Mariana Trench located in the western part Pacific Ocean, not far from Mariana Islands, just two hundred kilometers away, thanks to the neighborhood with which it received its name. It is a huge marine reserve in the status national monument The United States, therefore, is under state protection. Fishing and mining are strictly prohibited here, but you can swim and enjoy the beauty.

In shape, the Mariana Trench resembles a grandiose crescent - 2550 km long and 69 km wide. The deepest point - 10994 m below sea level - is called the "Challenger Abyss".

Discovery and first observations

The Mariana Trench began to explore the British. In 1872, he entered the waters of the Pacific Ocean sailing corvette"Challenger" with scientists and the most advanced equipment of those times. After taking measurements, we set the maximum depth - 8367 m. The value, of course, differs markedly from the correct result. But even this was enough to understand: the deepest point of the globe was discovered. So the next riddle of nature was “challenged” (translated from English “Challenger” - “challenging”). Years passed, and in 1951 the British carried out "work on the mistakes." Namely: a deep-sea echo sounder recorded a maximum depth of 10863 meters.

Then the baton was intercepted by Russian researchers who sent the Vityaz research vessel to the area of ​​the Mariana Trench. In 1957, with the help of special equipment, they were not only able to fix the depth of the depression, equal to 11022 m, but also established the presence of life at a depth of more than seven kilometers. Thus, making a small revolution in scientific world the middle of the 20th century, where there was a strong opinion that there are no such deeply living beings and cannot be. This is where the most interesting begins ... Many stories about underwater monsters, huge octopuses, unseen bathyscaphees crushed into a cake by huge paws of animals ... Where is the truth and where is the lie - let's try to figure it out.

Secrets, riddles and legends

The first daredevils who dared to dive to the "bottom of the Earth" were US Navy Lieutenant Don Walsh and explorer Jacques Picard. They dived on the bathyscaphe "Trieste", which was built in the same name. Italian city. A very heavy structure with thick 13-centimeter walls was immersed to the bottom for five whole hours. Having reached the lowest point, the researchers stayed there for 12 minutes, after which the ascent was immediately begun, which took approximately 3 hours. At the bottom, fish were found - flat, similar to flounder, about 30 centimeters long.

Research continued, and in 1995 the Japanese descended into the "abyss". Another “breakthrough” was made in 2009 with the help of the Nereus automatic underwater vehicle: this miracle of technology not only took several photos at the deepest point of the Earth, but also took soil samples.

In 1996, the New York Times published a shocking story about equipment from the American scientific vessel Glomar Challenger diving into the Mariana Trench. The spherical apparatus for deep-sea travel was affectionately nicknamed the “hedgehog” by the team. Some time after the start of the dive, the instruments recorded terrifying sounds, reminiscent of the grinding of metal on metal. The “Hedgehog” was immediately raised to the surface, and they were horrified: the huge steel structure was crushed, and the strongest and thickest (20 cm in diameter!) Cable seemed to be sawn. There were many explanations immediately. Some said that these were the "tricks" of the inhabitants natural object monsters, others leaned towards the version of the presence of an alien mind, and still others believed that there were mutated octopuses! True, there was no evidence, and all assumptions remained at the level of conjecture and speculation ...

The same mysterious case happened to the German research team, which decided to lower the Highfish apparatus into the waters of the abyss. But for some reason he stopped moving, and the cameras impartially showed on the monitor screens an image of the shocking size of the lizard, which was trying to gnaw through the steel "thing". The team was not taken aback and by an electric discharge from the device “scared away” an unknown beast. He sailed away, and did not appear again ... It remains only to regret that for some reason those who came across such unique inhabitants of the Mariana Trench did not have the equipment that would allow them to be photographed.

In the late 90s of the last century, at the time of the "discovery" by the Americans of the monsters of the Mariana Trench, the "fouling" of this geographical feature legends. Fishermen (poachers) talked about glows from its depths, lights running back and forth, various unidentified flying objects emerging from there. Crews of small ships reported that ships in the area were "towing at great speed" by a monster with incredible strength.

Confirmed testimonies

Depth of the Mariana Trench

Along with many legends associated with the Mariana Trench, there are also incredible facts supported by irrefutable evidence.

