The depth of the Mariana Trench is 11022. The Mariana Trench - what is it, where is it located, who lives in its waters? Are there Mariana Caves

Schengen

In honor of which it, in fact, got its name. The basin is a crescent-shaped ravine on the ocean floor with a length of 2,550 km. with an average width of 69 km. According to the latest measurements (2014), the maximum depth of the Mariana Trench is 10 984 m. This point is located at the southern end of the trough and is called the Challenger Deep. Challenger Deep).

The trench was formed at the junction of two lithospheric tectonic plates - the Pacific and the Philippine. The Pacific Plate is older and heavier. For millions of years, she "creeped" under the younger Philippine plate.

Opening

Discovered the Mariana Trench for the first time scientific expedition sailing ship" Challenger". This corvette, which was originally a warship, was converted into a scientific vessel in 1872 specifically for the Royal Society of London for the Advancement of Natural Knowledge. The ship was equipped with biochemical laboratories, means for measuring depth, water temperature and soil sampling. In the same year, in December, the ship set off for scientific research and spent three and a half years at sea, covering a journey of 70,000 nautical miles. At the end of the expedition, which was recognized as one of the most scientifically successful since the famous geographical and scientific discoveries of the 16th century, over 4,000 new animal species were described, almost 500 underwater objects were deep-seated and soil samples were taken from various parts of the oceans.

Against the backdrop of important scientific discoveries made by the Challenger, the discovery of an underwater trough, the depth of which strikes the imagination of even contemporaries, not to mention scientists of the 19th century, stood out in particular. True, initial depth measurements showed that its depth was just over 8,000 m, but even this value was enough to talk about the discovery of the deepest of known to man points on the planet.

The new depression was called the Mariana Trench - in honor of the nearby Mariana Islands, which in turn are named after Marianne of Austria, Queen of Spain, wife of King Philip IV of Spain.

Exploration of the Mariana Trench continued only in 1951. English survey vessel Challenger II explored the trench with an echo sounder and found that its maximum depth is much greater than previously thought, and is 10,899 m. This point was given the name "Challenger Abyss" in honor of the first expedition of 1872-1876.

Abyss Challenger

Abyss Challenger is a relatively small flat plain in the south of the Mariana Trench. Its length is 11 km and its width is about 1.6 km. Along its edges are gentle slopes.

Its exact depth, which is called a meter per meter, is still unknown. This is due to the errors of the echo sounders and sonars themselves, the changing depth of the oceans, as well as the uncertainty that the very bottom of the abyss remains motionless. In 2009, the US vessel Kilo Moana (eng. RV Kilo Moana) determined a depth of 10,971 m with an error probability of 22-55 m. the value is fixed in reference books and is currently considered the closest to the real one.

diving

Only four scientific apparatuses have visited the bottom of the Mariana Trench, and only two expeditions were people.

Project "Nekton"

The first descent into the Abyss of the Challenger took place in 1960 on a manned submersible " Trieste", named after the eponymous Italian city where it was created. It was flown by an American lieutenant in the US Navy Don Walsh and Swiss oceanographer Jacques Piccard. The apparatus was designed by Jacques' father, Auguste Piccard, who already had experience in creating bathyscaphes.

Trieste made its first dive in 1953 in the Mediterranean Sea, where it reached a record depth of 3,150 m at the time. In total, the bathyscaphe made several dives between 1953 and 1957. and the experience of its operation has shown that it can dive to more serious depths.

Trieste was purchased by the US Navy in 1958 when the United States became interested in seabed exploration in the Pacific, where some island states passed de facto under its jurisdiction, as the victorious countries in the Second World War.

After some improvements, in particular, even more compaction of the outer part of the hull, Trieste began to prepare for diving into the Mariana Trench. Jacques Piccard remained the pilot of the bathyscaphe, since he had the most great experience management of Trier in particular and bathyscaphes in general. His companion was Don Walsh, then a US Navy lieutenant who served on a submarine and later became a well-known scientist and marine specialist.

