Information about the Mariana Trench. Mariana Trench. Facts, photos and videos

The Mariana Trench is the most deep 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 usual 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 depths of the Mariana Trench could easily accommodate the most high mountain of our planet is Everest, and above it there will still be more than a kilometer of water left to the surface... Of course, it will 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.”

Bathyscaphe was named after Italian city 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 in Mariana depths different octopuses live

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

The Mariana Trench is considered the most mysterious and mysterious place on our planet. Located in the Pacific Ocean, this deep-sea trench has been unsuccessfully “attacked” by scientists from all over the world, but detailed information There is still no exact map of the depression and its inhabitants.

Where is the Mariana Trench located?

In the southwestern environs Pacific Ocean, the group is located Mariana Islands. Some of them were formed due to volcanic processes in the bowels of our earth, the second part represents the eastern edge of the Philippine lithospheric plate, which, having collided with the more massive Pacific plate, 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 trench, and, as was common during the Middle Ages, less developed communal formations became colonies of Western European countries:

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

After the Spanish-American War, part of the wreck was transferred to the United States. In 1875, the British ship Challenger, whose crew included scientists from America and England, used a hydrographic survey to establish a record depth for the trench at that time - more than 8,000 meters. 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. This discrepancy in the data concerns not only the width, but also the depth of the depression itself, which is associated with the extreme pressure - at the extreme point it reaches 108 MPa, which gives the echo sounder measurements a certain error:

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

The most latest research the bottom of the Mariana Trench were produced by oceanographers from the University of New Hampshire in 2016:

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

With the help of an underwater vehicle launched from the research vessel Okeanos Explorer, the whole world learned about previously unknown organisms whose habitat exceeds a depth of 6,000 meters.

Living in bottomless darkness

For an accurate picture of the pressure distribution, 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;
- Glowing Octopus;
- A predator from the chordate family.
4000 meters: the abyssal zone is characterized by low water temperatures (about 2-3 C˚), and is a habitat for:
- Deep sea octopus;
- Known from the animated film "Finding Nemo" the terrible (monkfish).
5000 - 11000 meters: despite the complete darkness and high pressure, even at the bottom of the depression, scientists recorded previously unknown, giant amoebae and.

Animal world, inhabiting the Mariana Trench, is truly unique. For example, some types of fish accumulate luminous liquid, and when in danger, they “spit” it on the predator, thus temporarily blinding their offender.

Mariana lizards: true or fake?

An incident that occurred in the Mariana Abyss in 2003 introduced the world to a real rival to the Loch Ness monster known as “Nessie”:

2001 - a German expedition, using the Haifish deep-sea vehicle, explored the waters of the trench at a depth of more than 7,500 meters. Hearing sharp sounds, the crew turned on the infrared camera and were speechless 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 record huge monsters with a body length of 14-16 meters. After the bathyscaphe was lifted aboard the ship, the researchers noticed interesting fact- the steel cable that held the device was worn out or bitten off more than half of it.

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

Mariana Trench: 5 interesting facts

Do you know that:

The bottom of the trench 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 a depth of 4000 meters and below lack vision or see very poorly;
Only three people in the world were present at the bottom of the Mariana Trench: American Don Walsh (1954), Frenchman Jacques Picard (1960) and famous Hollywood film director James Cameron (2012);
The bottom of the trench is covered with thick viscous silt, the layer reaches 1 km, according to scientists;
The depression is national natural monument, US defendant.

Everyone has probably heard about the Mother Trench, which is also called the “bottom of the Earth,” from the school curriculum. deep gutter, 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 certainly learn about in full in the very near future.

Video: incredible mysteries of the deep sea trench

In this video, Fyodor Miroshnikov will talk about the mysteries of the Mariana Trench, what is currently known to science:

In honor of which it, in fact, got its name. The depression 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 trench and is called the “Challenger Deep”. Challenger Deep).

The trench was formed at the junction of two lithospheric tectonic plates - the Pacific and Philippine. The Pacific plate is older and heavier. Over the course of millions of years, it “crept” under the younger Philippine Plate.

Opening

The Mariana Trench was first discovered by a scientific expedition of a sailing ship. Challenger" This corvette, which was originally a warship, was converted into a scientific vessel in 1872 specifically for the Royal Society for the Advancement of Natural Sciences of London. The ship was equipped with biochemical laboratories, means for measuring depth, water temperature and soil sampling. That same year, in December, the ship set off for scientific research and spent three and a half years at sea, covering a distance of 70 thousand miles. 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 species of animals were described, in-depth studies of almost 500 underwater objects were carried out, and soil samples were taken from various parts of the world's oceans.