Found giant shark tooth

In 1918, Australian lobster fishermen told of a translucent white fish about 30 meters long that they saw in the sea. According to the description, it looks like an ancient shark of the species Carcharodon megalodon, which lived in the seas 2 million years ago. Scientists from the surviving remains were able to recreate the appearance of a shark - a monstrous creature 25 meters long, weighing 100 tons and an impressive two-meter mouth with teeth 10 cm each. Can you imagine such "teeth"! And it was they who were recently found by oceanologists at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean! The "youngest" of the discovered artifacts ... "only" 11 thousand years old!

This find allows us to be sure that not all megalodons died out two million years ago. Perhaps the waters of the Mariana Trench hide these incredible predators from human eyes? Research continues, the depths are still fraught with many unsolved mysteries.

Features of the deep sea world

The water pressure at the lowest point of the Mariana Trench is 108.6 MPa, that is, it exceeds the normal atmospheric pressure by 1072 times. A vertebrate animal simply cannot survive in such monstrous conditions. But, oddly enough, shellfish have taken root here. How their shells withstand such colossal water pressure is not clear. The discovered mollusks are an incredible example of "survival". They exist near serpentine hydrothermal springs. Serpentine contains hydrogen and methane, which not only do not pose a threat to the “population” found here, but also contribute to the formation of living organisms in such a seemingly aggressive environment. But hydrothermal springs also emit a gas that is deadly for molluscs - hydrogen sulfide. But the "cunning" and life-hungry mollusks have learned to process hydrogen sulfide into protein, and continue, as they say, clover to live in the Mariana Trench.

Another incredible mystery of the deep-sea object is the Champagne hydrothermal spring, named after the famous French (and not only) alcoholic drink. It's all about the bubbles that "boil" in the waters of the source. Of course, these are by no means the bubbles of your favorite champagne - this is liquid carbon dioxide. Thus, the world's only underwater source of liquid carbon dioxide is located in the Mariana Trench. Such sources are called "white smokers", their temperature is below ambient temperature, and there are always vapors around them that look like white smoke. Thanks to these sources, hypotheses were born about the origin of all life on earth in water. Low temperature, an abundance of chemicals, colossal energy - all this created excellent conditions for the ancient representatives of flora and fauna.

The temperature in the Mariana Trench is also very favorable - from 1 to 4 degrees Celsius. The "black smokers" took care of that. The antipode of "white smokers" hydrothermal vents contain a large number of ore substances, and therefore they are dark in color. These springs are located here at a depth of about 2 kilometers and spew water, the temperature of which is about 450 degrees Celsius. I immediately recall the school physics course, from which we know that water boils at 100 degrees Celsius. So what's going on? Does the spring spew boiling water? Fortunately, no. It's all about the colossal pressure of water - it is 155 times higher than on the surface of the Earth, so H 2 O does not boil, but pretty much "warms up" the waters of the Mariana Trench. The water of these hydrothermal springs is incredibly saturated with various minerals, which also contributes to the comfortable habitation of living beings.

Incredible Facts

How many more mysteries and incredible wonders is fraught with this incredible place? A bunch of. At a depth of 414 meters, the Daikoku volcano is located here, which served as another proof that life originated here, at the deepest point on the globe. In the crater of the volcano, under water, there is a lake of the purest molten sulfur. In this "cauldron" sulfur seethes at a temperature of 187 degrees Celsius. The only known analogue of such a lake is located on Jupiter's moon Io. There is nothing else like it on Earth. Only in space. It is no wonder that most of the hypotheses about the origin of life from water are associated with this mysterious deep-sea object in the Pacific Ocean.

Let's remember a little school biology course. The simplest living creatures are amoeba. Tiny, single-celled, they can only be seen through a microscope. They reach, as it is written in textbooks, a length of half a millimeter. Giant toxic amoebas 10 centimeters long have been found in the Mariana Trench. Can you imagine this? Ten centimeters! That is, this single-celled living being can be perfectly examined with the naked eye. Isn't this a miracle? As a result of scientific research, it has been established that amoebas acquired such gigantic sizes for their class of unicellular organisms, adapting to the “savory” life on the seabed. Cold water, coupled with its colossal pressure and lack of sunlight, contributed to the "growth" of amoebas, which are called xenophyophores. The incredible abilities of xenophyophores are quite surprising: they have adapted to the effects of most harmful substances - uranium, mercury, lead. And they live in this environment, like mollusks. In general, the Mariana Trench is a miracle of miracles, where everything living and non-living is perfectly combined, and the most harmful chemical elements that can kill any organism not only do not harm the living, but, on the contrary, contribute to survival.

