Life in the Mariana Trench. Who was the first to descend to the deepest point of the world. (Mariana Trench)
The Mariana Trench is the deepest place on our planet. I think almost everyone has 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 stretches 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 plate, just Mariana Trench- this is the deepest place of its kind) Its slopes are steep, on average about 7-9°, and the bottom is flat, 1 to 5 kilometers wide, and divided by rapids into several closed areas. 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 three-masted military corvette Challenger with sail equipment was rebuilt into an oceanographic vessel for hydrological, geological, chemical, biological and meteorological work back 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 began to be called the “Challenger Deep”. It’s hard to imagine that the highest mountain of our planet, Everest, could easily fit in the depths of the Mariana Trench, and above it there would still be more than a kilometer of water left to the surface... Of course, it would fit not in area, but solely in height, but the numbers are still amazing...
The next researchers of the Mariana Trench were already Soviet scientists - in 1957, during the 25th voyage of the Soviet research vessel Vityaz, they not only declared 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 prevailing idea at that time about the impossibility of life at depths of more than 6000-7000 meters. In 1992, “Vityaz” was transferred to the newly formed Museum of the World Ocean. The ship was repaired at the plant for two years, 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 took place. Thus, the only people who visited “the bottom of the Earth” were US Navy Lieutenant Don Walsh and explorer Jacques Piccard
During the dive, they were protected by the armored, 127-millimeter-thick walls of the bathyscaphe called “Trieste.”
The bathyscaphe was named after the Italian city of Trieste, where 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 later this figure was slightly adjusted - 10,918 meters
The dive took about five hours, and the ascent took about three hours; the researchers spent only 12 minutes at the bottom. But 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 !
Research in 1995 showed that the depth of the Mariana Trench is about 10,920 m, and the Japanese Kaik? probe, lowered into the Challenger Deep on March 24, 1997, recorded a depth of 10,911.4 meters. Below is a diagram of the depression - when clicked, it will open in a new window in normal size
The Mariana Trench has repeatedly frightened researchers with the 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 descent of the apparatus began, the device recording sounds began to transmit to the surface some kind of metallic grinding sound, reminiscent of the sound of sawing metal. At this time, some unclear 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 a NASA laboratory from beams of ultra-strong titanium-cobalt steel, having a spherical design, 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 extracted from the depths for more than eight hours, and as soon as it appeared on the surface, it was immediately placed on a special raft. The television camera and echo sounder were lifted onto 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-centimeter steel cable on which the “hedgehog” was lowered, the scientists were not mistaken in the nature of the sounds transmitted from the watery abyss - the cable was half sawn through. Who tried to leave the device at 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 happened with the German research vehicle Haifish with a crew on board. At a depth of 7 km, the device suddenly stopped moving. To find out the cause of the problem, 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 chew it like a nut. Having recovered 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 automatic underwater vehicle Nereus sank to the bottom of the Mariana Trench. According to measurements, it fell 10,902 meters below sea level
At the bottom, Nereus filmed a video, took some photographs, and even collected sediment samples at the bottom.
Thanks to modern technologies, researchers were able to capture few representatives Mariana Trench, I suggest you get to know them too :)
So, now we know that different octopuses live in the Mariana depths
Scary and not so scary fish)
And various other strange creatures :)
Perhaps there is not much time left until technology makes it possible to get acquainted with the inhabitants in all their diversity Mariana Trench and other ocean depths, but for now we have what we have
What every schoolchild knows from the subject of geography: the highest point on the planet is Mount Everest (8848 m), and the lowest is the Mariana Trench. The Trench is the deepest and most mysterious point on our planet - despite the fact that the oceans are closer than cosmic stars, humanity has only managed to explore 5 percent of the ocean depths.
The trench is located in the western Pacific Ocean and is a V-shaped depression that flows 1,500 km around the Mariana Islands - hence the name. The deepest point is the Challenger Deep, which received its name from the Challenger II echo sounder (Challenger), which managed to record 10,994 m below sea level. Measuring the bottom under conditions of pressure 1072 times higher than normal for a person is akin to suicide; in 1875, a corvette of an English expedition was first sent under the water column. The contribution of Soviet scientists is also invaluable - the Vityaz ship in 1957 obtained invaluable data: there is life in the Mariana Trench, despite the fact that even light does not penetrate to a depth of over 1000 m.
