The deepest point on earth in the Mariana Trench. The amazing Mariana Trench is the deepest place on earth. Lizard from the Mariana Trench

Today we will talk about the deepest oceanic place on the planet - the Mariana Trench and its deepest point - the Challenger Deep.

“Mariana Trench (or Mariana Trench) is an oceanic deep-sea trench in the west Pacific Ocean, the deepest known on Earth. Named after the nearby Mariana Islands.

The most deep point Mariana Trench- Challenger Deep. It is located in the southwestern part of the depression, 340 km southwest of the island of Guam (point coordinates: 11°22′N 142°35′E (G) (O)). According to measurements in 2011, its depth is 10,994 ± 40 m below sea level.

The deepest point of the depression, called the Challenger Deep, is further from sea level than Mount Everest is above it.”

Even from school, many people know that the depth of the Mariana Trench is 11 km, and this is the most deep place on the planet. However, with a slight amendment, it is the deepest known. That is, theoretically there could be even more deep depressions... but they are still unknown. Even the most high mountain in the world - Everest - can easily fit into the trench and there will still be room left.

The Mariana Trench is rich in records and titles: and it became famous not only for its depth, but also for its mystery, scary inhabitants underwater depths, “monsters” guarding the earth’s bottom, secrets, the unknown, primordiality, darkness, etc. In general, Space Inside Out is the bottom of the Mariana Trench. There are versions that life began in the Mariana Trench.

MARIANA TRENCH. PuzzlesMarianadepressions:

In the video they show and tell that at such a great depth the pressure is higher than from powder gases when fired from a hunting rifle, about 1100 times more than Atmosphere pressure: 108.6 MPa (Mariana Trench - bottom) by 104 MPa (powder gases). Glass and wood turn into powder under such conditions.

Still, it is not clear then how there is life there and the ominous underwater monsters about which there are legends?

Gutter length along Mariana Islands 1.5 km.

“It has a V-shaped profile: steep (7-9°) slopes, a flat bottom 1-5 km wide, which is divided by rapids into several closed depressions.

The depression is located at the junction of two tectonic plates, in the zone of movement along faults, where the Pacific plate goes under the Philippine plate.”

The Mariana Trench was discovered in 1875:

“The first measurements (and discovery) of the Mariana Trench were taken in 1875 from the British three-masted corvette Challenger. Then, with the help of a deep-sea lot, the depth was established at 8367 meters (with repeated sounding - 8184 m).

In 1951, an English expedition on the research vessel Challenger recorded a maximum depth of 10,863 meters using an echo sounder.”

Back in 1951, this point was given the name Challenger Deep.

Later, during several expeditions, the depth of the Mariana Trench was established to be more than 11 km; the last measurement (late 2011) recorded a depth of 10,994 m (+/- 40 m):

“According to the results of measurements carried out in 1957 during the 25th voyage of the Soviet research vessel Vityaz (headed by Alexey Dmitrievich Dobrovolsky), the maximum depth of the trench is 11,023 m (updated data, initially the depth was reported as 11,034 m).

On January 23, 1960, Don Walsh and Jacques Piccard dived in the bathyscaphe Trieste. They recorded a depth of 10,916 m, which also became known as the "Trieste depth".

The unmanned Japanese submarine Kaiko collected soil samples from this location in March 1995 and recorded a depth of 10,911 m.

On May 31, 2009, the unmanned submarine Nereus took soil samples at this location. The collected mud mostly consists of foraminifera. This dive recorded a depth of 10,902 m.

More than two years later, on December 7, 2011, researchers at the University of New Hampshire published the results of an underwater robot dive that recorded a depth of 10,994 m (+/- 40 m) using sound waves.

And yet, despite many obstacles, difficulties, and dangers, three people in the entire history of the Mariana Trench managed to reach the bottom, naturally, while in special devices. On March 26, 2012, director James Cameron single-handedly reached the bottom of the Abyss on the Deepsea Challenger.