The local bottom has been studied in some detail and is not of particular interest - it is covered with a layer of viscous mucus. There is no sand there, only the remains of crushed shells and plankton, which have been lying there for thousands of years, and due to the pressure of the water, they have long turned into a thick greyish-yellow mud. And the tranquility and measured life of the seabed are disturbed only by the bathyscaphes of researchers descending here from time to time.

Inhabitants of the Mariana Trench

Research continues

Everything secret and unknown has always attracted a person. And with each secret revealed, there were no fewer new mysteries on our planet. All this fully applies to the Mariana Trench.

At the end of 2011, researchers discovered unique natural stone formations in it, shaped like bridges. Each of them stretched from one end to the other for as much as 69 km. Scientists had no doubt: it is here that the tectonic plates - the Pacific and the Philippine - touch, and stone bridges (there are four in total) were formed at their junction. True, the very first of the bridges - Dutton Ridge - was opened in the late 80s of the last century. He impressed then with his size and height, which were the size of a small mountain. In her own high point, located just above the "Challenger Abyss", this deep-sea "ridge" reaches two and a half kilometers.

Why did nature need to build such bridges, and even in such a mysterious and inaccessible place for people? The purpose of these objects is still unclear. In 2012, James Cameron, the creator of the legendary film Titanic, dived into the Mariana Trench. The unique equipment and powerful cameras installed on his DeepSea Challenge bathyscaphe made it possible to film the majestic and deserted “bottom of the Earth”. It is not known how long he would have been observing local landscapes if some malfunctions had not occurred on the apparatus. In order not to risk his life, the researcher was forced to rise to the surface.

Together with The National Geographic, the talented director created the documentary "Challenge to the Abyss". In his account of the dive, he called the bottom of the trough "the boundary of life." Emptiness, silence, and - nothing, not the slightest movement or disturbance of water. No sunlight, no shellfish, no algae, much less sea monsters. But this is only at first glance. In the bottom soil samples taken by Cameron, more than twenty thousand different microorganisms were found. Great amount. How do they survive under such incredible water pressure? Still a mystery. Among the inhabitants of the depression, a shrimp-like amphipod has also been found that produces a unique chemical that scientists are testing as a vaccine against Alzheimer's disease.

During his stay at the deepest point not only of the oceans, but of the entire Earth, James Cameron did not meet any scary monsters, or representatives of extinct animal species, or alien bases, not to mention some incredible miracles. The feeling that he was completely alone here was a real shock. The ocean floor seemed deserted and, as the director himself said, "lunar ... lonely." The feeling of complete isolation from all mankind was such that it was beyond words. However, he still tried to do it in his documentary. Well, the fact that the Mariana Trench is silent and shocking with its emptiness should probably not be surprising. After all, she simply sacredly keeps the secret of the origin of all life on Earth ...

Now anyone can watch the fantastic underwater world of the Mariana Trench, the deepest place on our planet, captured on video, or even enjoy a live video broadcast from an 11-kilometer depth. But until relatively recently, the Mariana Trench was considered the most unexplored point on the map of the Earth.

The sensational discovery of the Challenger team

We also know from the school curriculum that the highest point on the earth's surface is the top of Mount Everest (8848 m), but the lowest point is hidden under the waters of the Pacific Ocean and is located at the bottom of the Mariana Trench (10994 m). We know quite a lot about Everest, climbers have conquered its peak more than once, there are enough photographs of this mountain, taken both from the earth and from space. If Everest is all in sight and does not present any mystery to scientists, then the depths of the Mariana Trench hold many secrets, because getting to its bottom on this moment only three daredevils succeeded.

