The Mariana Trench (or Mariana Trench) became known in 1875, when the British survey ship Challenger first explored the depths this place using a deep-sea lot.
The ship's crew was probably very surprised when they unwound kilometers of rope so that the cargo could finally reach the bottom. Based on the results of the study, it was determined that at the deepest point the bottom is located at a distance of 8,367 meters from the surface of the ocean.
In 1951, a new British expedition on the Challenger 2 ship, using an echo sounder, determined the depth of the depression at 10,863 ± 100 meters. The depth of the bottom varies depending on its topography. Since then, the deepest point on the planet has been called the Challenger Deep.
Progress moved forward, and man began to think about visiting the bottom Mariana Trench using a manned deep-sea vehicle.
The first human dive to the bottom of the Mariana Trench. Project "Nekton"
The first two people in history to reach the deepest point on earth were Swiss scientist Jacques Piccard and US Navy Lieutenant Don Walsh.
The device, which made it possible to dive under extreme pressure conditions, was named “Trieste” and was originally built by two Swiss scientist-enthusiasts - Auguste Picard and his son Jacques Picard. After a series of successful dives in the Mediterranean Sea, Trieste was purchased by the US Navy, which was interested in exploring the ocean depths. After modernizing the bathyscaphe, installing a heavy-duty gondola and modern navigation and electronic systems, Trieste was ready to conquer new depths.
The target for the dive was chosen to be no less than the deepest point on the globe. The project, called Necron, planned to take two people to the bottom of the Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench and carry out scientific research on the site. On January 23, 1960, at 08:23 local time, the Trieste, with Jacques Piccard and Don Walsh on board, began its slow descent into darkness. After 4 hours 43 minutes, the submersible touched the bottom at a distance of 10,919 meters from the ocean surface.
For the first time, a person found himself at the bottom of the deepest place on the planet. Pressure 1072 times higher than normal, with terrible force crushed the nacelle of the bathyscaphe.
The researchers stayed at the bottom for 20 minutes, during which they conducted a series of scientific experiments to measure radiation, measured the water temperature, which was 3.3 °C (the air temperature in the gondola was 4.5 °C), a large number of photographs of the ocean floor and even saw a small fish that looked like a flounder.
After dropping the ballast, the bathyscaphe began its ascent, which lasted 3 hours 27 minutes.
For 52 long years, no one else conquered the Mariana Trench, limiting themselves only to the descent of automatic robots into the Challenger Abyss.
Conquest of the Mariana Trench by James Cameron
Who would have thought that the next person who, for the first time in many years, would decide to visit the bottom of the Mariana Trench would not be some ocean scientist, but the famous Hollywood director James Cameron! March 26, 2012 Cameron on a deep-sea submersible Deepsea Challenger dived to a depth of 10,908 meters.
Bathyscaphe Deepsea Challenger | The Deepsea Challenger bathyscaphe, containing the latest scientific equipment and 3D cameras, implies the presence of only one pilot in the cockpit, but allows you to stay under water for up to 56 hours and freely maneuver on the ocean floor using 12 electric motors. Its creation, taking into account the design stage, took almost 7 years, and construction was carried out by a private Australian company.
During the study of the bottom of the Mariana Trench, the director conducted video and photography, and also, using manipulators, took samples of ocean soil, where, as it turned out later, microorganisms previously unknown to science were present.
Currently, James Cameron is the third and last person to visit the deepest point on the planet - the Challenger Deep at the very bottom of the Mariana Trench. In total, only two underwater vehicles with people on board sank to the bottom of the Mariana Trench.
Illustration: depositphotos.com | tolokonov
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The Mariana Trench is the deepest place on Earth known to date, located in the western Pacific Ocean near Mariana Islands. According to measurements in 2011, its depth is 10,994 ± 40 m below sea level.
Coordinates: The deepest point of the Mariana Trench is the 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)).
The first exploration of the Mariana Trench was carried out by the British ship Challenger in 1875, but the first to find life at a depth of 6,000 meters were Russian researchers aboard the ship Vityaz in 1957.
The first deep-sea dive on Earth: the bathyscaphe "Century of Progress" in 1934 with Americans on board W. Beebe and O. Barton descended to a record depth for that time - 923 meters.
In 1953, Auguste Piccard dived on the bathyscaphe Trieste to a depth of 3154 meters, this was the maximum depth to which the device could dive before it was purchased by the US Navy in 1958 and was converted in 2 years in Germany into a device capable of diving to a depth of 11 km?! Maybe?!