Ocean monsters
In 1960, US Navy Lieutenant Don Walsh and explorer Jacques Piccard descended into the dark abyss on the bathyscaphe Trieste, depth of the Mariana Trench. At a record 10,915 m, they found flathead fish that resembled flounder. There were some problems: the instruments recorded the shadows of creatures resembling mystical multi-headed dragons. Scientists heard the gnashing of teeth on metal - and the hull of the ship was 13 cm thick! As a result, it was decided to urgently raise the Trieste to the surface before tragedy occurred. On land they discovered that the thick cable was almost half broken - unknown creatures clearly did not tolerate strangers in their underwater kingdom... Details about this dangerous journey were published in the New York Times in 1996.
Later, researchers, using special equipment, confirmed that there really is life at the bottom of the depression - the latest developments in technology made it possible to take unique photographs of half-meter-long mutant octopuses, strange jellyfish and anglerfish. They feed mainly on each other - and sometimes on bacteria. Interestingly, crustaceans caught in the abyss have much more toxins in their puny bodies than the inhabitants of the coastal waters of the ocean. Scientists were most surprised by the mollusks - in theory, the monstrous pressure should have flattened their shells, but ocean inhabitants feel good in these conditions.
Champagne at the bottom of the ocean
Another mystery of the depression is the so-called “Champagne”, a hydrothermal source that releases countless bubbles of carbon dioxide into the waters. This is the world's only underwater source of a liquid chemical element. It was thanks to him that the first hypotheses about the emergence of life on Earth in water arose. By the way, the temperature in the Mariana Trench is not the coldest - from 1 to 4 degrees. It is provided by “black smokers” - the same thermal springs that release ore substances, which is why they acquire a dark color. They are very hot, but due to the high pressure, the water in the abyss does not boil, so the temperature is quite suitable for living organisms.
In 2012, famous film director James Cameron became the first person to reach the bottom of the Pacific Ocean alone. Traveling on the Dipsy Challenger spacecraft, he was able to take soil samples from the Challenger Deep and film it in 3D format. The resulting footage served science and became the basis for a documentary on the National Geographic Channel. Russia is not lagging behind - for an expedition to the bottom depths of the Mariana Trench Our famous traveler Fyodor Konyukhov is also preparing. Perhaps he will be able to shed light on the mysteries of the lowest point on the planet?
Pavilion “Around the World. Asia, Africa, Latin America, Australia and Oceania"
ETNOMIR, Kaluga region, Borovsky district, Petrovo village
The ethnographic park-museum “ETNOMIR” is an amazing place. The “city” street is built inside a spacious pavilion, so on Peace Street it is always warm, light and good weather - just right for an exciting walk, especially since within the framework of the latter you can make an entire trip around the world. Like any street popular with tourists, it has its own attractions, workshops, street artisans, cafes and shops located inside and outside the 19 houses.
The facades of the buildings are made in different ethnic styles. Each house is a “quote” from the life and traditions of a certain country. The very appearance of the houses begins the story of distant lands.
Step inside and you will be surrounded by new, unfamiliar objects, sounds and smells. The color scheme and decoration, furniture, interior and household items - all this helps to plunge into the atmosphere of distant countries, to understand and feel their uniqueness.
The earth's crust has deep faults under the waters of the World Ocean, which are usually called sea depressions or trenches. These places have not been thoroughly studied by science due to their incredible depth.
The top 10 included the deepest depressions in the world's oceans, known today.
Discovers the ten deepest depressions in the World Ocean. It runs along the southern coast of Alaska and stretches to the coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula. Length - 3400 km, maximum depth - 7679 m. It is the boundary between lithospheric plates. The North American Plate, creeping onto the Pacific Plate, forms the island arc of the Aleutian Islands along the trench. In the west, in the Komandor region, the depression passes into the Kuril-Kamchatka Trench, which has a southwestern direction.
One of the deepest in the eastern Indian Ocean. It extends 4-5 thousand km along the southern part of the Sunda island arc. The trench begins at the foot of the mainland slope of Myanmar in the form of a shallow trough with a bottom width of up to 50 km. Then, towards the island of Java, it gradually deepens and its bottom narrows to 10 km. The maximum depth reaches 7730 meters, making it the deepest trench in the Indian Ocean. The bottom of the trench southeast of Java is a series of depressions separated by rapids. The slopes are steep, asymmetrical, the island slope is higher and steeper than the ocean slope and is more dissected by canyons and complicated by steps and ledges. In the northern and central parts, the bottom up to 35 km wide is lined with a layer of terrigenous sediments with a large admixture of volcanic material, the thickness of which in the north reaches 3 km. In the Sunda Trench, the Australian Plate dives under the Sunda Plate, forming a subduction zone. It is seismically active and is part of the Pacific Ring of Fire.