The Mariana Trench is located in the western part of the Pacific Ocean, it got its name from the Mariana Islands, which are located next to it. A place unique in depth on the seabed has received the status of a national monument of the United States, it is forbidden to fish and extract minerals here, in fact it is a huge marine reserve. The shape of the depression is similar to a huge crescent, reaching 2550 km in length and 69 km in width. The bottom of the depression has a width of 1 to 5 km. The deepest point of the depression (10,994 m below sea level) was named the Challenger Abyss in honor of the British ship of the same name.

The honor of discovering the Mariana Trench belongs to the team of the British research vessel Challenger, which in 1872 carried out depth measurements at a number of points in the Pacific Ocean. When the ship was in the area of ​​the Mariana Islands, during the next measurement of the depth, a hitch arose: the kilometer-long rope went overboard, but it was not possible to reach the bottom. At the direction of the captain, a couple more kilometer sections were added to the rope, but, to everyone's surprise, they were not enough, they had to be added again and again. Then it was possible to establish a depth of 8367 meters, which, as it became known later, was significantly different from the real one. However, even an underestimated value was quite enough to understand: the deepest place was discovered in the World Ocean.

It is amazing that already in the 20th century, in 1951, it was the British who, using a deep-sea echo sounder, clarified the data of their compatriots, this time the maximum depth of the depression was more significant - 10,863 meters. Six years later, Soviet scientists began to study the Mariana Trench, who arrived in this region of the Pacific Ocean on the Vityaz research vessel. Using special equipment, they recorded the maximum depth of the depression at 11,022 meters, and most importantly, they were able to establish the presence of life at a depth of about 7,000 meters. It is worth noting that in the scientific world then there was an opinion that due to the monstrous pressure and lack of light at such depths, there were no manifestations of life.

Dive into the world of silence and darkness

In 1960, people first visited the bottom of the depression. How difficult and dangerous such a dive was can be judged by the colossal water pressure, which at the lowest point of the depression is 1072 times the average atmospheric pressure. The dive to the bottom of the trench with the help of the Trieste bathyscaphe was made by US Navy Lieutenant Don Walsh and explorer Jacques Picard. Bathyscaphe "Trieste" with walls 13 cm thick was created in the Italian city of the same name and was a rather massive structure.

They lowered the bathyscaphe to the bottom for five long hours; despite such a long descent, the researchers stayed at the bottom at a depth of 10911 meters for only 20 minutes, it took them about 3 hours to rise. Within minutes of being in the abyss, Walsh and Picard were able to make a very impressive discovery: they saw two 30-centimeter flat fish that looked like a flounder that swam past their porthole. Their presence at such a depth has become a real scientific sensation!

In addition to discovering the existence of life at such a breathtaking depth, Jacques Picard managed to experimentally refute the then prevailing opinion that at depths of more than 6000 m there is no upward movement of water masses. In terms of ecology, it was major discovery, after all, some nuclear powers were going to carry out the burial of radioactive waste in the Mariana Trench. It turns out that Picard prevented a large-scale radioactive contamination of the Pacific Ocean!

After the dive of Walsh and Picard for a long period, only unmanned submachine guns descended into the Mariana Trench, and there were only a few of them, because they were very expensive. For example, on May 31, 2009, the American deep-sea probe Nereus reached the bottom of the Mariana Trench. He not only conducted underwater photo and video shooting at an incredible depth, but also took soil samples. The instruments of the deep-sea vehicle recorded the depth reached by it at 10,902 meters.

On March 26, 2012, a man again appeared at the bottom of the Mariana Trench, it was the famous director, creator of the legendary film "Titanic" James Cameron.

He explained his decision to make such a dangerous journey to the “bottom of the Earth” as follows: “Almost everything on the earth’s land has been explored. In space, the bosses prefer to send people circling the Earth, and send machine guns to other planets. For the joys of discovering the unknown, one field of activity remains - the ocean. Only about 3% of its water volume has been explored, and what’s next is unknown.”

Cameron made a dive on the DeepSea Challenge submersible, it was not very comfortable, the researcher was in a half-bent state for a long time, since the diameter of the interior of the apparatus was only about 109 cm. The bathyscaphe, equipped with powerful cameras and unique equipment, allowed the popular director to shoot fantastic landscapes of deepest place on the planet. Later, together with The National Geographic, James Cameron created a breathtaking documentary film "Challenge to the Abyss".

