottom depths of the oceans. During this extraordinary expedition, one of the most pressing modern hypotheses about the non-movement of layers of water at great depths was refuted. Two fish were observed from the bathyscaphe at the maximum depth. This testified to the existence of underwater currents in the vertical direction: after all, living beings need oxygen brought by the current from the surface. This conclusion warned scientists against the idea of using the depths of the ocean for the disposal of waste from the nuclear industry.

When the bathyscaphe "Trieste" sank to the bottom of the deepest trench in the World Ocean - the Mariana (11022), it stopped three times, meeting some invisible obstacle. As you know, gasoline plays the same role in a bathyscaphe as hydrogen or helium plays in an airship. To continue the submersion of the bathyscaphe, it was necessary to release a certain amount of gasoline, this made the apparatus heavier.

What prevented the bathyscaphe from descending?

An obstacle on the way was a sharp increase in the density of water. In the ocean, with depth, as a rule, the temperature decreases and the salinity of water increases, as a result of which its density increases. At some depths, these changes occur abruptly. The layer in which there is a sharp change in temperature and density of water is called the “jump layer”. There are usually one or two such layers in the ocean. Trieste found another third.

Long time Oceanologists considered the hypothesis that at large - more than 6000 meters - depths, in impenetrable darkness, under monstrous - from 600 kg / sq. cm and above - pressure and at temperatures close to zero, life can exist. However, the results of studies by French scientists in the Pacific Ocean showed that even in these "hellish depths", far below the 6000-meter mark, there are huge colonies of living organisms.

And in 1994, the 10.5-ton Japanese bathyscaphe Kaiko sank to a record depth of 11 kilometers! - and during his 35-minute journey along the ocean floor, he photographed the life of marine life where the pressure of water on a living organism is comparable to the overload created by fifty jet planes!

However, in 2003, while exploring another part of the ocean, during a storm, the towing steel rope, and the robot was lost.

On May 31, 2009, the Nereus automatic underwater vehicle sank to the bottom of the Mariana Trench. According to measurements, he sank 10,902 meters below sea level.

At the bottom, Nereus filmed a video, took some photos, and even collected sediment samples from the bottom.

On May 31, 2009, mankind again reached the deepest point of the Pacific, and indeed of the entire world ocean - the American deep-sea vehicle Nereus sank into the Challenger sinkhole at the bottom of the Mariana Trench. The device took soil samples and conducted underwater photo and video shooting on maximum depth illuminated only by its LED spotlight.

In the hands of the student Eleanor Bors - sea cucumber, living in the abyss itself and picked up by the Nereus apparatus.

During the current dive, Nereus' instruments recorded a depth of 10,902 meters. The Kaiko, which first landed here in 1995, measured 10,911 meters, while Picard and Walsh measured a value of 10,912 meters. On many Russian maps, the value of 11,022 meters obtained by the Soviet oceanographic vessel Vityaz during the 1957 expedition is still given. Of course, all this testifies to the inaccuracy of measurements, and not to a real change in depth: no one carried out cross-calibration of the measuring equipment that gave the given values.

The Mariana Trench has repeatedly frightened researchers with monsters lurking in its depths. For the first time, the expedition of the American research vessel Glomar Challenger encountered the unknown. Some time after the start of the descent of the apparatus, the sound-recording device began to transmit some kind of metallic rattle to the surface, reminiscent of the sound of sawn metal. At this time, some indistinct shadows appeared on the monitor, similar to giant fairy-tale dragons with several heads and tails. An hour later, scientists became worried that the unique equipment, made in the NASA laboratory from beams of ultra-strong titanium-cobalt steel, having a spherical structure, the so-called “hedgehog” with a diameter of about 9 m, could remain in the abyss of the Mariana Trench forever - so it was decided to immediately raise apparatus on board the ship. The “Hedgehog” was retrieved from the depths for more than eight hours, and as soon as it appeared on the surface, they immediately put it on a special raft. The TV camera and echo sounder were raised on the deck of the Glomar Challenger. The researchers were horrified when they saw how deformed the strongest steel beams of the structure were, as for the 20-cm steel cable on which the “hedgehog” was lowered, the scientists were not mistaken in the nature of the sounds transmitted from the abyss of water - the cable was half sawn. Who tried to leave the device at a depth and why - will forever remain a mystery. Details of this incident were published in 1996 by the New York Times.

Another collision with the inexplicable in the depths of the Mariana Trench occurred with the German research apparatus "Highfish" with a crew on board. At a depth of 7 km, the device suddenly stopped moving. To find out the cause of the malfunctions, the hydronauts turned on the infrared camera ... What they saw in the next few seconds seemed to them a collective hallucination: a huge prehistoric lizard, sinking its teeth into the bathyscaphe, tried to crack it like a nut. Recovering from the shock, the crew set off a device called the "electric gun", and the monster, struck powerful discharge, disappeared into the abyss ...