A deep oceanic trench located on the border of the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. The formation of the trench is associated with a complex transition between a subduction zone from the south along the island arc of the Lesser Antilles and a transform fault zone (plate boundary) extending east between Cuba and Haiti through the Cayman Trench to the coast of Central America. Studies have confirmed the possibility of significant tsunamis as a result of earthquakes in this area. The island of Puerto Rico is located directly south of the depression. The length of the trench is 1754 km, width is about 97 km, the greatest depth is 8380 m, which is the maximum depth of the Atlantic Ocean. Measurements made in 1955 from the American ship Vima showed the depth of Puerto Rico to be 8385 meters.
or the Izu-Ogasawara Trench - one of the deepest in the Pacific Ocean, located along the eastern foot of the Nampo Islands ridge, stretching from the island of Honshu to the Bonin Islands. In the north it connects with the Japan Trench, in the south it is separated from the Volcano Trench by a high narrow ridge. The length of the trench is 1030 km. The narrow, sometimes flat bottom of the trench is divided by rapids into several closed depressions with depths of 7000-9000 m. The maximum depth - 9810 meters - was established in 1955 by a Soviet expedition on the ship "Vityaz".
One of the deepest trenches, connected to the Tonga Trench in the north. It is located at the eastern foot of the Kermadec Islands almost in a meridional direction. Length about 1200 km. Kermadec was discovered in 1889 by the expedition of the British ship Penguin. The maximum depth of 10,047 meters was measured in 1958 during the voyage of the Soviet research vessel Vityaz. The depression is named after Huon de Kermadec
A deep depression in the western Pacific Ocean east of Honshu, south of Hokkaido and north of the Bonin Islands. The length of the trench exceeds 1000 km. The transverse profile of the gutter is V-shaped. The maximum measured depth is 10504 m. The depression is the southern continuation of the Kuril-Kamchatka Trench. Three researchers on the Shinkai 6500 apparatus reached a depth of 6526 m on August 11, 1989. In October 2008, a Japanese-British expedition managed to photograph sea slugs, the deepest-sea fish, at a depth of 7700 m. The bottom and walls of the crack often become the epicenter of earthquakes.
It occupies fourth place in the top of the deepest depressions in the World Ocean. It is located off the eastern underwater slopes of the Kuril Islands and the southern part of the Kamchatka Peninsula. Length 2170 km, average width 59 km. The maximum depth is 10542 m. The boundaries of the depression approximately coincide with the 6000 m isobath. On the slopes there are numerous ledges, terraces, as well as valleys descending to the maximum depth. It was studied mainly in the 50s of the 20th century by Soviet expeditions on the ship “Vityaz”.
Opens the three deepest depressions in the World Ocean. Located east of the Philippine Islands. Its length is 1320 km, from the northern part of Luzon to the Molluc Islands. The deepest point is 10540 m. The Philippine Trench is the result of a collision of earth layers. The oceanic, 5 km wide, but with a characteristic specific gravity (basalt), the Philippine Sea Plate moves at a speed of 16 cm per year under the 60 km, with a lower specific gravity (granite), Eurasian Plate, and is melted by the Earth's mantle on depth from 50 to 100 km. This geophysical process is called subduction. The Philippine Trench is located in this zone.
It ranks second in the list of the deepest depressions in the World Ocean. Its total length is 860 km. It extends along the foot of the eastern slope of the underwater ridge of the same name from the Samoan Islands and the Kermadec Trench. The depth along the isobath is approximately 6000 m - about 80 km. The maximum depth is 10,882 m - the greatest depth of the World Ocean in the Southern Hemisphere.
The deepest depression in the World Ocean. The deepest point is the Challenger Deep, which is 10,994 meters below sea level. recent research conducted by an American oceanographic expedition from the University of New Hampshire (USA) discovered real mountains on the surface of the Mariana Trench bottom. The research took place from August to October 2010, when a bottom area of 400,000 square kilometers was studied in detail using a multibeam echo sounder. As a result, at least 4 oceanic mountain ridges 2.5 kilometers high were discovered, crossing the surface of the Mariana Trench at the point of contact between the Pacific and Philippine lithospheric plates.
What do we know about the deepest place in the World Ocean? This is the Mariana Trench or Mariana Trench.
What is its depth? This is not a simple question...
But definitely not 14 kilometers!
