The name of the deepest trench in the world's oceans. Depth of the Mariana Trench. Inhabitants of the Mariana Trench

In those places, rays of sunlight will never penetrate to get there, researchers, risking their lives, put a lot of effort and effort, mysterious creatures live there that look more like alien aliens than ocean inhabitants - all these are deep-sea trenches (troughs) World Ocean.

Geographic feature (value)

Ocean trenches are deep cracks on the ocean floor, the length of which reaches at least five thousand meters. They play an important role in shaping climatic conditions and climate in general.

The basins of the World Ocean act as the main absorbers of the most abundant carbon gas - CO2, which is the main component in the biochemical processes of the globe. Depressions are traps for organic matter, which is intensively processed by bacteria. Much more bacterial organisms are concentrated in the depressions than on the oceanic plains (up to 6000 meters), which were previously considered the main utilizers of organic matter. In addition, such peculiar traps can act in a direction that is opposite to global warming, which helps to maintain the planet's ecological system in a balanced state.

Characteristics of sea and ocean trenches

The basins of the marginal seas, which develop in oceanic conditions, are also referred to as oceanic cracks and faults. Sea trenches are deep faults that are located at the bottom of the seas, complete darkness and high pressure reign there. The most famous are the sea depressions that stretch along the eastern shores of Eurasia.

Oceanic depressions are the most common relief elements of the intermediate sector between the ocean and the continental part of the mainland. These long narrow depressions of the ocean floor are located on the outer part of the oceanic ridges of the continental arcs.

Deep sea basins of the oceans

The deepest faults are concentrated in the Pacific region and reach up to 11 km. The deepest place on earth is the Mariana Trench with a recorded depth of 11,022 meters. The length of the trench is 1500 km, the slopes are steep, and the bottom is flat (width from 1 to 5 km).

The deepest in the Indian Ocean is the Java Trench, 7,730 meters deep, over 4,000 kilometers long, and 10 to 50 kilometers wide. It is located near the island of Bali. The bottom of the depression is indented with ledges and underwater canyons, there are active volcanoes, and earthquakes occur.

The longest in the world is the Peru-Chile Trench, its depth reaches 6000 km. This depression is the widest fault in the World Ocean and is recognized as one of the 7 wonders of the world (more than 90 km wide).

The Aleutian Trench stretches from Alaska to Kamchatka with a depth of 7,700 m. A depression was formed during the collision of two Pacific and North American plates.

Mariana Trench interesting facts

(The contour of Mount Chomolungma (Everest) on the scheme of the Marina depression)

If the highest mountain in the world, Chomolungma (Everest), was in the Mariana Trench, then it would be covered with another 2 km of water.

There are thermal springs at a depth of about one and a half kilometers from the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, so the water warms up to 450 C.

Recently, giant amoeba (up to 10 cm) were discovered at the bottom of the Mariana Trench, which has such dimensions due to the environment in which they live.

The Mariana Trench is the deepest place on our planet. I think almost everyone heard about it or studied it at school, but I myself, for example, have long forgotten both its depth and the facts about how it was measured and studied. So I decided to “refresh” my and your memory

This absolute depth got its name thanks to the nearby Mariana Islands. The entire depression stretched along the islands for one and a half thousand kilometers and has a characteristic V-shaped profile. In fact, this is an ordinary tectonic fault, the place where the Pacific plate comes under the Philippine, just Mariana Trench- this is the deepest place of this kind) Its slopes are steep, on average about 7-9 °, and the bottom is flat, from 1 to 5 kilometers wide, and divided by rapids into several closed sections. The pressure at the bottom of the Mariana Trench reaches 108.6 MPa - this is more than 1100 times more than normal atmospheric pressure!

The first who dared to challenge the abyss were the British - the military three-masted corvette "Challenger" with sailing equipment was rebuilt into an oceanographic vessel for hydrological, geological, chemical, biological and meteorological work in 1872. But the first data on the depth of the Mariana Trench were obtained only in 1951 - according to measurements, the depth of the trench was declared equal to 10,863 m. After that, the deepest point of the Mariana Trench was called the “Challenger Deep”. It is hard to imagine that the highest mountain of our planet, Everest, can easily fit in the depths of the Mariana Trench, and more than a kilometer of water will remain above it to the surface ... Of course, it will fit not in area, but only in height, but the numbers are still amazing ...