It is worth noting that during his stay at the bottom of the deepest cavity in the world, Cameron did not see any monsters, or representatives of an underwater civilization, or an alien base. However, he literally looked into the eyes of the Challenger Abyss. According to him, during his short trip he experienced indescribable sensations. The ocean floor seemed to him not only deserted, but somehow "lunar ... lonely." He experienced a real shock from the feeling of "complete isolation from all mankind." True, the malfunctions that arose with the equipment of the bathyscaphe, perhaps, interrupted the "hypnotic" effect of the abyss on the famous director in time, and he rose to the surface to the people.

Inhabitants of the Mariana Trench

In recent years, many discoveries have been made in the study of the Mariana Trench. For example, in samples of the bottom soil taken by Cameron, scientists found more than 20 thousand of a wide variety of microorganisms. There are among the inhabitants of the depression and giant 10-centimeter amoeba, called xenophyophores. According to scientists, single-celled amoeba most likely reached such an incredible size due to the rather hostile environment at a depth of 10.6 km in which they are forced to live. High pressure, cold water and lack of light for some reason clearly benefited them, contributing to their gigantism.

Mollusks have also been found in the Mariana Trench. It is not clear how their shells withstand the enormous pressure of water, but they feel very comfortable at depth, and are located near hydrothermal springs that emit hydrogen sulfide, which is deadly for ordinary molluscs. However, local mollusks, having shown incredible abilities for chemistry, somehow adapted to process this destructive gas into protein, which allowed them to live where, at first
look, it's impossible to live.

Many inhabitants of the Mariana Trench are rather unusual. For example, scientists have found here a fish with a transparent head, in the center of which are its eyes. Thus, in the course of evolution, the eyes of fish received reliable protection from possible injury. At a great depth there are many bizarre and sometimes even scary fish, here we managed to capture on video a fantastically beautiful jellyfish. Of course, we still do not know all the inhabitants of the Mariana Trench, in this regard, scientists still have many discoveries.

There are many interesting things in this mysterious place for geologists. So, in a depression at a depth of 414 meters, the Daikoku volcano was discovered, in the crater of which there is a lake of bubbling molten sulfur right under the water. As scientists say, the only analogue of such a lake known to them is only on the satellite of Jupiter - Io. Also in the Mariana Trench, scientists found the only underwater source of liquid carbon dioxide on earth, called "Champagne" in honor of the famous French
alcoholic drink. There are also so-called black smokers in the depression, these are hydrothermal springs that function at a depth of about 2 kilometers, thanks to which the water temperature in the Mariana Trench is maintained within fairly favorable limits - from 1 to 4 degrees Celsius.

At the end of 2011, scientists discovered very mysterious structures in the Mariana Trench, these are four stone “bridges” stretching from one end of the trench to the other for 69 kilometers. Scientists still find it difficult to explain how these "bridges" arose, they believe that they were formed at the junction of the Pacific and Philippine tectonic plates.

Even as a child, I did not really like to go deep into the sea. It always seemed to me that someone or something would drag me to the depths. But then I still did not understand that three meters from the shore is generally difficult to call depth. There are sea depths on our planet that are not even half explored yet. This is 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. Conducted expeditions have shown that the maximum depth of the Mariana Trench is about 11 000 metmoat. Just think about this number. As much as 11 km under water. The deepest point of this trough is called the Challenger Deep.

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

First time heard about this place in 1875. Studies of that time showed that the depth of this trough was about 8000 m. A man went to this depth for the first time in 1960.

Mysteries of the Mariana Trench

This incredibly deep place on the planet, one might say, is practically unexplored. Its entire territory has been explored by no more than 5%. 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. Live in the depths huge amoeba.
3. Mollusks live that have adapted to high pressure.
4. At the bottom there are sources of liquid carbon dioxide.
5. In 2011 there were discovered 4 stone bridge.

The last person to dive into the Mariinsky Trench was James Cameron. His name, I think, many know or have heard. It was he who directed the well-known film "Titanic". The dive was completed in 2012. Probably, the Mariana Trench holds many more mysteries. Perhaps years later, or perhaps hundreds of years, humanity will be able to fully experience this depth.