Channel One's story "James Cameron - diving to the bottom of the Mariana Trench":

And here is Jace Cameron's film "Challenge the Abyss 3D|Journey to the Bottom of the Mariana Trench":

The film was created in collaboration with National Geographic, created in a documentary format. Before some of his box-office creations (like Titanic), the director also sank to the bottom of the depths to the place of events, so before his “visit” of the Mariana Trench in 2012, many were waiting for either a grandiose masterpiece, or a video with monsters living in the darkness of the ocean .

The film is a documentary, but the main thing is that Cameron did not see giant octopuses, monsters, “leviathans”, multi-headed creatures there, although for the first time he spent more than three hours at the bottom of the Mariana Trench. There were small marine derivatives no more than 2.5 cm... but those same outlandish flat fish, huge creatures that bite the steel cable were not there... although he was not there for 12 minutes.

To questions about whether the director saw any terrible creature at the bottom of the depression, he answered: “Probably everyone would like to hear that I saw some kind of sea monster, but it wasn’t there... There was nothing living, more than 2- 2.5 cm".

Public reaction to Cameron's film The Abyss was mixed. Some people thought the film was boring and could not be compared with his works like “Titanic”, “Avatar”, someone said that the film was real and in its “boringness” it showed the way of interaction between one of the seven billion people on the planet and the deepest abyss.

From reviews of the film:

“Of course, the content of the film can hardly be called exciting. The viewer spends most of the time in endless tedious meetings and tests in the laboratory. But I believe that this difficult and long path from a dream to its implementation definitely had to be shown. It is he who most inspires us to work for our idea.”

I mentioned the film precisely because the path that led the director to the creation of the creation is the basis for the interaction of the secrets of nature and mortal man.

People are frightened and attracted by the unknown, rebellion, depth, danger, mortality, mystery, eternity, loneliness, independence of the depths, distances, heights of nature. And the title of the film - “Challenge to the Abyss...” - is naturally not without reason: at a certain stage of potential development, a person either wants to touch the unknown, or completely forget about its existence, to live in everyday life.

Cameron, having the opportunity and zeal, decided to take this leap into depth. This is the desire to rise to a level close to God, and pride, and to perpetuate this abyss in oneself and to perpetuate oneself in the abyss, understanding the frailty of matter and much more.

Many people look in and are interested, some out of curiosity, some out of nothing to do. But only a few will dare to come close.

Let us recall the famous saying of F. Nietzsche: “If you gaze into an abyss for a long time, the abyss will begin to peer into you,” or another translation: “For a person who gazes into an abyss for a long time, the abyss begins to live in his eyes,” or the full text of the quote: “Who fights with monsters, he should be careful not to become a monster himself. And if you look into the abyss for a long time, then the abyss also looks into you.” Here we are talking about the dark sides of the soul and the world; if you attract evil, evil will attract you, although there are many interpretation options.

But the very words “abyss” and “abyss” imply something dangerous, dark, akin to the source of dark forces. There are a lot of legends around the Mariana Trench, legends that are far from good, whoever came up with anything: monsters live there, and monsters of unknown etiology can swallow alive deep-sea research vehicles with or without people, gnaw through 20-centimeter cables, and creepy devilish creatures seem to in hell they scurry between the black waves of the deep, terrify extremely rare human guests, and in circles discussing the deepest trench, versions are expressed that people who knew how to breathe under water used to live here, and almost life originated here, etc. People want to see darkness in this abyss. And, in general, they see her...

Before the conquest Mariana Abyss Cameron did something similar in 1960:

“On January 23, 1960, Jacques Piccard and US Navy Lieutenant Don Walsh dived into the Mariana Trench to a depth of 10,920 meters on the bathyscaphe Trieste. The dive took about 5 hours, and the time spent at the bottom was 12 minutes. This 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.”

Whether the monsters were afraid of James Cameron, or they were not in the mood to pose for the camera that day, or whether there really was no one there, will remain a mystery, however, during previously completed underwater expeditions, including without the participation of people, various forms of life, fish, hitherto never seen, strange creatures, creatures similar to monsters, giant octopuses. But let's not forget that “monsters” are just unexplored creatures.