The project of the first dive to the bottom of the Mariana Trench received a code name Project "Nekton", although this name did not catch on among the people.

The dive began on the morning of January 23, 1960 at 8:23 local time. To a depth of 8 km. the apparatus descended at a speed of 0.9 m/s, and then slowed down to 0.3 m/s. The researchers saw the bottom only at 13:06. Thus, the time of the first dive was almost 5 hours. At the very bottom of the bathyscaphe was only 20 minutes. During this time, the researchers measured the density and temperature of the water (it was + 3.3ºС), measured the radioactive background, observed an unknown fish, similar to flounder, and a shrimp suddenly found themselves at the bottom. Also, based on the measured pressure, the immersion depth was calculated, which amounted to 11,521 m, which was later corrected to 10,916 m.

Being at the bottom of the Abyss of the Challenger, they explored and managed to refresh themselves with a chocolate bar.

After that, the bathyscaphe was freed from the ballast and the ascent began, which took less time - 3.5 hours.

Submersible "Kaiko"

Kaiko (Kaikō) is the second of four vehicles that reached the bottom of the Mariana Trench. But he went there twice. This uninhabited remote-controlled underwater vehicle was created by the Japan Agency for Marine Science and Technology (JAMSTEC) and was intended to study the deep seabed. The device was equipped with three video cameras, as well as two manipulator arms controlled remotely from the surface.

He made over 250 dives and made a huge contribution to science, but he made his most famous trip in 1995, diving to a depth of 10,911 m in the Challenger Abyss. It took place on March 24 and samples of extremophile benthic organisms were brought to the surface - this is the name of animals that can survive in the most extreme environmental conditions.

Kaiko returned to the Challenger Abyss again a year later, in February 1996, and took samples of soil and microorganisms from the bottom of the Mariana Trench.

Unfortunately, Kaiko was lost in 2003 after a break in the cable connecting it to the carrier vessel.

Deep-sea vehicle "Nereus"

Unmanned remote-controlled deep-sea vehicle " Nereus" (eng. Nereus) closes the top three vehicles that reached the bottom of the Mariana Trench. His dive took place in May 2009. Nereus reached a depth of 10,902 m. He was sent to the site of the very first expedition to the bottom of the Challenger Abyss. At the bottom, he spent 10 hours, broadcasting video to the carrier ship in live from their cameras, after which he collected water and soil samples and successfully returned to the surface.

The device was lost in 2014 during a dive into the Kermadec trench at a depth of 9,900 m.

Deepsea Challenger

The last dive to the bottom of the Mariana Trench to date was made by the famous Canadian director James Cameron, inscribed not only in the history of cinema, but also in the history of great research. It happened on March 26, 2012 on a single-seat bathyscaphe Deepsea Challenger built by Australian engineer Ron Alloon in collaboration with National Geographic and Rolex. The main objective of this dive was to collect documentary evidence of life at such extreme depths. From the soil samples taken, 68 new animal species were discovered. The director himself said that the only animal he saw at the bottom was an amphipod, an amphipod that looked like a small shrimp about 3 cm long. The footage formed the basis documentary film, telling about his immersion in the Abyss of the Challenger.

James Cameron became the third person on Earth to visit the bottom of the Mariana Trench. He set a diving speed record - his bathyscaphe reached a depth of 11 km. in less than two hours. He also became the first person to reach this depth in a solo dive. At the bottom, he spent 6 hours, which is also a record. Bathyscaphe Trieste was at the bottom of only 20 minutes.

Animal world

The first expedition of Trieste with great surprise told that there is life at the bottom of the Mariana Trench. Although it was previously believed that the existence of life in such conditions is simply not possible. According to Jacques Piccard, they saw at the bottom a fish resembling an ordinary flounder, about 30 cm long, as well as amphipod shrimp. Many marine biologists are skeptical that the Trier crew actually saw a fish, but they do not so much question the words of the researchers as they are inclined to believe that they mistook a sea cucumber or other invertebrate for a fish.