There are many amazing places of this world, which are still unexplored by man. It turns out that only 5% of the ocean area is subject to science, the rest remains a mystery for her, covered in darkness. One of these mysterious places is the Mariana Trench, the depth of which is of the greatest importance among all the studied areas seabed. The Mariana Trench is another name for the place.

Under the thickness sea ​​water the pressure is a thousand times higher than the pressure that is fixed in the normal sea expanse. But high-tech devices and caring risky people helped to learn at least a little about the deep cleft. The Pacific Ocean is a true nature reserve, which is not only home to exotic unique animals, but also has remarkable topographical features.

Everyone knows about the existence of this amazing object. Information about it is given to us from a young age, but over time we forget both the numbers and curious facts about this strange and enchanting place. We decided to remind you where the Mariana Trench is located and what it is. You can learn a lot about the object of the ocean surface.

The heroine of our article is called by the name of the islands, which are located near the "bottom of the earth". It is located along the islands. In the Mariana Trench, the depth of which, it would seem, is capable of destroying all life, there are some microorganisms that have mutated due to high pressure. This tectonic fault has steep slopes - about 8⁰. Below - a wide platform about 5 km, which is divided by stone rapids. The pressure at the very bottom is 108.6 MPa - more than anywhere else on planet Earth.

The history of the study of the phenomenon

1872 is considered the date of discovery of the Mariana Trench, photos of the object appear a little later. The tectonic fault was explored as well as possible by the British on a military corvette in 1951. Becomes known depth Mariana Trench - 10863 meters. Since it was the Challenger ship that sank to the very bottom, to the deepest point, it became known as the Challenger Abyss.

Soviet scientists join the study. Since 1957, the scientific vessel "Vityaz" begins to surf the ocean and discovers that the depth of the Mariana Trench is even greater than previously stated - more than 11 kilometers. Our marine researchers established the fact of life at great depths, destroying the scientific stereotypes of that time. Subsequently, the ship was decommissioned into a museum value. Experiments continue to this day. Five years ago, the “bottom of the world” was visited by the automatic device Nereus, which descended 11 km below ocean level, took new photos and videos.

Diving to the "bottom of the Earth" is at least five hours. The ascent is somewhat faster. It is impossible to stay at the very bottom for more than 12 minutes, taking into account the technology that was at the disposal of the then researchers. Cosmic sums have to be allocated for the study of such terrestrial objects, so the work is going slowly.

Where is it

The Mariana Trench is located in the Western Pacific, two hundred meters from islands of the same name. It looks like a crescent-shaped crevice, its length is more than 2550 km, and its width reaches almost 70 km.

The results of the study showed that the depth in the Mariana Trench is about 11 thousand meters. Everest reaches only 8840 m. If you need a comparison, then the highest mountain on Earth can be turned over and placed entirely on the bottom of the Mariana Trench, but there will still be more than 2 km of water column above the top. We are talking only about the height, the width of the depression and the mountain do not match.

Curious facts and stories

• It's hot there. At this crazy depth, it turns out that it is not cold. The thermometer shows a positive value - up to 4⁰С. There are hot springs in the gorge, they make the water a hundred points hotter. Boiling the water column does not give high pressure.

• Population. Ignoring the unsuitable conditions for life, the inhabitants of the "bottom of the world" got along well. Huge xenophyophore amoebas live there - up to 10 cm. These are the simplest, but they mutated due to hot water and pressure. Amoeba are able to survive in an environment filled with dangerous chemical elements.

• The inhabitants of the Mariana Trench also became mollusks, although the form from the cover should have simply cracked under great pressure. But hot springs contain serpentine rich in hydrogen and methane. It is these substances that allow mollusks to survive. They managed to adapt even to hydrogen sulfide secretions, converting them into protein compounds.

• The birthplace of life on the planet. The Champagne Key at the bottom of the ocean is a unique area underwater that contains liquid CO2. It forms specific bubbles, similar to those in a glass of sparkling wine. Scientists have suggested that a primary form of life could have appeared around this key in due time. This is due to the presence of all the necessary substances.

• The depression is slippery. There is no sand or anything like that. At the very bottom there is a thickness of small shells and dead plankton accumulated over thousands of years. The pressure makes this mass look like slime.