Then, on January 23, 1960, oceanographer and designer Jacques Picard, together with Don Walsh and a US Air Force lieutenant, first sank to the bottom of the Mariana Trench.
And this despite the fact that Jacques Piccard managed to dive to a depth of 11 km. back in 1960. The only thing that can be said here is how much technology has advanced in 2 years, incredible craftsmen.
All this also happened during the era of crushing victories of the United States in the technological sphere, for example, the flight to the Moon took place in the 60s, although the first man landed on the Moon in 69, and the flight was planned for September 61, i.e. they wanted to do everything at once and in almost one year.
Although until now, the only officially known vehicles involved in real dives and rescue operations, even in the filming of Hollywood films and in the filming of National Geographic films, were only the Mir deep-sea vehicles, belonging to Russia, which have an official maximum diving depth of 6500 meters. As we see, this is not enough to sink to the bottom of the Mariana Trench. These devices were developed starting in 1980 by Russian and Finnish scientists; the body was based on marragen steel (cobalt, nickel, chromium, titanium). They managed to get a deep-sea vehicle only in 1987, but this device cannot dive below 7000 meters.
By the way, all dives to the bottom of the Mariana Trench were never official and were poorly covered because... took place under the control of the US Navy and under the cameras of the initiators of these dives.
Including the little-publicized dive of James Cameron (a Hollywood director), who supposedly sank alone to the bottom of the Mariana Trench on March 26, 2012, in the Deepsea Challenger bathyscaphe, which was developed in Australia and was strictly classified, even the name of the submarine was not disclosed until dives. Let us remind you who supported the last immersion project:
- American national the National Geographic company and the Swiss company Rolex. For those in the know, nothing needs to be explained.
Another strange point today is that little is known about any deep-sea vehicles that sank to the bottom of the Mariana Trench, although drawings and the devices themselves can be seen, for example, the bathyscaphe "Trieste" is a museum exhibit.
But everything is known about the bathyscaphes "Mir-1" and "Mir-2" and their real dives, including official, well-known video footage. These manned vehicles belong to the research vessel Akademik Mstislav Keldysh.
Here are quotes that speak about the political nature of this project; we recall that after the creation of the Worlds, the Finnish enterprise was closed.
“Under pressure from the CIA and the Pentagon, Rauma-Repola was forced to abandon the creation of deep-sea vehicles and the promising development of marine technologies. Such devices are needed in the construction and maintenance of oil platforms. One of the abandoned projects was the development of fuel cells. The Rauma-Repola company abandoned the production of oil platforms and is now mainly engaged in wood processing. Rauma-Repola was then the sixth largest concern in Finland and employed 18,000 people. Now its business in the field of metalworking is continued by the Metso concern."
“The company’s reputation as a manufacturer of “Worlds” is still at its best. According to Tauno Matomäki, international concerns are interested in deep-sea vehicles capable of diving to 12,000 meters and this is technically possible. Such a device is technically possible, but not politically. It can be bought, but it’s problematic to sell - the United States, after the mistake with the Mirs, is carefully monitoring this area, and all American deep-sea vehicles belong to the military department."
Judging by these quotes, it is clear that any approach to deep-sea research is fraught with danger for any companies that are not acceptable to the United States. Therefore, the conclusion about diving to the bottom of the Mariana Trench can be made far from ambiguous.
There were also unmanned dives that were initiated by Japan and the United States.
- On March 24, 1995, the Kaiko probe (Japan) was lowered to the bottom
- On May 31, 2009, the automatic underwater vehicle "Nereus" (USA) sank to the bottom, by the way, it took all the official photographs and videos from the bottom of the depression and took soil samples.
The last dive to a depth of 9977 meters, which took place on May 9, 2014, sadly ended with the automatic underwater vehicle "Nereus" (USA), which made a successful dive to great depths in 2009, exploded some time after diving off the coast of New Zealand in the Kermadec Trench.
It’s strange that, seeing how dangerous and almost impossible it is for pilots to work at such a depth, they previously succeeded.
Quote scientific community USA about what happened:
"The loss of the device was a huge loss for the US scientific community, because the device was the only one of its kind. For comparison, the DeepSea Challenger bathyscaphe, owned by film director James Cameron, is capable of diving to a depth of 10 thousand meters, but it cannot dive like that often as required for research."