During the second expedition, the Kaiko took soil samples and indeed found a lot of tiny organisms that can survive in absolute darkness at temperatures close to 0 ° C and under monstrous pressure. Not a single skeptic remained who questioned the existence of life everywhere in the ocean, even in the most incredible conditions. The truth remained not clear how such deep-sea life is developed. Or are the only representatives of the Mariana Trench - the simplest microorganisms, crustaceans and invertebrates?

In December 2014, a new species of sea slugs was discovered - a family of deep-sea marine fish. The cameras recorded them at a depth of 8,145 m, which at that time was an absolute record for fish.

In the same year, cameras recorded several more species of huge crustaceans, which differ from their shallow-water relatives in deep-sea gigantism, which is generally inherent in many deep-sea species.

In May 2017, scientists reported the discovery of another new species of sea slugs, which were found at a depth of 8,178 m.

All deep-sea inhabitants of the Mariana Trench are almost blind, slow and unpretentious animals that can survive in the most extreme conditions. Popular stories that the Challenger Abyss is inhabited by marine, megalodon and other huge animals are nothing more than fiction. The Mariana Trench is fraught with many secrets and mysteries, and new species of animals are no less interesting to scientists than relic animals known since the Paleozoic. Being at such a depth for millions of years, evolution has made them completely different from shallow-water species.

Current research and future diving

The Mariana Trench continues to attract the attention of scientists around the world, despite the high cost of research and their poor practical application. Ichthyologists are interested in new types of animals and their adaptive abilities. Geologists are interested in this region from the point of view of the processes taking place in the lithospheric plates and the formation of underwater mountain ranges. Simple researchers dream of just visiting the bottom of the deepest trench on our planet.

Several expeditions to the Mariana Trench are currently planned:

1. American company Triton Submarines designs and manufactures private submersibles. most new model A Triton 36000/3 with a crew of 3 is scheduled to be sent to the Challenger Abyss soon. Its characteristics allow reaching a depth of 11 km. in just 2 hours.

2. Company Virgin Oceanic(Virgin Oceanic), which specializes in private shallow diving, is developing a single-seat submersible that can take a passenger to the bottom of the chute in 2.5 hours.

3. American company DOER marine working on a project deep search"- one or two-seater bathyscaphe.

4. In 2017, the famous Russian traveler Fedor Konyukhov announced that he plans to reach the bottom of the Mariana Trench.

1. Established in 2009 Maritime National Monument of the Mariana Islands. It does not include the islands themselves, but covers only their marine territory, with an area of more than 245 thousand km². Almost the entire Mariana Trench was included in the monument, although its deepest point, the Challenger Abyss, did not fall into it.

2. At the bottom of the Mariana Trench, the water column exerts a pressure of 1,086 bar. This is a thousand times more than standard atmospheric pressure.

3. Water compresses very poorly and at the bottom of the gutter its density increases by only 5%. This means that 100 liters of ordinary water at a depth of 11 km. will occupy a volume of 95 liters.

4. Although the Mariana Trench is considered the deepest point on the planet, it is not the most close point to the center of the earth. Our planet is not a perfect spherical shape, and its radius is about 25 km. less at the poles than at the equator. Therefore, the deepest point at the bottom of the Arctic Ocean is 13 km. closer to the center of the Earth than in the Challenger Abyss.

5. The Mariana Trench (and other deep-sea trenches) have been proposed to be used as nuclear waste cemeteries. It is assumed that the movement of the plates will "push" the waste under the tectonic plate deep into the Earth. The proposal is not devoid of logic, but the dumping of nuclear waste is prohibited by international law. In addition, the zones of joints of lithospheric plates give rise to earthquakes of enormous force, the consequences of which are unpredictable for buried waste.