The British magazine "New Scientist" spoke in detail about the mysterious sounds in the depths of the Pacific Ocean detected by underwater sensors. American system tracking SOSUS. It was created during the Cold War to monitor Soviet submarines. Experts who studied the data obtained using highly sensitive hydrophones soon isolated a much more powerful sound, clearly emitted by some creature living in the ocean, against the background of noise, which is the "call signs" of various marine life. This mysterious signal, first recorded in 1977, is much more powerful than those infrasounds that large whales, located at a distance of hundreds of kilometers from each other, communicate with each other.

At the bottom of the world's deepest Mariana Trench in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, Japanese researchers have discovered 13 species of unicellular organisms unknown to science that have existed unchanged for almost a billion years. Microorganisms were found in soil samples, which in the autumn of 2002 he took there in the so-called. the Challenger fault, the Japanese automatic bathyscaphe "Kaiko" at a depth of 10,900 meters.

In 10 cubic centimeters of soil, a group of specialists led by Professor Hiroshi Kitazato from the Japanese Ocean Research and Development Organization discovered 449 previously unknown primitive unicellular round or elongated shapes 0.5 - 0.7 mm in size. After several years of research, they were divided into 13 species. All these organisms almost completely correspond to the so-called. “unknown biological fossils” that were discovered in Russia, Sweden and Austria in the 80s in soil layers from 540 million to a billion years old.

Based on genetic analysis, Japanese researchers claim that the unicellular organisms found at the bottom of the Mariana Trench have existed unchanged for more than 800 million, or even a billion years. Apparently, these are the most ancient of all the inhabitants of the Earth now known. According to Professor Kitazato, unicellular organisms from the Challenger Fault were forced to go to extreme depths in order to survive, since in the shallow layers of the ocean they could not compete with younger and more aggressive organisms.

The Mariana Trench is formed by the boundaries of two tectonic plates: the colossal Pacific plate goes under the not so large Philippine plate. This is an extremely high area. seismic activity, which is part of the so-called Pacific volcanic ring of fire, stretching for 40 thousand km, the area with the most frequent eruptions and earthquakes in the world. The deepest point of the trough is the Challenger Deep, named after the English ship.

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

Can they live on such great depth living organisms, and how they should look, given that they are pressed by huge masses ocean waters whose pressure exceeds 1100 atmospheres? The difficulties associated with the study and comprehension of the creatures that live at these unimaginable depths are enough, but human ingenuity knows no bounds. For a long time, oceanologists considered the hypothesis that at depths of more than 6000 m in impenetrable darkness, under monstrous pressure and at temperatures close to zero, life could exist to be insane. However, the results of research by scientists in the Pacific Ocean have shown that even at these depths, far below the 6000-meter mark, there are huge colonies of living organisms pogonophora ((pogonophora; from the Greek pogon - beard and phoros - bearing), a type of marine invertebrate animals that live in long chitinous tubes open at both ends). AT recent times the veil of secrecy was opened by manned and automatic, made of heavy-duty materials, underwater vehicles equipped with video cameras. As a result, a rich animal community was discovered, consisting 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 the protozoan subclass of rhizopods with a cytoplasmic body dressed in a shell) and xenophyophores (barophilic bacteria from protozoa);

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

Not at depth 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?

The food sources of deep animals are bacteria, as well as the rain of "corpses" and organic detritus coming from above; deep animals or blind, or with very developed eyes, often telescopic; many fish and cephalopods with photofluors; in other forms, the surface of the body or parts of it glow. Therefore, the appearance of these animals is as terrible and incredible as the conditions in which they live. Among them are terrifying-looking worms 1.5 meters long, without a mouth and anus, unprecedented octopuses, unusual sea stars and some soft-bodied creatures of two meters in length, which have not yet been identified at all.

From time to time, the ocean throws ashore huge half-decomposed bodies of unknown marine life, reaching a length of 70 meters or more. Nowadays, highly sensitive sensors and sonars have repeatedly recorded the movement of massive bodies of unknown animals at great depths. But so far, no one has ever managed to see these legendary sea monsters with their own eyes.

But if they do exist, then the “fourth pole” is the most appropriate address for their habitat. According to some ichthyologists, due to the presence of active hydrothermal springs at the bottom of the Mariana Trench, entire colonies of prehistoric marine animals that have survived to this day can exist.

