AT earth's crust there are the deepest faults - sea depressions at the bottom of the oceans, where impenetrable darkness and the highest pressure reign. We offer a selection of the deepest sea trenches, which the lack of technology does not yet allow to study well.
1. Mariana Trench
The Mariana Trench is the deepest oceanic trench on our planet, which is located in the Pacific Ocean not far from the Mariana Islands that gave it its name. The depth of the trench is 10994 ± 40 m below sea level.
Paradoxically, the Mariana Trench is more or less explored - three people have already managed to descend here.
Don Walsh and Jacques Piccard The first time this happened on January 23, 1960, when the bathyscaphe, on board which were US Navy Lieutenant Don Walsh and researcher Jacques Picard, managed to sink to a depth of 10,918 m. Then there was no such technology as now, and two people were connected with the world only by a strong cable. After a successful return, the researchers said that they saw flat, flounder-like fish at the very bottom, but, unfortunately, there are no photographs.
Just a year ago to the bottom Mariana Trench director James Cameron descended. It was easier for him, even though he was alone: in 50 years, technology had gone far ahead. Moreover, his bathyscaphe "Deepsea Challenger" was equipped with everything necessary for photo and video shooting, and there were also 3D cameras on board. Based on the material received, the National Geographic channel is preparing a film.
And recently, information was received that there are real mountains at the bottom of the Mariana Trench: with the help of echolocation, it was possible to “see” four ridges 2.5 km high.
2. Tonga Trench
The Tonga Trench is the deepest trench in the Southern Hemisphere and the second deepest on Earth. The maximum known depth is 10,882 m. It is unusual primarily in that the speed of movement of lithospheric plates in the Tonga region is much greater than in all other parts of the planet where there are gaps in the earth's crust. Here, the plates move at a speed of 25.4 cm per year against the usual 2 cm. This was established by observing the tiny island of Nyautoputana, which annually shifts by an average of just 25 cm.
Somewhere in the middle of Tonga, the Apollo 13 lunar landing stage was stuck, falling there during the return of the lunar module to Earth. It is located approximately at a depth of 6,000 m, and no attempts have been made to extract it from there. Together with her in the water Pacific Ocean fell plutonium energy source containing plutonium-238. It seems that this did not cause much harm to the environment, although given that the half-life of plutonium-238 is slightly less than 88 years, and the module fell there in 1970, the pioneers who decided to go down to the bottom of Tonga can expect very interesting discoveries.
3 Philippine Trench
The Philippine Trench is also located in the Pacific Ocean near the Philippine Islands. Max Depth- 10,540 m. Little is known about the trench - only that it was formed as a result of subduction. No one tried to go down to its bottom, since the Mariana Trench, of course, is more interesting.
4. Kermadec chute
Kermadec connects to the north with the Tonga Trench. The maximum depth is 10,047 m. During an expedition in 2008, a strange pink creature of the species Notoliparis kermadecensis was photographed here at a depth of 7,560 m. Other inhabitants were also found there - huge crustaceans 34 cm in length.
5. Izu-Bonin Trench
The maximum depth of the Izu-Bonin Trench, also known as Izu-Ogasawara, is 9,810 m. It was discovered at the end of the 19th century during an expedition when it was decided to lay a telephone cable on the ocean floor. Of course, first it was necessary to make measurements, and in one place, not far from the Izu Islands, the lot of the Tuscarora did not reach the bottom, recording a depth of more than 8500 m.
In the north, Izu-Ogasawara connects with the Japan Trench, and in the south with the Volkano Trench. In this region of the ocean there is a whole chain of deep-sea depressions, and Izu-Bonin is just a part of it.
6. Kuril-Kamchatsky Trench
This depression was discovered shortly after Izu-Bonin during the same expedition. The maximum depth is 9,783 m. This trough is quite narrow compared to all the others, its width is only 59 m. The slopes of this trough are known to contain ledges, terraces, canyons and valleys that appear up to the maximum depth. The bottom of the Kuril-Kamchatka Trench is uneven, divided by rapids into separate depressions. To the best of our knowledge, detailed studies have not been carried out.
7 Puerto Rico Trench
The Puerto Rico Trench is located on the border of the Atlantic Ocean and caribbean. The maximum depth is 8,385 m, and this is the most deep place in Atlantic Ocean. The area where the trench is located is a zone of high seismic activity. The last disaster occurred here in 2004, when the eruptions of underwater volcanoes caused a tsunami that hit the countries indian ocean. Recent studies have shown that it is possible that the depth of the trough is gradually increasing due to the fact that the North American tectonic plate - the southern "wall" of the trough - is gradually lowering.