Mariana Trench - the most deep 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 in the depths of the Mariana Trench the most high mountain our planet - Everest, and above it there will still be more than a kilometer of water 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 maximum depth depression equal to 11,022 meters, but also established the existence of life at depths of more than 7000 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 in Mariana Depths different octopuses live

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

The Mariana Trench is considered the most mysterious and mysterious place our planet. Located in the Pacific Ocean, this deep-sea trench is unsuccessfully "attacked" by scientists from around the world, but detailed information there is still no exact map of the depression and its inhabitants.

Where is the Mariana Trench

In the southwestern environs Pacific Ocean, the Mariana Islands group is located. Some of them were formed due to volcanic processes in the bowels of our earth, the second part is the eastern edge of the Philippine lithospheric plate, which, colliding with the more massive Pacific, partially rose above the water. It is in this place that the Mariana Trench is located.

Initially, no one knew about the depth of the gutter, and, as was the case in the Middle Ages, less developed communal formations became colonies of the countries of Western Europe:

1521 - Spanish expedition landed on the islands. Due to conflict with local tribes, geographical discovery for a long time it was called the Ladron Islands (translated from Spanish - land of thieves);
1668 - property of the Spanish crown received a new name - Mariana Islands(in honor of Queen Marianne of Austria).

After the Spanish-American War, part of the skeletons are passed by the United States. In 1875, the British ship Challenger, whose crew included scientists from America and England, set a record trough depth of more than 8,000 meters by means of a hydrographic lot. It was decided to name the depression Mariana.

Bottom of the Mariana Trench

The Mariana Trench has a V-shape, and the width of the base (bottom) of the trench does not exceed 3-5 km. Such a discrepancy in the data, and this applies not only to the width, but also to the depth of the depression itself, which is associated with extreme pressure - at the extreme point it reaches 108 MPa, which gives the echo sounder measurements a certain error:

1875 - British corvette "Defying" sets a depth of 8.3 km;
1951 - another expedition of the British, supplements the information with new data - 10.86 km;
1957 - Soviet research expedition updates previously obtained results: length - 11.03 km, bottom width - 3.57 km;
1995 - length 10.92 km, width of the base - 4.12 km.

The most recent studies of the bottom of the Mariana Trench were made by oceanographers from the University of New Hampshire in 2016:

Width- 4.41 km;
Square- 403701 square meters;
Shelf- rocky, found 4 mountain range height from 1.8 to 2.51 km;
Flora and fauna- plants, oilfish, jellyfish and fish.

With the help of a submersible launched from the research ship Okeanos Explorer, the whole world learned about previously unknown organisms whose habitat exceeds a depth of 6000 meters.

Life in the bottomless darkness

For an accurate picture of the distribution of pressure, let's walk along the vertical of the Mariana Trench from the surface of the ocean to the very bottom, and learn about its inhabitants:

100 - 120 meters: pressure exceeds 10 atmospheres. Depth is extreme point blue whale dives;
1000 meters: maximum daylight penetration point. Here you can find:
- sperm whale;
- Luminous octopus;
- Predator from the chordate family.
4000 meters: the abyssal zone is characterized by low water temperature (about 2-3 C˚), and is a habitat for:
- Deep sea octopus;
- Known for the animated film "Finding Nemo" terrible (monkfish).
5000 - 11000 meters: despite the complete darkness and high pressure, even at the bottom of the depression, scientists recorded previously unknown, giant amoebas and.

Animal world that inhabits the Mariana Trench is truly unique. For example, some species of fish accumulate a luminous liquid, and in case of danger they “spit” it on a predator, thus blinding their offender for a while.

Mariana lizards: true or fake?