Several times, vehicles without people descended into the depths of the Mariana Trench (with people only twice), for example, 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.

Here are some photos of those whom the expedition cameras met at the depths of the Mariana Trench:

The photo shows the bottom of the Mariana Trench:

“The mystery of the Mariana Trench. Great mysteries of the ocean." Ren-TV program.

Still, it remains a big mystery what is there, at the bottom of the Mariana Trench... They scare us in absentia with monsters, but in reality no one, in particular Cameron, who spent 3 hours at the bottom of the trench, discovered strange objects there... silence... depth... eternity.

And the most important questions are “how can monsters live there if there is enormous pressure at the bottom, no light, no oxygen??” Answer from scientific experts:

“The inexplicable and incomprehensible have always attracted people, which is why scientists all over the world want to answer the question: “What does the Mariana Trench hide in its depths?”

Can living organisms live at such great depths, and what should they look like, given the fact that they are pressed by huge masses of ocean waters, the pressure of which exceeds 1100 atmospheres?

The challenges associated with exploring and understanding the creatures that live at these unimaginable depths are numerous, but human ingenuity knows no bounds. For a long time, oceanographers considered the hypothesis that life could exist at depths of more than 6,000 m in impenetrable darkness, under enormous pressure and at temperatures close to zero, to be crazy.

However, the results of research by scientists in the Pacific Ocean have shown that even in these depths, much below the 6000-meter mark, there are huge colonies of living organisms pogonophora ((pogonophora; from the Greek pogon - beard and phoros - bearing), a type of marine invertebrate animals living in long chitinous tubes open at both ends).

Recently, the veil of secrecy has been lifted by manned and automatic underwater vehicles made of heavy-duty materials, equipped with video cameras. The result was the discovery of a rich animal community consisting of both familiar and less familiar marine groups.

Thus, at depths of 6000 - 11000 km, the following were discovered:

- barophilic bacteria (developing only at high pressure);

- from protozoa - foraminifera (an order of protozoa of the subclass of rhizomes with a cytoplasmic body covered with a shell) and xenophyophores (barophilic bacteria from protozoa);

- from multicellular organisms - polychaete worms, isopods, amphipods, sea cucumbers, bivalves and gastropods.

At the depths there is no sunlight, no algae, constant salinity, low temperatures, an abundance of carbon dioxide, enormous hydrostatic pressure (increases by 1 atmosphere for every 10 meters).

What do the inhabitants of the abyss eat?

The food sources of deep animals are bacteria, as well as the rain of “corpses” and organic detritus coming from above; deep animals are either blind, or with very developed eyes, often telescopic; many fish and cephalopods with photofluoride; in other forms the surface of the body or parts of it glow.

Therefore, the appearance of these animals is as terrible and incredible as the conditions in which they live. Among them are frightening-looking worms 1.5 meters long, without a mouth or anus, mutant octopuses, unusual starfish and some soft-bodied creatures two meters long, which have not yet been identified at all.

Despite the fact that scientists have made a huge step in researching the Mariana Trench, the questions have not decreased, and new mysteries have appeared that have yet to be solved. And the ocean abyss knows how to keep its secrets. Will people be able to uncover them soon?”

The Mariana Trench, considering that it is the most famous deep point on the planet, has been studied too little; people have flown into space tens of times more, and we know more about space than about the bottom of the 11-kilometer trench. Probably everything is ahead...

Even as a child, I didn’t really like going deep into the sea. I always felt like someone or something would drag me down into the depths. But then I still didn’t understand that three meters from the shore can hardly be called depth. There are sea depths on our planet that are not even half explored yet. This is exactly the place I will tell you about.

Where is the Mariana Trench located?

The Mariana Trench is also called the Mariana Trench. This place is called the deepest on our planet. Expeditions have shown that the maximum depth of the Mariana Trench is about 11,000 metresditch. Just think about this number. As much as 11 km under water. The deepest point of this trench is called the Challenger Deep.