The next explorers of the Mariana Trench were already Soviet scientists - in 1957, during the 25th voyage of the Soviet research vessel Vityaz, they not only announced the maximum depth of the trench equal to 11,022 meters, but also established the presence of life at depths of more than 7,000 meters , thereby refuting the then prevailing idea that life was impossible at depths of more than 6000-7000 meters. In 1992, the Vityaz was handed over to the newly formed Museum of the World Ocean. For two years, the ship was being repaired at the plant, and on July 12, 1994, it was permanently moored at the museum pier in the very center of Kaliningrad

On January 23, 1960, the first and only human dive to the bottom of the Mariana Trench was carried out. Thus, the only people who have been “at the bottom of the Earth” were US Navy Lieutenant Don Walsh and researcher Jacques Picard.

During the dive, they were protected by armored, 127 millimeter thick, walls of a bathyscaphe called “Trieste”

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

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

Studies in 1995 showed that the depth of the Mariana Trench is about 10,920 m, and the Japanese probe "Kaik?", descended into the Challenger Deep on March 24, 1997, recorded a depth of 10,911.4 meters. Below is a diagram of the cavity - when clicked, it will open in a new window in normal size

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

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

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

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

Thanks to modern technology, the researchers managed to capture a few representatives Mariana Trench I invite you to get to know them :)

So, now we know that different octopuses live in the Marianas Depths

Scary and not so scary fish)

And various other obscure creatures :)

Perhaps not much time is left before the moment when technology will allow you to get to know the inhabitants in all their diversity. Mariana Trench and other ocean depths, but so far we have what we have

Of the 5 existing oceans in the world, only the Pacific can boast of its size and depth. Its area extends from the Arctic to the Southern Oceans and is 169.2 million km².

It owns almost half (46%) of the world's water area. If we take the entire globe as 100%, then the Pacific Ocean owns 30% of the entire surface on the planet.

What is the deepest ocean? All the same Quiet! And only thanks to the Mariana Trench, which was formed, according to scientists, as a result of the collision of two oceanic plates. The depth of the Mariana Trench is impressive - 11035 meters!

It is noteworthy that the deepest point of the ocean is further from sea level than the highest point on the planet - Mount Everest above it.

5 water deserts of the world

There is much more water on Earth than land. People have discovered continents and islands, but most of the globe is hidden under water.

The entire globe is covered by the waters of five oceans: the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Arctic and Southern. The single water element of the oceans changes its properties as latitude changes.

As you can see from the table, the Pacific Ocean is considered the largest and deepest by right. "Challenger Abyss" is the deepest point of the Mariana Trench, its depth is 11035 meters.

The oceanic trench is called the Mariana Trench because of the islands of the same name located around it.

And the smallest ocean is the Arctic Ocean, whose area is 11 times smaller than the Pacific. But it ranks second after the Pacific in terms of the number of islands on it, one of which, Greenland, is the largest in the world.

Great and varied

Previously, the deepest ocean in the world was called the "Great", since it owns 50% of the surface of the world's oceans. It is located north and south of the equator, and it is at the equator that its width is maximum. That's why it's the warmest.

The water area of ​​the Pacific Ocean affects almost all climatic zones, so different types of flora and fauna are represented here.

The ocean does not correspond to its name, it is far from quiet. But this is not surprising, they could at one time call Greenland a green country, and Iceland an icy one.

In different parts of it, different winds blow, called trade winds, monsoons, hurricanes constantly sweep over its surface, and storms rage very often in the temperate part of the ocean. Waves reach 30 meters high, and raging typhoons can raise huge pillars of water.

The temperature regime of the water surface varies greatly, in the north it can drop to -1˚С, and at the equator it can reach +29˚С.

In addition, more precipitation falls over the giant's surface than moisture evaporates, so the water in the ocean is less salty than usual.

Due to the fact that it is located in many climatic zones, the world of flora and fauna here is very rich and diverse.

The diversity of nature gives rise to the incredible fertility of water masses: in different places, researchers have found large schools of fish - from salmon to herring. Pacific flotillas are famous for the industrial catch of horse mackerel, mackerel, butterfish, flounder, pollock and other species.