An incident in the Marianas Abyss in 2003 introduced the world to a real-life rival to the Loch Ness monster known as "Nessie":

2001 - German expedition, using the deep-sea apparatus "Heyfish", explored the water area of the trench at a depth exceeding 7500 meters. Hearing sharp sounds, the crew turned on the infrared camera and became dumb for a few seconds - everyone saw a huge prehistoric lizard;
2003 - American scientists lowered an unmanned vehicle into the water. Powerful spotlights and a video system made it possible to capture huge monsters with a body length of 14-16 meters. After the bathyscaphe was taken aboard the ship, the researchers noticed interesting fact- the steel cable on which the apparatus was held was worn or bitten off by more than half.

Three years later, the journalists of the New York Times newspaper conducted an investigation, which nevertheless cast doubt on the authenticity of the pictures.

Mariana Trench: 5 interesting facts

Do you know that:

The bottom of the trough is covered with ("black smokers"), which, under pressure, release liquid carbon dioxide into the ocean. This allows you to keep the water temperature within 2-4 C˚;
Most fish that live at depths of 4000 meters and below are devoid of organs of vision or see very poorly;
Only three people in the world were present at the bottom of the Mariana Trench: the American Don Walsh (1954), the Frenchman Jacques Picard (1960) and the famous Hollywood film director James Cameron (2012);
The bottom of the gutter is covered with thick viscous silt, the layer reaches 1 km, according to scientists;
The hollow is national natural monument, protected by the United States.

Everyone probably heard about the Mother's Hollow, which is also called the "bottom of the Earth", from the school curriculum. deep groove, the depth of which, according to various sources, varies from 10950 to 11037 meters, is nothing more than a tectonic fault formed at the westernmost point of the Pacific Ocean. Despite the high pressure, which in some places exceeds 100 MPa, there is life in the dark abyss, the diversity of which we will most likely learn in the very near future.

Video: Incredible Mysteries of the Deep Sea Trench

In this video, Fedor Miroshnikov will talk about the mysteries of the Mariana Trench, which is known to science at the moment:

The Mariana Trench is not a vertical abyss. It is a crescent-shaped trough that stretches 2,500 km east of the Philippines and west of Guam, USA. The deepest point of the basin, the Challenger Deep, is located at a distance of 11 km from the surface of the Pacific Ocean. Everest, if it were at the bottom of the depression, 2.1 km would not be enough to sea level.

Map of the Mariana Trench

The Mariana Trench (as the trench is also commonly called) is part of a global network of troughs that cross the seabed and were formed as a result of ancient geological events. They arise when two tectonic plates collide, when one layer sinks under the other and goes into the Earth's mantle.

The underwater trench was discovered by the British research ship Challenger during the first global oceanographic expedition. In 1875, scientists tried to measure the depth with a diplot - a rope with a load tied to it and meter markings. The rope was only enough for 4,475 fathoms (8,367 m). Almost a hundred years later, the Challenger II returned to the Mariana Trench with an echo sounder and set the current depth to 10,994 m.

The bottom of the Mariana Trench is hidden in eternal darkness - the sun's rays do not penetrate to such a depth. The temperature is only a few degrees above zero - and close to the freezing point. The pressure in the abyss of the Challenger is 108.6 MPa, which is about 1,072 times the normal atmospheric pressure at the level of the World Ocean. This is five times the pressure that is created when a bullet hits a bulletproof object and is approximately equal to the pressure inside a reactor for the synthesis of polyethylene. But people have found a way to get to the bottom.

man in the deep

The first people to visit the Challenger abyss were the US military Jacques Piccard and Don Walsh. In 1960, on the Trieste bathyscaphe, they descended 10,918 m in five hours. At this point, the researchers spent 20 minutes and saw almost nothing because of the silt clouds raised by the apparatus. Except for the fish from the flounder species, which was hit by a searchlight beam. The presence of life under such high pressure was the main discovery of the mission.

Before Piccard and Walsh, scientists believed that in Mariana Trench fish cannot live. The pressure in it is so great that calcium can only exist in liquid form. This means that the bones of vertebrates must literally dissolve. No bones, no fish. But nature has shown scientists that they are wrong: living organisms are able to adapt even to such unbearable conditions.