This underwater attraction is located in the western Pacific off the coast of Micronesia and Guam. Of course, anyone who wants to visit this place will not be able to. To visit, you will need an expedition prepared according to all the rules.


First time we heard about this place in 1875. Research at that time showed that the depth of this trench is about 8000 m. Man first went to this depth in 1960.

Mysteries of the Mariana Trench

This incredibly deep place on the planet is, one might say, practically unexplored. No more than 5% of its entire territory has been explored. And already during this time it was noted some amazing facts associated with the Mariana Trench:

  1. Availability of hot water at a depth of 1.6 km.
  2. They live in the depths huge amoebas.
  3. Shellfish live who have adapted to high blood pressure.
  4. At the bottom there are sources of liquid carbon dioxide.
  5. In 2011 there were 4 stone bridges were discovered.

The last person to dive into the Mariinsky Trench was James Cameron. I think many people know or have heard his name. It was he who directed the well-known film “Titanic”. The dive was completed in 2012. Probably, the Mariana Trench still holds many mysteries. Perhaps, after years, or maybe hundreds of years, humanity will be able to fully explore this depth.

The Mariana Trench is one of the most famous places on the planet. But this does not prevent him from being the keeper of secrets and mysteries. What is at the bottom of the Mariana Trench and which living creatures are able to withstand these incredible conditions?

Unique depth of the planet

The bottom of the Earth, the Challenger Deep, the deepest place on the planet... What titles have not been assigned to the little-studied Mariana Trench. It represents a V-shaped bowl with a diameter of about 5 km with steep slopes located at an angle of only 7-9° and a flat bottom. According to measurements in 2011, the depth of the trench is 10,994 km below sea level. It’s hard to imagine, but Everest, the tallest mountain on the planet, can easily fit in its depths.

The deep-sea trench is located in the western Pacific Ocean. The unique geographical point received its name in honor of the Mariana Islands located in close proximity. Along them it stretches for 1.5 km.

This amazing place on the planet formed as a result of a tectonic fault, where the Pacific plate partially overlaps the Philippine plate.

Secrets and riddles of “The Womb of Gaia”

There are many secrets and legends around the little-studied Mariana Trench. What is hiding in the depths of the trench?

Japanese scientists who have been studying goblin sharks for a long time claim that they saw predators while feeding gigantic size creature. It was a 25-meter shark that came to feed on goblin sharks. It is assumed that they had the good fortune to see a direct descendant of the megalodon shark, which official version went extinct 2 million years ago. To confirm that these monsters could well have been preserved in the depths of the trench, scientists provided giant teeth found at the bottom.

The world knows many stories about how corpses of unknown persons were found washed up on the shores of nearby islands. giant monsters.


An interesting case is described by the participants in the descent of the German bathyscaphe “Haifish”. At a depth of 7 km, the self-propelled vehicle suddenly stopped. To find out the reason for the stop, the researchers turned on the spotlights and were horrified by what they saw. In front of them was a prehistoric deep-sea lizard that was trying to chew through an underwater vessel. The monster was scared away only by a noticeable electrical impulse from the outer skin of the self-propelled vehicle.

Another inexplicable incident occurred during the dive of an American deep-sea vessel. As the device was lowered on titanium cables, the researchers heard the grinding sound of metal. To find out the reason, they brought the device back to the surface. As it turned out, the beams of the ship were bent, and the titanium cables were almost sawed through. Which of the inhabitants of the Mariana Trench tested their teeth remains a mystery.

Amazing inhabitants of the gutter

The pressure at the bottom of the Mariana Trench reaches 108.6 MPa. This parameter is more than 1100 times higher than normal atmospheric pressure. It is not surprising that people for a long time believed that there was no life at the bottom of the gutter, with icy cold and unbearable pressure.