• Sulfur in a liquid aggregate state. The Mariana Trench, which is not so easy to take a photo of, is rich in various geoformations. At a depth of more than 400 meters, on the way to it, there is a whole volcano. Near Daikoku is located big lake, filled with liquid sulfur, which is nowhere else on Earth to be found. The substance boils at a temperature of 187⁰С, and under it, it is believed, there is an even larger layer of liquid sulfur, which could also contribute to the formation of life on our planet.

• There are bridges there. In 2011, a group of research scientists discovered stone bridges in the Mariana Trench. Four structures stretched between the abyss for almost 70 km. They are located between two tectonic plates - the Pacific and the Philippine. One of them was discovered even earlier, in the 80s of the XX century. It is very high, over 2.5 km.

• The first person at this depth. Since the beginning of its discovery in 1875, only three people have plucked up the courage to dive into the Mariana Trench. The first was an American, Lieutenant Don Walsh, and with him the scientist Jacques Piccard in 1960. The dive was made on board the Challenger. In 2012, film director James Cameron visited the Mariana Trench on a bathyscaphe, and took a photo of it as a keepsake. The man had a painful impression of complete loneliness from this place

.

• The riddle of sawn cables. Incredible depths are terrifying. And the first explorers were afraid of unprecedented monsters inside the Mariana Trench. The first fact of a collision with the unknown happened at the time of the Glomar Challenger dive. The registrar began to record a metallic sound, like a screech, and shadows that appeared around the ship. The teachings became concerned about the expensive equipment made of titanium in the shape of a hedgehog, and a decision was made to take the research vessel onto the ship. The “Hedgehog” was damaged after extraction, the titanium 20-centimeter cables were crumpled, or rather, half sawn. There was a complete impression that someone wanted to stop the ship at a depth.

• Prehistoric lizard. There was a hitch during the dive of the Highfish ship with scientists on board. The device reached a depth of 7 km and stopped. The researchers turned on the infrared camera. She suddenly snatched out of the ocean darkness a huge dinosaur that was biting into the bathyscaphe. With the help of an electric gun, he was driven away.

• The inhabitants of the Mariana Trench are protected by law. This is a national American monument, rightfully the largest nature reserve in the world. There are several restrictions on staying in this area. Mining is prohibited here, you can not fish, but you can swim.

The Mayan Trench is inhabited by:

1. Terrible and not so fish

2. Various octopuses

3. And other strange creatures

We are close to the fact that the Mariana Trench will soon become closer to modern man. Perhaps in the near future there will even be tourism. But for now, this option remains on a par with the possibility of affordable space tourism. It is amazing how similar an earthly object is to distant stars in this respect. It is just as unexplored as the celestial bodies. But we at least know for sure that life exists in the Mariana Trench. According to a common hypothesis, it could have come from there. In this case, the study of the deepest place of the World Ocean acquires global significance.

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Despite the fact that the oceans are closer to us than the outer planets of the solar system, people explored only five percent of the ocean floor, which remains one of the greatest mysteries our planet. deepest part ocean - Mariana Trench or Mariana Trenchis one of the most famous places, about which we still do not know very much.

With water pressure that is a thousand times greater than at sea level, diving into this place is akin to suicide.

But thanks to modern technology and a few brave souls who, risking their lives, went down there, we learned a lot of interesting things about this amazing place.

Mariana Trench on the map. Where is she?

The Mariana Trench or the Mariana Trench is located in the western pacific to the east (about 200 km) from 15 Mariana Islands near Guam. It is a crescent-shaped trench in the earth's crust, about 2550 km long and 69 km wide on average.

Mariana Trench coordinates: 11°22′ north latitude and 142°35′ east longitude.

Depth of the Mariana Trench

According to the latest research in 2011, the depth of the deepest point of the Mariana Trench is about 10,994 meters ± 40 meters. For comparison, the height of high peak world - Everest is 8,848 meters. This means that if Everest were in the Mariana Trench, it would be covered by another 2.1 km of water.

Here are others Interesting Facts about what you can meet along the way and at the very bottom of the Mariana Trench.