The statement of the scientific community does not correspond to reality, according to National Geographic, the bathyscaphe "DeepSea Challenger" before plunging into the abyss, Challenger made 4 test dives almost in a row, one of them to a depth of 8 km (By the way, according to the research group, the device allegedly did not reach the bottom at 8 km dive because many devices failed, which they managed to restore in a matter of days by adding one line of code to the software). The question arises: who to believe? Some say that he cannot dive often, while others report that he can even do so. And further interesting fact Before Cameron dives to the bottom, 2 developers of this bathyscaphe die.
From this it should be concluded that the director plunged to a critical depth, risking his life for no reason. If it was possible to simply lower the device without a pilot and the value of the dive would not change, as was proven by the Nereus dive in 2009, the second dive of which ended sadly. If Cameron’s bathyscaphe is so vulnerable, how could he dive on it without risk? Human? If a subsequent dive is impossible, then the bathyscaphe was already on the verge of safety. It should be noted that Cameron is truly an obsessed person and his tenacity leaves no doubt.
Immediately after returning from another solo voyage (Chile - Australia) - 06/01/2014, Fedor Konyukhov said that he was ready to go to the bottom of the Mariana Trench and spend several days. And here are Fedor’s words during his last journey, when he sailed over the deepest place in the Southern Hemisphere, the Tongo Trench:
“By the way, yesterday I crossed the Tonga Trench - the deepest place in the South Pacific Ocean. There were more than ten kilometers under the bottom ocean water. The scale is breathtaking! Not long ago I dived into the ocean to clear algae from the water intake system of a desalination plant. It was half as deep then, but when I looked down I was in awe. A completely empty, endless black abyss stretched under our feet. This is where you really feel all your insignificance! When you look down there, fear naturally rises in your soul. At that moment, I suddenly realized that in the ocean and in life it is better to always look forward than down. Another lesson from the Lord..."
Here's another confirmation Despite the fact that there were no dives into the Mariana Trench, the best minds have been fighting for several decades to break through the depth level, first at 5 km, then at 6 km (by the way, it was Cameron who invited Mira to star in Titanic, at that time their maximum diving depth was only 6 km no more), today, as you will see from the article They were able to descend to a depth of just over 6 km, but how much time had passed, 17 years. You understand how difficult this technological breakthrough is.
A little mysticism and other points of view can be seen in this film
Cameron's controversial dive. National Geographic film "Journey to the Center of the Earth or the Magnificent Lie from the Director."
There is such a film, we deliberately removed it from the article because... The deceitfulness of this video has no limits, but people willingly believe it.
Not only is there almost not a single real photograph from the bottom, the video mainly shows the director himself, plus all these people
they brazenly decided to laugh and showed the call of the director’s wife to the bottom of the Mariana Trench. Well, this is generally beyond the bounds because... Not only does this violate safety regulations, but what state must a person be in in order to calmly talk to his wife and even be able to make a joke? Another indirect evidence that Cameron did not sink to the bottom of the Mariana Trench is the fact that he was unable to take soil and water samples from the bottom; the hydraulics allegedly failed. The obvious desire to shoot blockbusters does not leave him for a second, he could not resist this time either, he had to make a film about the Hero of Reality, and no Hollywood films there, but only this time the leading role was not Arnold Schwarzenegger, but the director himself .
Here's a theatrical dive from a 1960 Rolex
a manned dive to such a depth is impossible today, and this video from Rolex shows that 2 volunteers were able to do this in 1960, let me remind you that before that the bathyscaphe "Trieste" was able to dive to a maximum of 3154 meters and here is a miracle in just 2 year they decided to plunge almost 11 km into the abyss.
In the film below you will hear with your own ears that American researchers claim that to this day this depth remains unconquered by man.
At the same time, truly adequate people do not dive pilots to such depths, but only the apparatus and that which is tested for several years before the dive.
In fact, basically everything is kept silent about real diving to great depths because... most of them end with the disappearance of unmanned underwater vehicles.