But despite everything, at a depth of 11 kilometers there are deep-sea monsters that have managed to adapt to these terrible conditions. So who are these representatives of the animal world who have successfully mastered the deepest place on the planet and feel comfortable within the walls of the Mariana Trench?

sea ​​slug

These amazing creatures, living at a depth of 7-8 km, in appearance are more reminiscent not of the “surface” fish we are used to, but rather of tadpoles.

The body of these amazing fish is a jelly-like substance, the density of which is slightly higher than water. This feature of the device allows sea slugs to swim with minimal energy expenditure.


The body of these deep-sea inhabitants is predominantly dark in color from pink-brown to black. Although there are also colorless species, through the transparent skin of which the muscles are visible.

The size of an adult sea slug is only 25-30 cm. The head is pronounced and strongly flattened. A well-developed tail makes up more than half the body length. The fish uses its powerful tail and well-developed fins for movement.

Jellyfish traditionally live in the upper layers of water. But bentocodon feels comfortable at a depth of about 750 meters. Outwardly, the amazing inhabitant of the Mariana Trench resembles a red flying saucer, D 2-3 cm. The edges of the “plate” are framed by 1.5 thousand thin tentacles, which help the jellyfish navigate in space and move quickly, overcoming the water column.


Bentocodon feeds on unicellular and crustaceans, which in the depths of the sea exhibit bioluminescent properties. According to marine biologists, the red color was given by nature to these jellyfish for the purpose of camouflage. If they had a transparent color, like their amphibians, then when swallowing glow-in-the-dark crustaceans, they would immediately become noticeable to larger predators.

Macropina barrel eye

Among the amazing inhabitants of the Mariana Trench, an unusual fish called smallmouth macropine is of genuine interest. She was awarded by nature with a transparent head. The fish's eyes, located deep inside the transparent dome, can rotate in different directions. This allows the barrel eye to search in all directions without moving, even in dim and diffused light. Located at the front of the head, the false eyes are actually olfactory organs.


The laterally compressed body of the fish is shaped like a torpedo. Thanks to this structure, it is able to “hang” in one place for several hours. To accelerate the body, the macropin simply presses its fins to the body and begins to actively work with its tail.

This cute animal, living at a depth of 7 thousand meters, is the deepest-sea octopus known to science. Due to its wide bell-shaped head and sweeping elephant ears, it is often called the Dumbo octopus.


The deep-sea creature has a soft semi-gelatinous body and two fins located on the mantle, connected by wide membranes. The octopus carries out hovering movements above the bottom surface due to the operation of a siphon funnel.

Hovering along the seabed, it looks out for prey - bivalves, worm-like animals and crustaceans. Unlike most cephalopods, Dumbo does not peck its prey with beak-like jaws, but swallows it whole.

Small fish with bulging telescopic eyes and huge open mouths live at a depth of 200-600 meters. They got their name from their characteristic body shape, which resembles a chopping tool equipped with a short handle.


Hatchetfish living in the depths of the Mariana Trench have photophores. Special luminescent organs are located in the lower half of the body in small groups along the abdomen. By emitting diffused light, they create an anti-shadow effect. This makes hatchets less noticeable to bottom-dwelling predators.

Osedax Bone Eaters

Among those who live at the bottom of the Mariana Trench are polychaete worms. They reach a length of only 5-7 cm. Osedaxes use substances contained in the bones of dead sea inhabitants as food.

Secreting an acidic substance, they penetrate the skeleton, extracting from it all the microelements necessary for life. Tiny bone eaters breathe through fluffy appendages on their bodies that can extract oxygen from water.


The way these creatures adapt is no less interesting. Males, which are tens of times smaller in size than females, live on the bodies of their females. Up to a hundred males can coexist simultaneously inside the dense gelatinous cone framing the body. They leave their shelter only at moments when the female breadwinner finds a new source of food.

Active bacteria

During the latest expedition, Danish scientists discovered depressions and colonies of active bacteria at the bottom, which are of great importance in maintaining the ocean carbon cycle.