A lot of living organisms in the abyss of the Challenger were discovered by the Deepsea Challenger bathyscaphe, on which director James Cameron alone descended to the bottom of the Mariana Trench in 2012. In soil samples taken by the apparatus, scientists found 200 species of invertebrates, and at the bottom of the depression - strange translucent shrimps and crabs.

At a depth of 8 thousand meters, the bathyscaphe discovered the deepest-sea fish - a new representative of the species of lipar or sea slugs. The head of the fish resembles that of a dog, and its body is very thin and elastic - while moving, it resembles a translucent napkin that is carried by the current.

A few hundred meters below live giant ten-centimeter amoeba called xenophyophores. These organisms show amazing resistance to several elements and chemicals such as mercury, uranium and lead that would kill other animals or humans in minutes.

Scientists believe that there are many more species at depth waiting to be discovered. In addition, it is still not clear how such microorganisms - extremophiles - can survive in such extreme conditions.

The answer to this question will lead to a breakthrough in biomedicine and biotechnology and will help to understand how life began on Earth. For example, researchers from the University of Hawaii believe that thermal mud volcanoes near the basin could provide conditions for the survival of the first organisms on the planet.

Volcanoes at the bottom of the Mariana Trench

What's the break?

The depression owes its depth to the fault of two tectonic plates - the Pacific layer goes under the Philippine, forming a deep trench. The regions in which such geological events have occurred are called the subduction zone.

The thickness of each plate is almost 100 km, and the depth of the fault is at least 700 km from the lowest point of the Challenger Deep. “This is an iceberg. The man wasn't even at the top - 11 was nothing compared to the 700 lurking in the depths. The Mariana Trench is the boundary between the limits of human knowledge and a reality that is inaccessible to man,” says geophysicist Robert Stern from the University of Texas.

Plates at the bottom of the Mariana Trench Photo: NOAA

Scientists suggest that through the subduction zone into the Earth's mantle, water in large volumes - the rocks at the boundaries of the faults act like sponges, absorbing water and transporting it to the bowels of the planet. As a result, the substance is at a depth of 20 to 100 km below the seabed.

Geologists from the University of Washington have found that over the past million years, more than 79 million tons of water have entered the bowels of the earth through the junction - this is 4.3 times more than previous estimates.

The main question is what happens to the water in the bowels. Volcanoes are thought to complete the water cycle by returning water to the atmosphere as water vapor during eruptions. This theory was supported by previous measurements of the volume of water penetrating into the mantle. Volcanoes ejected into the atmosphere approximately equal to the absorbed volume.

A new study refutes this theory - calculations suggest that the Earth absorbs more water than it returns. And this is really strange - provided that the level of the World Ocean over the past few hundred years has not only not decreased, but also increased by several centimeters.

A possible solution is to abandon the theory of equal capacity of all subduction zones on Earth. It is likely that the conditions in the Mariana Trench are more extreme than in other parts of the planet, and more water enters the bowels through a rift in the Challenger Deep.

“Does the amount of water depend on the structural features of the subduction zone, for example, on the angle of the bend of the plates? We assume that similar faults exist in Alaska and Latin America, but so far man has not been able to find a deeper structure than the Mariana Trench, ”added Doug Vines, lead author of the study.

Water hiding in the bowels of the Earth is not the only mystery of the Mariana Trench. The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) calls the region an amusement park for geologists.

This is the only place on the planet where carbon dioxide exists in liquid form. It is ejected by several underwater volcanoes located outside the Okinawa Trough near Taiwan.

At a depth of 414 m in the Mariana Trench is the Daikoku volcano, which is a lake of pure sulfur in liquid form, which constantly boils at a temperature of 187 ° C. Geothermal springs are located 6 km below, throwing water at a temperature of 450 ° C. But this water does not boil - the process is hindered by the pressure exerted by a 6.5-kilometer water column.