An active mud volcano was discovered at a depth of 7,900 m in the Puerto Rican Trench, which erupted rock 10 km high in 2004. A column of hot mud and water was clearly visible above the surface of the ocean.
8. Japanese chute
The Japanese Trench is also located in the Pacific Ocean, as the name suggests, is located near Japanese islands. The depth of the Japan Trench, according to the latest data, is about 8,400 m, and the length is more than 1,000 km.
So far, no one has yet reached its bottom, but in 1989, the Shinkai 6500 submersible with three researchers on board sank to a mark of 6,526 m. Later, in 2008, a group of Japanese and British researchers managed to photograph large groups of fish 30 cm long at a depth of 7,700 m.
Now anyone can watch the fantastic underwater world of the Mariana Trench, the deepest place on our planet, captured on video, or even enjoy a live video broadcast from an 11-kilometer depth. But until 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 the highest point on the earth's surface is the top of Mount Everest (8848 m), but the lowest point is hidden under the waters of the Pacific Ocean and is located at the bottom of the Mariana Trench (10994 m). We know quite 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 present any mystery to scientists, then the depths of the Mariana Trench hold many secrets, because getting to its bottom on this moment only three daredevils succeeded.
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 place unique in depth on the seabed has received the status of a national monument of the United States, it is forbidden to fish and extract minerals here, in fact it is a huge marine reserve. The shape of the depression is similar to a huge crescent, reaching 2550 km in length and 69 km in width. The bottom of the depression has a width of 1 to 5 km. The deepest point of the depression (10,994 m below sea level) was named the Challenger Abyss in honor of the British ship of the same name.
The honor of discovering 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 of the Mariana Islands, during the next measurement of the depth, a hitch arose: the kilometer-long rope went overboard, but it was not possible to reach the bottom. At the direction of the captain, a couple more kilometer sections were added to the rope, but, to everyone's surprise, 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, even an underestimated value was quite enough to understand: the deepest place was discovered 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 came out 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 Vityaz research vessel. 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 were no manifestations of life.
Dive into 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 the average atmospheric pressure. The dive to the bottom of the trench with the help of the Trieste bathyscaphe was made by US Navy Lieutenant Don Walsh and explorer Jacques Picard. Bathyscaphe "Trieste" with walls 13 cm thick was created in the same name. Italian city and was a fairly massive structure.
They lowered the bathyscaphe to the bottom for five long hours; despite such a long descent, the researchers stayed at the bottom at a depth of 10911 meters for only 20 minutes, it took them about 3 hours to rise. Within minutes of being in the abyss, Walsh and Picard were able to make a very impressive discovery: they saw two 30-centimeter flat fish that looked like a flounder that swam past their porthole. Their presence at such a depth has become a real scientific sensation!
In addition to discovering the existence of life at such a breathtaking depth, Jacques Picard managed to experimentally refute the then prevailing opinion that at depths of more than 6000 m there is no upward movement of water masses. In terms of ecology, this was a major discovery, because some nuclear powers were going to carry out the burial of radioactive waste in the Mariana Trench. It turns out that Picard prevented a large-scale radioactive contamination of the Pacific Ocean!
After the dive 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 probe Nereus reached the bottom of the Mariana Trench. He not only conducted underwater photo and video shooting at an incredible depth, 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, a man again appeared at the bottom of the Mariana Trench, it was the famous director, creator of the legendary film "Titanic" James Cameron.
Your decision to make dangerous journey to the “bottom of the Earth,” he explained as follows: “On the earth’s land, almost everything has been explored. In space, the bosses prefer to send people circling the Earth, and send machine guns 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’s next is unknown.”
Cameron made a dive on 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 interior of the device was only about 109 cm. The bathyscaphe, equipped with powerful cameras and unique equipment, allowed the popular director to shoot fantastic landscapes of deepest place on the planet. Later, together with The National Geographic, James Cameron created a breathtaking documentary film "Challenge to the Abyss".
It should be noted that during the stay at the bottom deepest depression world Cameron did not see any monsters, no representatives of the underwater civilization, no 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 mankind." True, the malfunctions that arose with the equipment of the bathyscaphe, perhaps, interrupted the "hypnotic" effect of the abyss on the famous director in time, and he rose to the surface to the people.
Inhabitants of the Mariana Trench
In recent years, many discoveries have been made in the study of the Mariana Trench. For example, in samples of the bottom soil taken by Cameron, scientists found more than 20 thousand of a wide variety of microorganisms. There are among the inhabitants of the depression and giant 10-centimeter amoeba, called xenophyophores. According to scientists, single-celled amoeba most likely reached such an incredible size due to the rather hostile environment at a depth of 10.6 km in which they are forced to live. High pressure, cold water and lack of light for some reason clearly benefited them, contributing to their gigantism.