In this film you can see footage of animals living at the bottom of the Mariana Trench, as well as some fragments of the bottom of the Mariana Trench
Photos:
Research vessel "Vityaz"
Bathyscaphe "Trieste"
Bathyscaphe "Trieste"
Bathyscaphe "Kaiko"
Bathyscaphe "Nereus" last dive May 09, 2014 New Zealand Kermadec Trench, the last dive not because I haven’t dived again yet, but because this deep-sea descent (naturally not manned) vehicle disappeared into the Kerbedek Abyss (this is in the northeast of New Zealand), at a depth of 9977 m (this is almost the bottom of the Kerbedek Trench ) the connection with the device was interrupted, and the cables on which it descended were simply torn off. Moreover, it was the only one of its kind; the cost of this device was $8 million. The device made test dives to shallow depths almost every year, and deep-sea dives only once 4-5 years. It should be noted that the connection suddenly disappeared, the operator simply saw that the image on the monitor had disappeared, control was lost.
The researchers sailed to a safe distance and waited for the device to surface. Yes, indeed, the wreckage of the device surfaced, but only the next day. There are many assumptions, but the main version, as always, is a common failure - pressure in the ocean.
"Nereus" was the property of WHOI (Woods Knole Oceanographic Institution). Let me remind you that this is the only device that, as stated, visited the bottom of the Mariana Trench and provided scientific evidence of being at the bottom, including photos and videos (this video is present in the article) materials.
This apparatus, according to many oceanologists, was the only one of its kind, as if hinting, but not saying out loud, that no apparatus could actually dive to such depths.
Cameron before diving into the Mariana Trench, we advertise a Rolex with supposedly the first person to visit the bottom of the trench.
It’s a strange feeling that before such a serious task, a dive that in almost 50% of cases will be unsuccessful, as unofficial statistics of deep-sea diving say
the person who is going to do this is advertising a watch. Even the word “nonsense” is a stretch.
Cameron's Bathyscaphe DeepSea Challenger
The Kaiko probe left evidence of its arrival at the bottom of the depression.
Deep-sea manned vehicle "Mir-1"
What is the Mariana Trench (Mariana Trench)? This is the deepest part of the World Ocean. It is located in the western part of the Pacific Ocean. It is located 200 km east of the Mariana Islands. Outwardly, it resembles a crescent-shaped scar in the earth's crust with a length of about 2550 km and an average width of 69 km. The deepest point of the gutter is Challenger Deep. It is a gap in the southern part of the depression.
Its maximum depth is 10994 meters with a permissible error of plus or minus 40 meters. That is, at maximum it can reach 11034 meters below sea level. The pressure at the depth of the trench is 1000 times higher than atmospheric pressure at sea level.
At the same time, the Challenger Deep is not the part of the seabed closest to the center of the earth. The point here is that the Earth is not an ideal sphere at all. It is compressed at the poles, and therefore the bottom of the Arctic Ocean is 13 km closer to the center of the planet than the deep-sea gap in the Mariana Trench.
Is there life in the Mariana Trench?
At great sea depths, pressure increases significantly, and therefore many marine organisms cannot exist in such conditions. In 1960, the Mariana Trench was thought to be home to large creatures. Among them, flounder up to 30 cm long was called. But today, marine biologists are skeptical about this statement. They allow the presence of sea cucumbers near the bottom, but not flounder.
In 2011, research was carried out using special cameras equipped with digital video and lighting. As a result of this, giant single-celled amoebas (xenophyophores) with a size of more than 10 cm were discovered. They inhabit the ocean floor at a depth of 10.6 km.
In 2014, at a depth of 8145 meters, cameras recorded absolutely the new kind snail fish. Also, dispassionate digital video captured very large crustaceans. In this case, we can talk about deep-sea gigantism. It is an integral part of high pressure and low temperatures.
In 2017, at a depth of 8178 meters, an unidentified type of snail was photographed. In general, it should be noted that the bottom of the trench is light in color and covered with diatomaceous silt. Consequently, various forms of microorganisms live at great depths.
As for giant mysterious creatures and underwater civilizations, cameras have not recorded anything like this at such great depths. Life there is quite boring, monotonous and takes place in complete darkness. At the same time, the Mariana Trench is of great interest to science, since it is characterized by special forms of life that can exist under enormous pressure.
Measuring the depth of the Mariana Trench
The first depth measurements were taken in 1875 from the sail-steam corvette Challenger using an ordinary rope with a load. The established depth was 8184 meters (4475 fathoms). In 1899, a more advanced lot recorded a depth of 9,636 meters.
In 1951, a research vessel also named Challenger, using an echo sounder, discovered the deepest place of the Mariana Trench. Its depth at that time was 10,900 meters. This place was called the Challenger Deep.