The ocean floor has been less explored by man today than the moon. Probably, scientists will be able to detect faults deeper than the Mariana Trench, or at least explore its structure and features.

In our article, we want to talk about the mysterious Mariana Trench. This is the deepest point on the surface of the Earth. By and large, this is where our knowledge of this place ends. But the Mariana Trench, the monsters that live in it, are eternal and assumptions. Her secrets are as deep as she is.

The first mystery of the Mariana Trench

One of the mysteries of the depression is its depth. Until recently, it was believed that the Mariana Trench, as it is more correct to call this place from a scientific point of view, has a depth of more than eleven kilometers. However, the latest modern technical measurements give a value of 10994 kilometers. Although, it is worth noting that this value is also very relative, since diving to the bottom of the Mariana Trench is a technically very complex event, which is influenced by many factors. Scientists talk about a possible error of forty meters.

Where is the Mariana Trench located?

The Mariana Trench is located in the western Pacific Ocean, off the coast of Guam and Micronesia. Its deepest point is called the Challenger Abyss and is located 340 kilometers from

Answering the question where the Mariana Trench is located, you can give its exact geographical coordinates- 11°21′ s. sh. 142°12′ E e. This place got its name due to the fact that nearby are located part of a state such as Guam.

What is the Mariana Trench?

What is the Mariana Trench? The ocean carefully hides its true size. One can only guess about them. It's not just a "very deep hole". The gutter itself stretched along the seabed for one and a half thousand kilometers. The cavity has a V-shape, that is, it is much wider from above, and the walls narrow down.

The bottom of the Mariana Trench is characterized by a flat relief, and the width varies from 1 to 5 kilometers. Its upper part is eighty kilometers wide.

This place is one of the most inaccessible on our earth.

Do you need to explore the cavity?

It seems that life at such depths is simply impossible. Therefore, it makes no sense to study such an abyss. However, the secrets of the Mariana Trench have always interested and attracted researchers. It's hard to believe, but in our time space is easier to explore than such depths. Many people have been outside the Earth, and only three brave men have sunk to the bottom of the trough.

Gutter study

The British were the first to explore the Mariana Trench. In 1872, the Challenger ship with scientists entered the waters of the Pacific Ocean to study the trench. It was found that this point is the deepest on the globe. Since then, people have been haunted by the secrets and creatures of the Mariana Trench.

Time passed, research was carried out, a new depth value was established - 10863 meters.

Research is carried out by lowering deep-sea vehicles. Most often these are unmanned automatic vehicles. And in 1960, Jacques Picard and Don Walsh descended to the very bottom on the Trieste bathyscaphe. In 2012, he braved Jace Cameron on the Deepsea Challenger.

Russian researchers also studied the Mariana Trench. In 1957, the ship "Vityaz" headed for the gutter area. Researchers not only measured the depth of the trench (11022 meters), but also found the presence of life at a depth of more than seven kilometers. This event made a revolution in the world of science in the mid-twentieth century. At that time, it was believed that there could be no living creatures at such depths. This is where all the fun begins. How many stories and legends exist about this place - just do not count. So what exactly is the Mariana Trench? Do monsters really live here or are they just fairy tales? Let's try to figure it out.

Mariana Trench: monsters, riddles, secrets

As we mentioned earlier, the first brave daredevils to descend to the bottom of the depression were Jacques Picard and Don Walsh. They descended on a heavy bathyscaphe called Trieste. The thickness of the walls of the structure was thirteen centimeters. She was submerged to the bottom for five hours. Having reached the deepest point, the researchers managed to stay there for only twelve minutes. Then immediately began the ascent of the bathyscaphe, which took three hours. No matter how surprising this may seem, living organisms were found at the bottom. The fish of the Mariana Trench are flat creatures, similar to a flounder, no more than thirty centimeters long.