Against the backdrop of the important scientific discoveries made by Challenger, the discovery of an underwater trench especially stood out, the depth of which amazes the imagination of even contemporaries, not to mention scientists of the 19th century. 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 trench was named the Mariana Trench - in honor of the nearby Mariana Islands, which in turn were named after Marianne of Austria, the Spanish queen, wife of King Philip IV of Spain.

Research into the Mariana Trench continued only in 1951. English hydrographic vessel Challenger II examined the trench using an echo sounder and found that its maximum depth was much greater than previously thought, amounting to 10,899 m. This point was given the name “Challenger Deep” in honor of the first expedition of 1872-1876.

Challenger Abyss

Challenger Abyss 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 there 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 world's oceans, as well as the uncertainty that the bottom of the abyss itself remains motionless. In 2009, the American vessel RV Kilo Moana determined the depth to be 10,971 m with a probability of error of 22-55 m. Research in 2014 with improved multibeam echo sounders determined the depth to be 10,984. This is exactly what the value is recorded in reference books and is currently considered the closest to the real one.

Dives

Only four scientific vehicles visited the bottom of the Mariana Trench, and only two expeditions included people.

Project "Nekton"

The first descent into the Challenger Abyss took place in 1960 on a manned submersible " Trieste", named after the Italian city of the same name where it was created. It was flown by an American US Navy Lieutenant Don Walsh and Swiss oceanographer Jacques Piccard. The device 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 that 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 region, where some island states came de facto under its jurisdiction as the victorious country in World War II.

After some modifications, in particular further compaction of the outer part of the hull, Trieste began to be prepared for immersion in the Mariana Trench. Jacques Piccard remained the pilot of the bathyscaphe, since he had the most experience in piloting the Trier in particular and bathyscaphes in general. His companion was Don Walsh, a then-current US Navy lieutenant who served on a submarine and later became a famous scientist and naval specialist.

The project for 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. The submersible stayed at the very bottom for only 20 minutes. During this time, the researchers measured the density and temperature of the water (it was +3.3ºС), measured the radioactive background, and observed an unknown fish similar to a flounder and a shrimp that suddenly appeared at the bottom. Also, based on the measured pressure, the diving depth was calculated, which was 11,521 m, which was later adjusted to 10,916 m.

While at the bottom of the Challenger Abyss we explored and had time to refresh ourselves with chocolate.

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

Submersible "Kaiko"

Kaiko (Kaikō) - the second of four devices that reached the bottom of the Mariana Trench. But he visited 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 more than 250 dives and made enormous contributions to science, but his most famous journey he committed in 1995, diving to a depth of 10,911 m into the Challenger Deep. It took place on March 24 and samples of benthic extremophile organisms were brought to the surface - this is the name given to animals capable of surviving in the most extreme environmental conditions.

Kayko returned to the Challenger Deep 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 the cable connecting it to the carrier vessel broke.

Deep-sea submersible "Nereus"

Unmanned remote-controlled deep-sea vehicle " Nereus"(English) Nereus) closes the trio of devices 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. He stayed at the bottom for 10 hours, broadcasting live video from his cameras to the carrier ship, 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 was made by the famous Canadian director James Cameron, inscribing itself 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 submersible Deepsea Challenger, built under the direction of Australian engineer Ron Alloon in collaboration with National Geographic and Rolex. The main task 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, similar to a small shrimp about 3 cm in length. The footage formed the basis documentary film, which tells the story of his dive into the Challenger Deep.

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

Animal world

The first Trieste expedition reported with great surprise that there was life at the bottom of the Mariana Trench. Although it was previously believed that the existence of life in such conditions was 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 Trier's crew actually saw the fish, but they do not so much question the researchers' words as they are inclined to believe that they mistook a sea cucumber or other invertebrate for the fish.

During the second expedition, the Kaiko apparatus took soil samples and indeed found many tiny organisms capable of surviving in absolute darkness at temperatures close to 0°C and under monstrous pressure. There is not a single skeptic left who doubts the presence of life everywhere in the ocean, even in the most incredible conditions. However, it remained unclear how developed such deep-sea life was. Or are the only representatives of the Mariana Trench the simplest microorganisms, crustaceans and invertebrates?

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

In the same year, cameras recorded several more species of huge crustaceans, differing from their shallow-sea relatives by 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 slug, which was discovered at a depth of 8,178 m.