In 1957, the Soviet ship Vityaz recorded a depth of 11,022 meters. And in 1962 sea ship"Spencer", using a depth gauge, gave a different value, equal to 10915 meters. In 1984, the Japanese vessel Takuo, using a beam echo sounder, reported a maximum depth of 10,920 meters. In 1995, another Japanese ship reported a value of 10,911 meters.
For many years, it was the depth of 11,022 meters, determined by Soviet specialists, that was considered official. It was even listed in encyclopedic reference books. But studies of the Challenger Deep, carried out in 2011, gave a value of 10994 meters with an error of plus or minus 40 meters. It is this depth, measured by a multibeam echo sounder, that is considered the most accurate so far.
Diving to the bottom of the Mariana Trench
There are 4 dives in total. The first was committed on January 23, 1960. The bathyscaphe Trieste sank to the bottom of the Challenger Deep. There were two people in it: Swiss oceanographer Jacques Piccard and US Navy officer Don Walsh. The dive lasted 4 hours 48 minutes. The researchers stayed at the bottom for 20 minutes. They ate a bar of chocolate, because they were very nervous and hungry, and then began to climb. In time it was 3 hours 15 minutes.
Bathyscaphe "Trieste", on which Jacques Piccard and Don Walsh sank to the bottom of the Mariana Trench in 1960
Onboard instruments showed a depth of 11,521 meters. But later it was corrected and became equal to 10916 meters. People didn't see anything special overboard. They found only small flat fish, similar in appearance to flounder.
Decades passed, and on March 24, 1995, the Japanese unmanned vehicle Kaiko descended into the ocean depths. It showed a depth of 9911 meters. A soil sample was brought to the surface. It contained living organisms.
Another 14 years passed, and on May 31, 2009, the fully automated Nereus apparatus set off to conquer the Challenger Abyss. He gave a depth of 10902 meters. In addition, he shot video, took photographs and took soil samples from the seabed.
Thus, the three expeditions gave different depth readings: 10916, 9911 and 10902 meters. The fourth expedition was carried out by Canadian director James Cameron on March 26, 2012. He became the 3rd person to reach the bottom of the Challenger Deep, and the first to do it alone.
The dive took place on the Dipsy Challenger bathyscaphe. Compared to Trieste it was more modern apparatus. But here we must understand that 2012 and 1960 had few similarities in terms of the level of technological progress.
The Dipsy Challenger was almost 13 times lighter than the Trieste. It weighed 11.8 tons, while the last one weighed 150 tons. The more modern submersible contained much more measuring and scientific equipment due to its compact size. "Trieste" sank to depth in 4 hours 48 minutes and rose in 3 hours 15 minutes. The Dipsy Challenger descended for only 2 hours and surfaced within 1 hour.
The Trieste remained at depth for only 20 minutes, and the crew had no opportunity to take photographs. And James Cameron stayed at the bottom in his submersible for 6 hours. He took both photographs and video. Soil samples with living organisms contained in them were also taken. The instruments recorded a depth of 10,898 meters, but later processed data gave a more accurate depth. It was 10908 meters.
James Cameron before diving to the bottom of the Challenger Deep
In the summer of 2015, specialists from the University of Oregon began studying the Mariana Trench on behalf of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. A titanium-coated hydrophone was lowered into the Challenger Deep. For 3 weeks he transmitted data. When they were deciphered, they discovered natural and artificial sounds. These were noises from submarines, earthquakes, typhoons, as well as sounds made by baleen whales.
Mariana Trench pollution
In 2016, a scientific expedition examined the chemical composition of the soil in the Mariana Trench. An increased concentration of PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyl) was found in it. It was widely used throughout the world as dielectric and cooling fluids until 1978. Then it was banned due to high toxicity. PCBs cause cancer in both humans and animals.
It was disposed of and chosen for this ocean depths. So it is not surprising that the Mariana Trench became its repository. In addition, it is proposed to use the deep-sea fissure as a nuclear waste disposal site. There is an assumption that the subduction of tectonic plates will pull them deep into the Earth's mantle. However, subductions are accompanied by megatric earthquakes, the consequences of which are unpredictable.