In 1995, the Japanese descended into the abyss. And in 2009, a miracle device called Nereus descended to the deepest point. He not only took a number of photos, but also took soil samples.

In 1996, the New York Times published the materials of the next dive of the apparatus from the research vessel Challenger. It turns out that when the equipment was lowered, after a while, the instruments recorded the strongest metal rattle. This fact was the reason for the immediate rise of equipment to the surface. What the researchers saw stunned them. The steel structure was badly dented, and the thick, strong cable looked like it had been sawn down. Here is such an unexpected surprise presented by the Mariana Trench. Whether the monsters so crushed the technique or representatives of the alien mind, or mutated octopuses ... A variety of proposals were made, each of which was more incredible than the previous one. However, no one ever found the true reason, since there was no evidence for any of the theories. All assumptions were at the level of fantastic guesses. But the secrets of the Mariana Trench have not yet been revealed.

Another mysterious story

Another incredibly mysterious case occurred with a team of German researchers who lowered their apparatus called the Highfish to the bottom. At some point, the device stopped diving, and the cameras mounted on it gave an image of the huge size of the lizard, which was actively trying to chew on an unknown thing. The team drove the monster away from the device using an electrical discharge. The creature was frightened and swam away and did not appear again. It is unfortunate that such events were not recorded by the apparatus, so that there would be irrefutable evidence.

After this incident, the Mariana Trench began to grow with new facts, legends and conjectures. The crews of the ships now and then reported about a huge monster in these waters, which is towing ships at great speed. It became difficult to make out what is true and what is speculation. The Mariana Trench, whose monsters haunted many people, is still the most mysterious point on the planet.

Hard Facts

Along with the most incredible legends about the Mariana Trench, there are quite specific, but incredible facts. There is no doubt about them, since they are confirmed by evidence.

In 1948, lobster fishermen (Australian) reported a large transparent fish that was at least thirty meters long. They saw her at sea. Based on their description, it looks like a very ancient shark (species Carcharodon megalodon) that lived several million years ago. Scientists from the remains managed to restore the appearance of a shark. The monstrous creature was 25 meters long and weighed one hundred tons. Her mouth was two meters in size, and each tooth was at least ten centimeters. Just imagine this monster. It was the teeth of such a creature that were discovered by oceanologists at the bottom of the vast Pacific Ocean. The youngest of them is at least eleven thousand years old.

This unique find suggests that not all such creatures died out a couple of million years ago. Perhaps at the very bottom of the hollow, these incredible predators are hiding from human eyes. Exploration of the mysterious depths continues to this day, because the abyss is fraught with many secrets, to the disclosure of which people have not yet come close.

At the bottom of the depression, living organisms experience tremendous pressure. It would seem that in such conditions, nothing living can exist. However, this opinion is erroneous. Mollusks calmly live here, their shells do not suffer from pressure at all. They are not even affected by hydrothermal vents that emit methane and hydrogen. Unbelievable, but true!

Another mystery is a hydrothermal spring called "Champagne". Bubbles of carbon dioxide seethe in its waters. This is the only such object in the world and it is located precisely in the depression, which gave scientists reason to talk about the possible origin of life in water in this very place.

The Daikoku volcano is located in the Mariana Trench. In its crater there is a lake of molten sulfur, which boils at a huge temperature of 187 degrees. You won't find anything like this anywhere else on earth. The only analogue of such a phenomenon is in space (on the moon of Jupiter called Io).

Amazing place

Giant single-celled amoeba live in the Mariana Trench, the size of which reaches ten centimeters. They live next to uranium, lead, and mercury that are harmful to living beings. However, they not only do not die from them, but also feel great.

The Mariana Trench is the biggest miracle on earth. It combines everything inanimate and living. Everything that kills life under normal conditions, at the bottom of the depression, on the contrary, gives strength to the survival of living organisms. Isn't it a miracle? How much still unknown is fraught with this place!