In 1918, lobster fishermen from the city of Port Stephens (Australia) saw an amazing transparent white fish 35 meters long in the sea. It was clear that this fish had surfaced from great depths and that its "home" was hidden somewhere out there, in the ocean depths. Many researchers believe that the Mariana Trench hides in its unexplored depths the last surviving representatives of the giant prehistoric shark species Carcharodon megalodon. This monstrous predator lived in the earth's seas 2-2.5 million years ago. Based on the few surviving remains, scientists have recreated the appearance of the megalodon. It was a very impressive creature about 24 meters long, weighing 100 tons, and the width of its mouth, studded with 10-centimeter teeth, reached 1.8-2.0 m - the megalodon could easily swallow a car.

Clickable 10,000 px

Recently, while exploring the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, oceanographers found perfectly preserved megalodon teeth. One of the finds was 24 thousand years old, and the other was even younger - 11 thousand years! So, not all megalodons died out 2 million years ago?

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

On March 26, 2012, 50 years after the first dive, a man again sank to the bottom of the deepest trench on Earth: the Deepsea Challenge bathyscaphe with Canadian director James Cameron sank to the bottom of the Mariana Trench. Cameron became the third person to reach the deepest point in the ocean and the first to do it alone.

This is the Deepsea Challenge Deep Sea Bathyscaphe, on which James Cameron sank to the bottom of the ocean. It was developed in an Australian laboratory, weighs 11 tons and has a length of more than 7 meters:

The dive began on March 26 at 05:15 am local time. James Cameron's last words were: "Lower, lower, lower."

When diving to the bottom of the ocean, the bathyscaphe turns over and falls vertically down:

The compartment in which Cameron was during the dive is a metal sphere with a diameter of 109 cm with thick walls that can withstand pressures of more than 1,000 atmospheres:

James Cameron spent more than 3 hours at the bottom of the Mariana Trench, during which he took photos and videos underwater world. The result of this underwater journey will be a joint national geographic movie. The photo shows manipulators with cameras:

However, the underwater expedition was not entirely successful. Due to malfunction metal "hands", controlled by hydraulics, James Cameron was unable to take samples from the ocean floor that scientists need to study geology:

Many were tormented by the question of animals that live at such a monstrous depth. “Probably everyone would like to hear that I saw some sea monster, but he was not there ... There was nothing alive, more than 2-2.5 cm.

A few hours after the dive, the Deepsea Challenge bathyscaphe with the 57-year-old director successfully returned from the bottom of the Mariana Trench.

Let's watch the video of this dive:

This project still exists:

Let's look at the inhabitants of the Mariana Trench:

The pressure at the bottom of the depression is 1100 times greater than normal atmospheric pressure, but living creatures have been found there too. Moreover, earlier scientists could not imagine that even at a shallower depth of 6000 m, life is generally possible. But it is there, though the appearance of the animals that are found there is very unusual compared to the more "civilized" upper animals.

Inhabitants of depths above 10 km. these are long worms (up to 1.5 meters), amphipods, isopods, holothurians, bivalves and gastropods. Most of them have photophores used for hunting and communication. The source of food for these animals will be the "rain" of carrion and the simplest microorganisms. When a man was immersed to the bottom of the depression, the crew of the bathyscaphe Trieste I noticed several flat fish, similar to flounder, about 30 cm in size.

If these are really ordinary fish, then the presence of oxygen in the water is necessary for their vital activity. Because at such a depth, the process of photosynthesis is impossible due to the fact that light does not penetrate there and there are no plants, then scientists assume the presence of vertical currents in the Mariana Trench that bring oxygen from above.

Hunters for the inexplicable claim that underwater sensors and sonars have repeatedly recorded the movements of large objects in the Mariana Trench. According to them, some species of large prehistoric animals could continue to exist at such depths. However, 4 dives to the bottom of the trench failed to detect any "monsters" and at the moment 20 species of inhabitants of the trench have been described, among which 13 species of unicellular organisms taken from the soil by a Japanese swimming apparatus.

The original article is on the website InfoGlaz.rf Link to the article from which this copy is made -

The Mariana Trench is a rift 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 mysteries and mysteries of the deep place in the world attract many scientists.

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.

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There are many amazing places in this world that are still not explored by man. 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 has the most great importance among all studied areas seabed. The Mariana Trench is another name for the place.

Under the thickness sea water the pressure is a thousand times higher than the pressure that is fixed in the normal sea expanse. But high-tech devices and caring risky people helped to learn at least a little about the deep cleft. Pacific Ocean- a real reserve, which is not only inhabited by exotic unique animals, but also there are remarkable topographical 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 located and what it is. You can learn a lot about the object of the ocean surface.

The heroine of our article is called by the name of the islands, which 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 - a wide platform 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.