In cross-section, the Mariana Trench has a characteristic V-shaped profile with very steep slopes. The bottom is flat, several tens of kilometers wide, divided by ridges into several almost closed areas. The pressure at the bottom of the Mariana Trench is more than 1,100 times higher than normal atmospheric pressure, reaching 3,150 kg/cm2. Temperatures at the bottom of the Mariana Trench (Mariana Trench) are surprisingly high thanks to hydrothermal vents nicknamed “black smokers.” They constantly heat the water and maintain the overall temperature in the cavity at about 3°C.
The first attempt to measure the depth of the Mariana Trench (Mariana Trench) was made in 1875 by the crew of the English oceanographic vessel Challenger during a scientific expedition across the World Ocean. The British discovered the Mariana Trench quite by accident, during an on-duty sounding of the bottom using a lot (Italian hemp rope and lead weight). Despite the inaccuracy of such a measurement, the result was amazing: 8367 m. In 1877, a map was published in Germany on which this place was marked as the Challenger Deep.
A measurement made in 1899 from the American coal miner Nero showed a greater depth: 9636 m.
In 1951, the bottom of the depression was measured by the British hydrographic vessel Challenger, named after its predecessor, unofficially called Challenger II. Now, using an echo sounder, a depth of 10899 m was recorded.
The maximum depth indicator was obtained in 1957 by the Soviet research vessel “Vityaz”: 11,034 ± 50 m. It is strange that no one remembered the anniversary date of the generally epoch-making discovery of Russian oceanologists. However, they say that when taking readings, changing environmental conditions at different depths were not taken into account. This erroneous figure is still present on many physical-geographical maps published in the USSR and Russia.
In 1959, the American research vessel Stranger measured the depth of the trench in a rather unusual way for science - using depth charges. Result: 10915 m.
The last known measurements were made in 2010 by the American vessel Sumner; they showed a depth of 10994 ± 40 m.
It is not yet possible to obtain absolutely accurate readings even with the most modern equipment. The work of an echo sounder is hampered by the fact that the speed of sound in water depends on its properties, which manifest themselves differently depending on the depth.
This is what the most durable hulls of underwater vehicles look like after testing at extreme pressure. Photo: Sergey Ptichkin / RG
And now it is reported that Russia has developed an autonomous uninhabited underwater vehicle (AUV) capable of operating at a depth of 14 kilometers. From this it is concluded that our military oceanologists have discovered a depression in the World Ocean deeper than the Mariana Trench.
The message that the device was created and was tested at a pressure corresponding to a depth of 14,000 meters was made during an ordinary press trip of journalists to one of the leading scientific centers involved, among other things, in deep-sea vehicles. It’s even strange that no one paid attention to this sensation and has not yet voiced it. And the developers themselves did not particularly open up. Or maybe they are just playing it safe and want to get reinforced concrete evidence? And now we have every reason to expect a new scientific sensation.
It was decided to create an uninhabited deep-sea vehicle capable of withstanding pressure much higher than what exists in the Mariana Trench. The device is ready for use. If the depth is confirmed, it will become a super sensation. If not, the device will work to the maximum in the same Mariana Trench, studying it up and down. In addition, the developers claim that with not very complicated modifications, the AUV can be made habitable. And this will be comparable to manned flights into deep space.
The existence of the Mariana Trench has been known for quite some time, and there are technical capabilities to go down to the bottom, but over the past 60 years only three people have had the opportunity to do this: a scientist, a military man and a film director.
During the entire study of the Mariana Trench (Mariana Trench), vehicles with people on board were lowered to its bottom twice and automatic vehicles were dropped four times (as of April 2017). This, by the way, is less than the number of people who have been to the Moon.
On January 23, 1960, the bathyscaphe Trieste sank to the bottom of the Mariana Trench (Mariana Trench) abyss. On board were Swiss oceanographer Jacques Piccard (1922-2008) and US Navy lieutenant, explorer Don Walsh (born 1931). The bathyscaphe was designed by Jacques Piccard's father - physicist, inventor of the stratospheric balloon and bathyscaphe Auguste Piccard (1884-1962).
A black and white photograph from half a century ago shows the legendary bathyscaphe Trieste as it prepares to dive. The crew of two was in a spherical steel gondola. It was attached to a float filled with gasoline to provide positive buoyancy.
The descent of the Trieste lasted 4 hours 48 minutes, with the crew periodically interrupting it. At a depth of 9 km, the plexiglass glass cracked, but the descent continued until the Trieste sank to the bottom, where the crew saw a 30-centimeter flat fish and some kind of crustacean creature. After staying at a depth of 10912 m for about 20 minutes, the crew began the ascent, which took 3 hours 15 minutes.