Temperature at the bottom of the Mariana Trench

1. Very hot water

Going down to such a depth, we expect that it will be very cold there. The temperature here reaches just above zero, varying 1 to 4 degrees Celsius.

However, at a depth of about 1.6 km from the surface of the Pacific Ocean, there are hydrothermal vents called "black smokers". They shoot water that heats up to 450 degrees Celsius.

This water is rich in minerals that help support life in the area. Despite the temperature of the water, which is hundreds of degrees above the boiling point, she does not boil here due to incredible pressure, 155 times higher than on the surface.

Inhabitants of the Mariana Trench

2. Giant toxic amoeba

A few years ago, at the bottom of the Mariana Trench, they discovered giant 10-centimeter amoebas, called xenophyophores.

These single-celled organisms probably got so big because of the environment they live in at a depth of 10.6 km. The cold temperature, high pressure, and lack of sunlight most likely contributed to these amoeba got huge.

In addition, xenophyophores have incredible abilities. They are resistant to many elements and chemicals, including uranium, mercury and lead,which would kill other animals and people.

3. Clams

The strong water pressure in the Mariana Trench does not give any animal with a shell or bones a chance to survive. However, in 2012, shellfish were discovered in a trough near serpentine hydrothermal vents. Serpentine contains hydrogen and methane, which allows living organisms to form.

TO How did mollusks keep their shells under such pressure?, remains unknown.

In addition, hydrothermal vents release another gas, hydrogen sulfide, which is deadly to shellfish. However, they learned to bind the sulfur compound into a safe protein, which allowed the population of these mollusks to survive.

At the bottom of the Mariana Trench

4. Pure liquid carbon dioxide

hydrothermal source Champagne The Mariana Trench, which lies outside the Okinawa Trench near Taiwan, is the only known underwater area where liquid carbon dioxide can be found. The spring, discovered in 2005, got its name from the bubbles that turned out to be carbon dioxide.

Many believe that these springs, called "white smokers" because of the lower temperature, may be the source of life. It was in the depths of the oceans with low temperatures and an abundance of chemicals and energy that life could originate.

5. Slime

If we had the opportunity to swim to the very depths of the Mariana Trench, then we would feel that it covered with a layer of viscous mucus. Sand, in its usual form, does not exist there.

The bottom of the depression mainly consists of crushed shells and plankton residues that have accumulated at the bottom of the depression for many years. Due to the incredible pressure of the water, almost everything there turns into fine greyish-yellow thick mud.

Mariana Trench

6. Liquid sulfur

Volcano Daikoku, which is located at a depth of about 414 meters on the way to the Mariana Trench, is the source of one of the rarest phenomena on our planet. Here is lake of pure molten sulfur. The only place where liquid sulfur can be found is Jupiter's moon Io.

In this pit, called "cauldron", a seething black emulsion boils at 187 degrees Celsius. Although scientists have not been able to explore this place in detail, it is possible that even more liquid sulfur is contained deeper. It may reveal the secret of the origin of life on Earth.

According to the Gaia hypothesis, our planet is one self-governing organism in which all living and non-living things are connected to support its life. If this hypothesis is correct, then a number of signals can be observed in the natural cycles and systems of the Earth. So the sulfur compounds created by organisms in the ocean must be stable enough in the water to allow them to pass into the air and back to land again.

7. Bridges

At the end of 2011, in the Mariana Trench, it was discovered four stone bridges, which stretched from one end to the other for 69 km. They appear to have formed at the junction of the Pacific and Philippine tectonic plates.

One of the bridges Dutton Ridge, which was discovered back in the 1980s, turned out to be incredibly high, like a small mountain. At the highest point the ridge reaches 2.5 km over the Challenger Deep.

Like many aspects of the Mariana Trench, the purpose of these bridges remains unclear. However, the very fact that these formations were discovered in one of the most mysterious and unexplored places is amazing.

8James Cameron's dive into the Mariana Trench

Since opening the deepest place in the Mariana Trench - "Challenger Deep" in 1875, only three people were here. The first was an American lieutenant Don Walsh and researcher Jacques Picard who dived on January 23, 1960 on the Trieste.

After 52 years, another person dared to dive here - a famous film director James Cameron. So March 26, 2012 Cameron went down to the bottom and took some photos.