The history of the study of the phenomenon

1872 is considered the date of discovery of the Mariana Trench, photos of the object appear a little later. The tectonic fault was explored as well as possible by the British on a military corvette in 1951. The depth of the Mariana Trench becomes known - 10863 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 join the study. Since 1957, the scientific vessel "Vityaz" begins to surf the ocean and discovers that the depth of the Mariana Trench is even greater than previously stated - 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 decommissioned into a museum value. Experiments continue to this day. Five years ago, the “bottom of the world” was visited by the automatic device Nereus, which descended 11 km below ocean level, took new photos and videos.

Diving to the "bottom of the Earth" is at least five hours. The ascent is somewhat faster. It is impossible to stay at the very bottom for more than 12 minutes, taking into account the technology that was at the disposal of the then researchers. Cosmic sums have to be allocated for the study of such terrestrial objects, so the work is going 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 crescent-shaped crevice, its length is more than 2550 km, and its width reaches almost 70 km.

The results of the study showed that the depth in the Mariana Trench 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 column will remain above the top. It's about only about the height, the width of the depression and the mountain do not match.

Curious facts and stories

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

Population. Ignoring the unsuitable conditions for life, the inhabitants of the "bottom of the world" got along well. Huge xenophyophore amoebas live there - up to 10 cm. These are the simplest, but they mutated due to hot water and pressure. Amoeba are able to survive in an environment filled with dangerous chemical elements.

The inhabitants of the Mariana Trench also became mollusks, although the form from the cover should have simply cracked under great pressure. But hot springs contain serpentine rich in hydrogen and methane. It is these substances that allow mollusks to survive. They managed to adapt even 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 area underwater that contains liquid CO2. It forms specific bubbles, similar to those in a glass of sparkling wine. Scientists have suggested that around this key could at one time appear primary form life. This is due to the presence of all the necessary substances.

The depression is slippery. There is no sand or anything like that. At the very bottom there is a thickness of small shells and dead plankton accumulated over thousands of years. The pressure makes this mass look like slime.

Sulfur in liquid state of aggregation. The Mariana Trench, which is not so easy to take a photo of, is rich in various geoformations. At a depth of more than 400 meters, on the way to it, there is a whole volcano. Near Daikoku is located big lake, filled with liquid sulfur, which is nowhere else on Earth to be found. The substance boils at a temperature of 187⁰С, and under it, it is believed, there 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 in the Mariana Trench stone bridges. Four structures stretched between the abyss for almost 70 km. They are located between two tectonic plates - the Pacific and the Philippine. One of them was discovered even earlier, in the 80s of the XX century. It is very high, over 2.5 km.

The first person at this depth. Since the beginning of its discovery in 1875, only three people have plucked up the courage to dive into the Mariana Trench. The first was an American, Lieutenant Don Walsh, and with him the scientist Jacques Piccard in 1960. The dive was made on board the Challenger. In 2012, film director James Cameron visited the Mariana Trench on a bathyscaphe, and took a photo of it as a keepsake. The man had a painful impression of complete loneliness from this place

The riddle of sawn cables. Incredible depths terrifies. And the early explorers were afraid unknown monsters inside the Mariana Trench. The first fact of a collision with the unknown happened at the time of the Glomar Challenger dive. The registrar began to record a metallic sound, like a screech, and shadows that appeared around the ship. The teachings became concerned about the expensive equipment made of titanium in the shape of a hedgehog, and a decision was made to take the research vessel onto the ship. The “Hedgehog” was damaged after extraction, the titanium 20-centimeter cables were crumpled, or rather, half sawn. There was a complete impression that someone wanted to stop the ship at a depth.

Prehistoric lizard. There was a hitch during the dive of the Highfish ship with scientists on board. The device reached a depth of 7 km and stopped. The researchers turned on the infrared camera. She suddenly snatched out of the ocean darkness a huge dinosaur that was biting into the bathyscaphe. With the help of an electric gun, he was driven away.

The inhabitants of the Mariana Trench are protected by law. This is a national American monument, rightfully the largest nature reserve in the world. There are several restrictions on staying in this area. Mining is prohibited here, you can not fish, but you can swim.

The Mayan Trench is inhabited by:

1. Terrible and not so fish

2. Various octopuses

3. And other strange creatures

We are close to the fact that the Mariana Trench will soon become closer to modern man. Perhaps in the near future there will even be tourism. But for now, this option remains on a par with the possibility of affordable space tourism. It is amazing how similar an earthly object is to distant stars in this respect. It is as unexplored as celestial bodies. But we at least know for sure that life exists in the Mariana Trench. According to a common hypothesis, it could have come from there. In this case, the study of the deepest place of the World Ocean acquires global significance.

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