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

Current research and future dives

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

Several expeditions to the Mariana Trench are currently planned:

1. American company Triton Submarines develops and produces private underwater bathyscaphes. Most new model Triton 36000/3, consisting of a crew of 3 people, is planned to be sent to the Challenger Abyss in the near future. Its characteristics allow it to reach a depth of 11 km. in just 2 hours.

2. Company Virgin Oceanic(Virgin Oceanic), specializing in private shallow dives, is developing a single-person deep-sea vehicle that can deliver a passenger to the bottom of the trench in 2.5 hours.

3. American company DOER Marine working on a project" Deep Search"—one or two-seater submersible.

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

1. In 2009 it was created Maritime Marianas National Monument. It does not include the islands themselves, but only covers 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 Deep, was not included in 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 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 closest point to the center of the Earth. Our planet is not an ideal spherical shape, and its radius is approximately 25 km. less at the poles than at the equator. Therefore, the deepest point on the bottom of the Arctic Ocean is 13 km. closer to the center of the Earth than in the Challenger Deep.

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 plates will “push” waste under the tectonic plate deeper into the Earth. The proposal is not without logic, but the dumping of nuclear waste is prohibited by international law. In addition, zones of junctions of lithospheric plates give rise to earthquakes of enormous force, the consequences of which are unpredictable for buried waste.

As children, we all read many legends about incredible sea monsters ah, inhabiting the ocean floor, always knowing that these are just fairy tales. But we were wrong! These incredible creatures can be found even today if you dive to the bottom of the Mariana Trench, the deepest place on Earth. Read our article about what the Mariana Trench hides and who its mysterious inhabitants are.

The deepest place on the planet is the Mariana Trench or Mariana Trench- is located in the western Pacific Ocean near Guam, east of the Mariana Islands, from which its name comes. The shape of the trench resembles a crescent, about 2,550 km long and an average width of 69 km.

According to the latest data, the depth Mariana Trench is 10,994 meters ± 40 meters, which even exceeds the highest point on the planet - Everest (8,848 meters). So this mountain could well be placed at the bottom of the depression, moreover, there would still be about 2,000 meters of water above the top of the mountain. The pressure at the bottom of the Mariana Trench reaches 108.6 MPa - this is more than 1,100 times higher than normal atmospheric pressure.

Man only fell to the bottom twice Mariana Trench. The first dive was made on January 23, 1960 by US Navy Lieutenant Don Walsh and explorer Jacques Piccard in the bathyscaphe Trieste. They stayed at the bottom for only 12 minutes, but during this time they managed to meet flat fish, although according to all possible assumptions there should have been no life at such a depth.

The second human dive took place on March 26, 2012. The third person who touched the secrets Mariana Trench, became a film director James Cameron. He was diving on single-seat device"Deepsea Challenger" and spent enough time there to take samples, take pictures and film in 3D format. Later, the footage he shot formed the basis of a documentary film for the National Geographic Channel.

Due to the strong pressure, the bottom of the depression is covered not with ordinary sand, but with viscous mucus. For many years, the remains of plankton and crushed shells accumulated there, which formed the bottom. And again, due to pressure, almost everything is at the bottom Mariana Trench turns into fine grayish-yellow thick mud.

Sunlight has never reached the bottom of the depression, and we expect the water there to be icy. But its temperature varies from 1 to 4 degrees Celsius. IN Mariana Trench at a depth of approximately 1.6 km are the so-called “black smokers”, hydrothermal vents that shoot water up to 450 degrees Celsius.

Thanks to this water Mariana Trench life is supported as it is rich in minerals. By the way, despite the fact that the temperature is significantly higher than the boiling point, water does not boil due to very strong pressure.

At approximately a depth of 414 meters there is the Daikoku volcano, which is the source of one of the most rare phenomena on the planet there are lakes of pure molten sulfur. In the solar system, this phenomenon can only be found on Io, a satellite of Jupiter. So, in this "cauldron" the bubbling black emulsion boils at 187 degrees Celsius. So far, scientists have not been able to study it in detail, but if in the future they can advance in their research, they may be able to explain how life appeared on Earth.

But the most interesting thing about Mariana Trench- these are its inhabitants. After it was established that there was life in the depression, many expected to find incredible sea monsters there. For the first time, the expedition of the research vessel Glomar Challenger encountered something unidentified. They lowered a device into the depression, the so-called “hedgehog” with a diameter of about 9 m, made in a NASA laboratory from beams of ultra-strong titanium-cobalt steel.