Mollusks have also been found in the Mariana Trench. It is not clear how their shells withstand the enormous pressure of water, but they feel very comfortable at depth, and are located near hydrothermal springs that emit 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
look, it's impossible to live.
Many inhabitants of the Mariana Trench are rather unusual. For example, scientists have found here a fish with a transparent head, in the center of which are its eyes. Thus, in the course of evolution, the eyes of fish received reliable protection from possible injury. At a great depth there are many bizarre and sometimes even scary fish, here we managed to capture on video a fantastically beautiful jellyfish. Of course, we still do not 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 and for geologists. So, in a depression at a depth of 414 meters, the Daikoku 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 found the only underwater source of liquid carbon dioxide on earth, called "Champagne" in honor of the famous French
alcoholic drink. There are also so-called black smokers in the depression, these are hydrothermal springs that function at a depth of about 2 kilometers, thanks to which the water temperature in the Mariana Trench is maintained within fairly 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 of the trench to the other 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.
There is a place on Earth about which we know much less than about deep space - mysterious ocean floor. It is believed that world science has not really even begun to study it.
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.
Mariana Trench- the deepest trench on earth in the western Pacific Ocean. It stretches along the Mariana Islands for 2,500 km. The deepest point of the Mariana Trench is called "Challenger Abyss". According to the latest research in 2011, its depth is 10,994 meters (±40 m) below sea level. By the way, speaking highest peak world - Everest rises to a height of "only" 8,848 meters.
At the bottom of the Mariana Trench, the water pressure reaches 1,072 atmospheres, i.e. 1072 times more than normal atmospheric pressure. (Infographics ria.ru):
Half a century ago. Bathyscaphe "Trieste", designed by the Swiss scientist Auguste Picard, on which a record dive into the Mariana Trench was made in 1960:
On January 23, 1960, Jacques Picard and US Navy lieutenant Don Walsh made a dive 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:
Let's go back to our days. 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:
This is a real vertical torpedo that glides through a huge column of water at high speed:
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:
In the photo, to the left of the director, you can see a hatch covering the sphere:
HD video. Dive:
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 film with National Geographic. The photo shows manipulators with cameras:
At a depth of 11 kilometers:
3D camera:
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 the animals that live on such monstrous depth. “Probably everyone would like to hear that I saw some kind of sea monster, but it 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.
The rise of the bathyscaphe:
James Cameron - the first person in the world to make a solo dive into the abyss- to the bottom of Mariana. In the coming weeks, it will sink to a depth of 4 more times.
The Mariana Trench is the deepest place in the world's oceans. It is located between Japan and papua new guinea near the island of Guam. Its maximum depth is about 11 thousand meters (this place of the Mariana Trench is called the "Challenger Abyss").
The Mariana Trench has an elongated appearance, and in a vertical section it is a V-shaped canyon, tapering to the bottom. The bottom of the depression is flat, several kilometers wide.
Start of research
The first studies of the Mariana Trench began in the 19th century, when the crew of the Challenger sailboat managed to measure its depth using a deep-sea lot. According to the results of measurements, the depth of the depression was a little more than eight kilometers. A hundred years later, a research vessel of the same name made repeated measurements of the depth of the depression using an echo sounder. The maximum depth was almost eleven kilometers.
Diving with people
Only scientists in a special research apparatus can dive to the bottom of the Mariana Trench. The pressure at the bottom of the depression is huge - more than a hundred megapascals. This is enough to crush an ordinary bathyscaphe like an eggshell. In the entire history of mankind, only three researchers have managed to dive to the bottom of the Mariana Trench - US Army Lieutenant Don Walsh, scientist Jacques Picard and film director James Cameron.
The first attempt to dive to the bottom of the Mariana Trench was made by Jacques Picard and Don Walsh. On a specially designed bathyscaphe, they plunged to a depth of 10,918 meters. To the surprise of the researchers, at the bottom of the depression they saw fish, appearance reminiscent of flounder. How they manage to survive under such enormous pressure is still a mystery.
Third and currently the last man, who managed to sink to the bottom of the Mariana Trench, was directed by James Cameron. He did it alone, going down to the very deep point hollows in deep-sea vehicle Deepsea Challenger. This significant event took place in 2012. Cameron descended into the Challenger Deep, took soil samples and filmed the dive process on. Based on the footage filmed by James Cameron, the National Geographic Channel released a film.
Diving without participation of people
In addition to people, “unmanned” research vehicles also descended into the Mariana Trench. In 1995, the Japanese Kaiko probe studied the bottom of the Mariana Trench, and in 2009, the Nereus apparatus sank to the bottom of the Mariana Trench.