Man made another attempt to descend to the bottom of the Mariana Trench (Mariana Trench) in 2012, when American film director James Cameron (born 1954) became the third to reach the bottom of the Challenger Deep. Previously, he repeatedly dived on Russian Mir submersibles into the Atlantic Ocean to a depth of over 4 km during the filming of the movie Titanic. Now, on the Dipsy Challenger bathyscaphe, he sank into the abyss in 2 hours 37 minutes—almost twice as fast as the Trieste—and spent 2 hours 36 minutes at a depth of 10,898 m. After which he rose to the surface in just an hour and a half. At the bottom, Cameron saw only creatures that looked like shrimp.
The fauna and flora of the Mariana Trench have been poorly studied.
In the 1950s Soviet scientists during the expedition of the Vityaz vessel discovered life at depths of more than 7 thousand m. Before this, it was believed that there was nothing living there. Pogonophorans were discovered - a new family of marine invertebrates that live in chitinous tubes. Disputes about their scientific classification are still going on.
The main inhabitants of the Mariana Trench (Mariana Trench), living at the very bottom, are barophilic (developing only at high pressure) bacteria, protozoan creatures - foraminifera - single-celled in shells and xenophyophores - amoebas, reaching 20 cm in diameter and living by shoveling silt.
Foraminifera were obtained by the Japanese automatic deep-sea probe "Kaiko" in 1995, which dived to 10,911.4 m and took soil samples.
The larger inhabitants of the trench live throughout its thickness. Life at depth made them either blind or with very developed eyes, often telescopic. Many have photophores - luminous organs, a kind of bait for prey: some have long processes, like an angler fish, while others have them right in the mouth. Some accumulate luminous liquid and, in case of danger, shower the enemy with it in the manner of a “light curtain”.
Since 2009, the territory of the depression has been part of the American protected area Mariana Trench Marine National Monument with an area of 246,608 km2. The zone includes only the underwater part of the trench and the water area. The basis for this action was the fact that the Northern Mariana Islands and the island of Guam - in fact American territory - are the island borders of the water area. The Challenger Deep is not included in this zone, as it is located on the ocean territory of the Federated States of Micronesia.
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For the first time, people sank to the bottom of the Mariana Trench (depth - 11.5 km), the deepest oceanic trench known on Earth, using the bathyscaphe Trieste on January 23, 1960. They were US Navy Lieutenant Don Walsh and engineer Jacques Piccard. Since then and until recently, man has not descended to this depth.
Hollywood director James Cameron in a submersibleDeepseaChallenger
52 years later, the director of “Avatar” and “Titanic” James Cameron repeated this path to the deepest point of the ocean, who on March 25 successfully dived to the bottom of the Mariana Trench and returned to the surface. On a special vertical bathyscaphe Deepsea Challenger, two hours after the start of the dive, he reached the bottom at 7:52 am local time. He stayed there for three hours, photographing and collecting samples, after which he successfully returned to the surface.
BathyscapheDeepseaChallenge with James Cameron dives into the depths of the Pacific Ocean
The first people who sank to the bottom of the Mariana Trench stayed there for only 20 minutes, doing a minimal amount of work and seeing almost nothing except the mud and silt that rose from the dive. The past decades have not been in vain. Mr. Cameron's bathyscaphe was properly equipped - this was to be expected from a man who shot one of the most impressive feature films in stereoscopic form and many documentaries about the underwater world.
Deepsea Challenger was equipped with an array of stereoscopic cameras, an LED light tower, a sampling bottle, a robotic arm and a special device capable of capturing small underwater organisms using suction. The deep-sea vehicle itself was created in Australia and has a length of 7 meters and a weight of 11 tons. The compartment in which James Cameron huddled is a sphere with an internal diameter of just over a meter and only allows for a sitting position.
ApparatusDeepseaChallenge sank to the bottom at a speed3-4 knots
The director said in an interview with the BBC before the dive that it was his dream: “I grew up reading science fiction at a time when people lived in a science-fiction reality. People went to the moon, Cousteau studied the ocean. This is the environment in which I grew up, this is what I have appreciated since childhood.”
James Cameron immediately after the dive greets ocean explorer US Navy Captain Don Walsh
James Cameron in the hatchDeepseaChallenge prepares to dive
Another shot of filmmaker and ocean explorer Don Walsh (far right), who was, along with Jacques Piccard, the first man to reach the bottom of the Mariana Trench 52 years ago
James Cameron's Journey in One Minute Animation