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 grinding of saw teeth on metal. And unclear shadows appeared on the monitors, reminiscent of dragons with several heads and tails. Soon, scientists became worried that the valuable apparatus might remain forever in the depths of the Mariana Trench and decided to lift it onto the ship. But when they removed the hedgehog from the water, their surprise only intensified: the strongest steel beams of the structure were deformed, and the 20-centimeter steel cable on which it was lowered into the water was half sawn through.

However, perhaps this story was embellished too much by the newspapers, since later researchers discovered very unusual creatures there, but not dragons.

Xenophyophores are giant, 10-centimeter amoebas that live at the very bottom Mariana Trench. Most likely, due to strong pressure, lack of light and relatively low temperatures, these amoebas acquired enormous sizes for their species. But in addition to their impressive size, these creatures are also resistant to many chemical elements and substances, including uranium, mercury and lead, which are lethal to other living organisms.

Pressure in M ariana trench turns glass and wood into powder, so only creatures without bones or shells can live here. But in 2012, scientists discovered a mollusk. How he preserved his shell is still not known. In addition, hydrothermal springs emit hydrogen sulfide, which is fatal to shellfish. However, they learned to bind the sulfur compound into a safe protein, which allowed the population of these mollusks to survive.

And that is not all. Below you can see some of the inhabitants Mariana Trench, which scientists managed to capture.

Mariana Trench and its inhabitants

While our eyes are directed to the sky towards the unsolved mysteries of space, there remains an unsolved mystery on our planet - the ocean. To date, only 5% of the world's oceans and secrets have been studied Mariana Trench This is only a small part of the secrets that are hidden under the water.

People have always been attracted to something difficult to achieve, some kind of mystery, something that can keep a secret. For example, the most highest point Earth - Everest or the deepest point in the ocean - the Mariana Trench (Mariana Trench). But if about 4 thousand people have already visited Everest, then only three people visited the “bottom of the Earth” - the first dive was made by two people - Don Walsh and Jean Picard in 1960, the next after them was a very famous director who shot such masterpieces , like Titanic, Terminator, Aliens, Avatar - James Cameron.

Bathyscaphe "Trieste" - it was on it that people made the first dive to the bottom of the Mariana Trench

Mariana Trench Facts:

The depth of the trench is 10,994 ± 40 m below sea level, as measured in 2011;
The Mariana Islands, located nearby, gave it its name deepest point Earth;
The trench stretches for one and a half thousand kilometers along these same islands;
The geology of the basin is a large tectonic fault where one plate slides under another.

The pressure at the bottom is 1100 times greater than on the surface of the Earth, but this does not interfere with life at these depths. It also has its own inhabitants who have adapted to live in darkness and under such pressure.

These are mainly tiny single-celled organisms - Foraminifera:

The size of such living creatures is only 1 mm, although during the first dive of the bathyscaphe in history with people, the researchers noted that they met flat fish with a diameter of up to 30 cm, similar in appearance to flounder.

History of measurements and dives to the bottom of the Mariana Trench:

For the first time ever lowest point The British tried to measure the land in 1875, but their lot (a device for measuring depths) reached a depth of just over 8 thousand meters. 76 years later in 1951, another British ship, but interestingly with the same name, the Challenger, used an echo sounder to calculate a depth of 10,863 meters. Since then, the lowest point of the Mariana Trench has been called the Challenger Deep. In 1957, the Soviet ship "Vityaz" conducted research here and determined the depth of 11,023 meters.

Each new expedition that measured the depth provided its own figures, which differed from the previous ones. Such errors are associated primarily with the properties of water, which can vary depending on the depth.

The latest updated depth information is 10,994 meters with an accuracy of ±40 m.

The first people to visit the ocean floor were researchers Don Walsh and Jacques Piccard, and it happened on January 23, 1960.

"Trieste" was the name of the bathyscaphe on which scientists descended to ocean depths. The descent took 4 hours 48 minutes, after staying there for 20 minutes, the bathyscaphe went to the top and the ascent took 3 hours

Bathyscaphe Deepsea Challenger on which the director carried out his dive

The next descent of man occurred only 52 years later in 2012. James Cameron is a legendary director, the third in history to descend to this place, and the first to do it alone. Unlike his predecessors, Cameron spent 6 hours at the bottom and took a number of photographs and High Quality video recording The dive took 2 hours and the ascent took only 1 hour.

And finally, a video filmed from the Deepsea Challenger bathyscaphe, in which James Cameron made his dive.

Video from the Mariana Trench:

I suggest you watch another interesting video from National Geographic from the last dive:

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