The abundance of fish is an important condition for the life of seabirds. Therefore, penguins, pelicans, cormorants and seagulls will always find something to profit from. There are also famous whales here, which can be recognized from afar by the huge fountains of water on the sea surface. Lots of seals and sea beavers.

A wide variety of shellfish, crabs, squid, hedgehogs. The largest mollusk that lives only in the Pacific Ocean, tridacna, weighs about a quarter of a ton. A lot of sharks, huge tunas and sailboats live in it.

The ocean also boasts of its mountain range. It was created for millions of years by living organisms and has such a height, only under water, as the Ural Range. This is the largest natural complex on earth, called the Great Barrier Reef.

A variety of colors, different shades, in which coral colonies are painted, create a magical world for diving, ready to captivate anyone. These are bizarre castles, colorful floral arrangements, and mysterious mushrooms. The diversity of echinoderms, different breeds of crayfish, mollusks, and exotic fish is striking.

Fifty countries are located on the shores of the Pacific Ocean, the number of which is half the population of the Earth.

In everyday life, we get used to the fact that the earth is flat and even. Pits on the roads seem to be a personal insult, a depression of 10-20 meters is a serious foundation pit. But behind this routine, we sometimes forget that the relief of our planet is very heterogeneous. We have already talked about high points, and now it's time to look at the other side of this problem and find the deepest place on Earth.

Underwater depths

One of the creatures from the Mariana Trench. It's alive and quite happy

It may seem like a funny paradox, but some of the deepest points on Earth are located under water. It is in the ocean that numerous trenches are hidden - faults of lithospheric plates. Filled with water, they turned into amazing places, completely different from the world we are used to. Many kilometers of water creates incredible pressure, not a single, even the most nimble sunbeam can pass through this barrier. As a result, it is very dark and hard in there.

There are quite a few such points in the world, but the most impressive of them are known to everyone:

1. Mariana Trench. Its bottom is the deepest point of the Pacific Ocean and the ocean in general. Many times they tried to accurately determine its depth, and according to the latest data, it is 10994 meters. This value is difficult to comprehend, but for comparison, the height of Everest, the highest mountain, is just over 8800 meters. Thus, our planet is rather deep than high.
2. Trench Tongo. The second deepest and much less studied trench. Its deepest point is at 10882, only 100 meters less than the Mariana Trench. It turns out that the difference between the two deepest gutters is about 1%. Not so much. But if in depth he loses, then in another he is the first. For some reason, in this place the plates move an order of magnitude faster than in other places. The speed of movement is about 25 centimeters instead of the prescribed 2.
3. Philippine Trench. The third deepest point in the oceans. The maximum value is 10265 meters, which is clearly less than that of the Mariana Trench and the Tongo Trench.

It's funny that these trenches are quite well studied, unlike most of the seabed. People imagine what is happening on about 5% of its area, while the rest of the places elude our attention.

At the same time, the gutters hide many secrets. For example, earlier people did not even think that at such a pressure, without light and oxygen dissolved in water, someone could exist. But the expeditions nevertheless found quite cheerful, albeit strange creatures there. And this is just one of the many surprises that human nature has prepared.

wells

Despite the fact that the underwater faults and trenches created by nature itself stagger the imagination, the deepest place is still the work of man. And these are wells.

This is what KS-3 looks like from the outside. And under the cover - 12 kilometers of puncture

If a fault is an open open wound on the body of the planet, then a well is more likely a trace of a prick with the thinnest needle, but sometimes they can bring no less surprises and unexpected data. And the following wells boast the most impressive depth:

1. Kola superdeep well. Its total depth is 12263 meters. At the same time, the diameter of the outer part of the well is only about half a meter. The purpose of creating this well was to obtain new data on the structure of the earth's crust. And scientists got them in full. The study of this place brought them an incredible amount of new and unexpected information, which significantly influenced people's ideas about the structure of our planet.
2. OR-11. Another well created by Russian engineers. It refers to the Sakhalin-1 project, within the framework of which the field was explored. Its depth is 11345 meters, a very impressive achievement. A total of 10 wells were drilled under this project.
3. BD-04A. This well, located in Qatar, was created with one very specific goal - to explore the oil field. Exploration required certain efforts, first of all, the creation of one of the deepest wells - 10092 meters.

It turns out that the deepest place on the planet is still the fruit of human hands. And let this puncture be infinitely small, the achievement cannot but rejoice.