It is noteworthy that at a depth of 11 km, bacteria are 2 times more active than their counterparts, but living at a depth of 6 km. Scientists explain this by the need to process colossal volumes of organic material that fall here, falling from shallower depths, and as a result of earthquakes.

Underwater monsters

The huge thickness of the ocean in the Mariana Trench is filled not only with cute and harmless creatures. The most indelible impression left by deep monsters.

Unlike the above-mentioned inhabitants of the Mariana Trench, the eaglorot has a very menacing appearance. Its long body is covered with slippery, scaleless skin, and its terrible muzzle is “decorated” with huge teeth. The monster lives at a depth of 1800 m.

Since the sun's rays practically do not penetrate into the depths of the trench, many of its inhabitants have the ability to glow in the dark. Eggworm is no exception.


On the body of the fish there are photophores - luminescent glands. The deep-sea inhabitant uses them for three purposes at once: to protect himself from large predators, communicate with his own kind, and attract small fish. During the hunt, the needle mouth also uses a special whisker - a luminous thickening. The potential victim mistakes the luminous strip for a small fish and eventually falls for the bait.

The fish is amazing not only in appearance, but also in its way of life. She received the nickname “anglerfish” for a remarkable appendage on her head filled with bioluminescent bacteria. Attracted by the glow of the “fishing rod”, the potential victim swims up to close quarters. The angler can only open his mouth towards her.


These deep-sea predators are very voracious. To accept prey that exceeds the size of the predator itself, the fish is able to stretch the walls of its stomach. For this reason, if an anglerfish attacks a prey that is too large, both may die as a result.

The predator has a very unusual appearance: a long body with short fins, a terrifying muzzle with a giant beak-like nose, huge jaws moving forward and unexpectedly pink skin.

Biologists believe that a long beak-shaped outgrowth is necessary for the predator to find food in pitch darkness. For such an unusual and even scary appearance, the predator is often called the goblin shark.


It is noteworthy that goblin sharks do not have a swim bladder. This is partially compensated by an enlarged liver, the weight of which in relation to the body can be up to 25%.

You can meet a predator only at a depth of at least 900 m. It is noteworthy that the older the individual, the deeper it will live. But even adult goblin sharks cannot boast of impressive sizes: the body length is on average 3-3.5 m, and the weight is about 200 kg.

frilled shark

This dangerous creature, living in the depths of the Mariana Trench, is rightfully considered the king underwater world. The most ancient species of sharks has a serpentine-shaped body covered with folded skin. The gill membranes intersecting in the throat area form a wide bag from skin folds that looks like a wavy cloak 1.5-1.8 meters long.

The prehistoric monster has a primitive structure: the spine is not divided into vertebrae, all fins are concentrated in one area, the caudal fin consists of only one accessory. The main pride of the cape bearer is its mouth, studded with 3 hundred teeth arranged in several rows.

It would seem that by the twenty-first century, humanity knows everything about our planet and there are no blank spots left on the maps. But don’t forget that about 90% of the ocean floor is still covered not only with thick water, but also with mystery. So far there are more questions than answers in this area. This is because only a few daredevils dared to dive in these places. It is believed that this is akin to suicide.

Harsh conditions

The Mariana Trench is a tectonic submarine fault and has a V-shaped silhouette, with steep slopes and a flat bottom, about 5 km wide. At depth there are also peculiar underwater mountains about two kilometers high. The deepest point of the planet, reaching 11 thousand meters, is located here and is called the Challenger Abyss. Even the highest peak of our planet, Mount Everest, would be drowned under the water column in the Mariana Trench.

The pressure at this depth is more than a thousand times the Earth's normal atmospheric pressure. Just imagine, a whole ton of weight falls on one square centimeter of surface. Titanium alloys can barely withstand such loads. If there had been a person here, he would have been torn to pieces at that very second. It is curious that the water temperature at such a depth is about 4 degrees plus. All thanks to the oceanic hydrothermal vents “black smokers”, which, closer to the surface of the ocean, emit 450-degree jets.