All of us in childhood read many legends about incredible sea monsters ah, inhabiting the ocean floor, always knowing that these are just fairy tales. But we were wrong! These incredible creatures can be found even today if you dive to the bottom of the Mariana Trench, the deepest place on Earth. What hides the Mariana Trench and who are its mysterious inhabitants - read in our article.
The deepest place on the planet is the Mariana Trench or Mariana Trench- is located in the western part of the Pacific Ocean near Guam, east of the Mariana Islands, from which its name came. In its shape, the trench resembles a crescent moon, about 2550 km long and 69 km wide on average.
According to the latest data, the depth Mariana Trench is 10,994 meters ± 40 meters, which even exceeds the most high point on the planet - Everest (8,848 meters). So this mountain could well be placed at the bottom of the depression, moreover, about 2,000 meters of water would still remain above the top of the mountain. The pressure at the bottom of the Mariana Trench reaches 108.6 MPa - more than 1,100 times the normal atmospheric pressure.
A man only twice sank to the bottom Mariana Trench. The first dive was made on January 23, 1960 by US Navy Lieutenant Don Walsh and explorer Jacques Picard in the Trieste submersible. They stayed at the bottom for only 12 minutes, but even during this time they managed to meet flat fish, although according to all possible assumptions, life at such a depth should have been absent.
The second human dive was made on March 26, 2012. The third person who touched the mysteries Mariana Trench, became a filmmaker James Cameron. He dived on the single-seat Deepsea Challenger and spent enough time there to take samples, take pictures and film in 3D. Later, the footage he shot formed the basis of a documentary for the National Geographic Channel.
Due to the strong pressure, the bottom of the depression is covered not with ordinary sand, but with viscous mucus. For many years, the remains of plankton and crushed shells accumulated there, which formed the bottom. And again, due to pressure, almost everything is at the bottom Mariana Trench turns into fine greyish-yellow thick mud.
Sunlight has never reached the bottom of the depression, and we expect the water there to be icy. But its temperature varies from 1 to 4 degrees Celsius. AT Mariana Trench at a depth of about 1.6 km are the so-called "black smokers", hydrothermal vents that shoot water up to 450 degrees Celsius.
Thanks to this water Mariana Trench life is sustained as it is rich in minerals. By the way, despite the fact that the temperature is much higher than the boiling point, water does not boil due to very strong pressure.
Approximately at a depth of 414 meters is the Daikoku volcano, which is the source of one of the rarest phenomena on the planet - a lake of pure molten sulfur. In the solar system, this phenomenon can only be found on Io, a moon of Jupiter. So, in this "cauldron" the seething black emulsion boils at 187 degrees Celsius. So far, scientists have not been able to study it in detail, but if in the future they can advance in their research, they may be able to explain how life appeared on Earth.
But the most interesting thing in Mariana Trench are its inhabitants. After it was determined that there was life in the basin, many expected to find incredible sea monsters there. For the first time, the expedition of the research vessel "Glomar Challenger" encountered something unidentified. They lowered into the cavity a device, the so-called "hedgehog" with a diameter of about 9 m, made in the NASA laboratory from beams of ultra-strong titanium-cobalt steel.
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 gnashing of saw teeth on metal. And vague shadows appeared on the monitors, resembling dragons with several heads and tails. Soon, scientists became worried that the valuable device could forever remain in the depths of the Mariana Trench and decided to take it to the ship. But when they took the hedgehog out of the water, their surprise only intensified: the strongest steel beams of the structure were deformed, and the 20-centimeter steel cable on which it was lowered into the water was half sawn.
However, perhaps this story was too embellished by the newspapermen, since later researchers discovered very unusual creatures there, but not dragons.
Xenophyophores - giant, 10-centimeter amoeba that live at the very bottom Mariana Trench. Most likely, due to strong pressure, lack of light and relatively low temperatures, these amoeba acquired huge sizes for their species. But in addition to their impressive size, these creatures are also resistant to many chemical elements and substances, including uranium, mercury and lead, which are deadly to other living organisms.
Pressure in M Arian Trench turns glass and wood into powder, so only creatures without bones or shells can live here. But in 2012, scientists discovered a mollusk. How he retained his shell is still not known. In addition, hydrothermal springs emit hydrogen sulfide, which is deadly to shellfish. However, they learned to bind the sulfur compound into a safe protein, which allowed the population of these mollusks to survive.
And that is not all. Below you can see some of the inhabitants Mariana Trench, which scientists have been able to capture.
Mariana Trench and its inhabitants
While our eyes are directed to the sky to the unsolved mysteries of space, our planet remains unsolved mystery- ocean. To date, only 5% of the world's oceans and secrets have been studied Mariana Trench this is only a small part of the secrets that are hidden under the water column.