The colossal pressure does not allow the water to boil and the environment is only slightly heated. And the one-of-a-kind deep-sea “White Smokers” produce liquid carbon dioxide in the Mariana Trench, plunging everything around into white fog. Such hydrothermal springs enrich the aquatic environment with chemical microelements and, according to scientists, create good conditions for the emergence of new forms of life.

Inhabitants of the Mariana Trench

The big discovery was the fact that at a depth of more than 6000 m, under incredible pressure, the absence of sunlight and zero temperatures, life is in full swing. At the bottom live various types of bacteria and protozoa, sea cucumbers and amphipods, mollusk shells and luminous octopuses, weird shape

New species of scorpionfish and anglerfish have been discovered. The peculiarity of these frightening fish is the presence of bioluminescent luminous appendages that hang down like a fishing rod. Seeing a light in the pitch darkness, the prey swims towards the light and ends up in the toothy mouth of a predator. The attention of doctors was especially attracted by one of the species of isopods, because... the substance it secretes may help develop a cure for Alzheimer's disease.

What shocked the public the most were the huge xenophyophore amoebas. Their size in the Mariana Trench reaches 10 cm, while all previously known species of protozoa can hardly be seen under a microscope. A unique feature of xenophyophores is that they are resistant to substances such as mercury, uranium, and lead that are potent and destructive to all living things.

Inexplicable

In the mid-nineties, newspapers were full of headlines about a certain monster hiding at the bottom of the Mariana Trench. The story went that the research vessel Glomar Challenger, plunging an instrument into the abyss to study ocean depths, faced difficulties. At some point, the sensors recorded a terrible noise and grinding sound. We had to urgently remove the device from the water. It turned out to be badly damaged, the iron body of the device was badly twisted, and the reliable metal cable almost broke, as if someone wanted to bite it.

A similar incident happened to a group of German scientists when, according to the team, the Highfish probe lowered into the water was attacked by a huge lizard. It was possible to get rid of it only by intimidating it with an electric charge.

There is no convincing evidence that giant prehistoric animals are found in the Mariana Trench today. However, the opposite has not been proven.

In the 20s of the last century, fishermen from Australia said that they saw a huge white shark about 30 m long in these parts. Whereas individuals of this species known to science do not exceed five meters. The description of the Australians completely coincided only with the external characteristics of Megalodon (scientific name Carcharodon megalodon). This animal weighed 100 tons and its mouth could swallow prey the size of a car. According to popular belief, Megalodons went extinct about 2 million years ago. But just recently, a tooth of this monster was discovered in the bottom of the Pacific Ocean in the Mariana Trench. The examination determined that this find is no more than 11 thousand years old. What else does the seabed hide?

Journey to the Center of the Earth

Everything that we now know about the Mariana Trench was obtained thanks to brave researchers who were not afraid of the unknown depths. Since 1872, more than a dozen expeditions have been sent to the waters of the Pacific Ocean. In most cases, research was carried out using technologies that are improving every year. Various equipment with sensors and probes with video and photo cameras were immersed at the bottom of the Mariana Trench.

The first to study the ocean abyss were researchers from the Challenger ship. The deepest point on the planet in the Mariana Trench, the Challenger Deep, was named after this vessel.

The first to personally visit a depth of eleven thousand meters were the Swiss oceanographer Jacques Piccard and the American military man Don Walsh. In 1960, they plunged into the Mariana Trench on a deep-sea vessel. Only 127 mm separated them from kilometers of frightening uncertainty. armored steel.

Only our contemporary, the famous director James Cameron, creator of the films “Titanic” and “Avatar,” decided to repeat their feat. In 2012, he made this dive alone on the DeepSea Challenge bathyscaphe. By taking soil and water samples from the bottom of the Mariana Trench, Cameron helped scientists do a lot important discoveries. However, what he saw was silent silence. He did not encounter any monsters or strange phenomena in the abyss. James compares his adventure to a flight into space - "complete isolation from all humanity."

 

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