Humanity first creates a bunch of problems, and then tries to solve them using the laws of nature. But these laws can turn against humanity itself. And the Mariana Trench is not a magic wand at all. This is a geological formation that should be studied, not used as a dumping ground for all the crap that has accumulated on Earth over the last 100 years.
In our article we want to talk about the mysterious Mariana Trench. This is the deepest point on the Earth's surface. By and large, this is where our knowledge about this place ends. But the Mariana Trench and the monsters that live in it are an eternal matter of speculation. Her secrets are as deep as she is.
The first mystery of the Mariana Trench
One of the mysteries of the depression is its depth. Until recently, it was believed that the Mariana Trench, as it is more correct to call this place from a scientific point of view, has a depth of more than eleven kilometers. However, the latest modern technical measurements give a value of 10994 kilometers. Although, it is worth noting that this value is very relative, since diving to the bottom of the Mariana Trench is a technically very complex event, which is influenced by many factors. Scientists talk about a possible error of forty meters.
Where is the Mariana Trench?
The Mariana Trench is located in the western Pacific Ocean, off the coast of Guam and Micronesia. Its deepest point is called the Challenger Deep and is located 340 kilometers from
Answering the question of where the Mariana Trench is located, you can give its exact geographical coordinates- 11°21′ N. w. 142°12′ E. d. The place received this name due to the fact that it is located nearby and is part of a state such as Guam.
What is the Mariana Trench like?
What is the Mariana Trench? The ocean carefully hides its true size. One can only guess about them. This is not just a “very deep hole.” The gutter itself stretched along seabed one and a half thousand kilometers. The depression is V-shaped, that is, it is much wider at the top, and the walls narrow downwards.
The bottom of the Mariana Trench has a flat topography, and the width varies from 1 to 5 kilometers. Its upper part extends for eighty kilometers in width.
This place is one of the most inaccessible on our earth.
Is it necessary to explore the depression?
It seems that life at such depths is simply impossible. Therefore, it makes no sense to study such an abyss. However, the secrets of the Mariana Trench have always interested and attracted researchers. It's hard to believe, but space is easier to explore these days than such depths. Many people have been outside the Earth, but only three brave men dived to the bottom of the trench.
Study of the gutter
The British were the first to explore the Mariana Trench. In 1872, the Challenger ship with scientists entered the waters of the Pacific Ocean to study the trench. It was found that this point is the deepest on the globe. Since then, people have been haunted by the secrets and creatures of the Mariana Trench.
As time passed, research was carried out, a new depth value was established - 10863 meters.
Research is carried out by lowering deep-sea vehicles. Most often these are unmanned automatic vehicles. And in 1960, Jacques Picard and Don Walsh descended to the very bottom on the bathyscaphe Trieste. In 2012, Jace Cameron ventured into the Deepsea Challenger.
Russian researchers also studied the Mariana Trench. In 1957, the ship "Vityaz" headed to the trench area. Scientists not only measured the depth of the trench (11,022 meters), but also discovered the presence of life at a depth of more than seven kilometers. This event made a kind of revolution in the world of science in the mid-twentieth century. At that time it was believed that there could be no living creatures at such depths. This is where all the fun begins. There are simply too many stories and legends about this place to count. So what exactly is the Mariana Trench? Do monsters really live here or are they just fairy tales? Let's try to figure it out.
Mariana Trench: monsters, mysteries, secrets
As we mentioned earlier, the first brave daredevils to descend to the bottom of the depression were Jacques Picard and Don Walsh. They descended on a heavy submersible called "Trieste". The thickness of the walls of the structure was thirteen centimeters. She was sank to the bottom for five hours. Having reached the deepest point, the researchers managed to stay there for only twelve minutes. Then the rise of the bathyscaphe immediately began, which took three hours. No matter how amazing this may seem, living organisms were discovered at the bottom. The fish of the Mariana Trench are flat creatures similar to flounder, no more than thirty centimeters long.
In 1995, the Japanese fell into the abyss. And in 2009, a miracle device called Nereus descended to the deepest point. He not only took a number of photos, but also took soil samples.
In 1996, The New York Times published materials from the next dive of the apparatus from the Challenger research vessel. It turns out that when the equipment began to be lowered, after some time the instruments recorded a strong metallic grinding sound. This fact was the reason for the immediate rise of the equipment to the surface. What the researchers saw stunned them. The steel structure was fairly dented, and the thick, durable cable seemed to have been sawed. This is the unexpected surprise that the Mariana Trench presented. Were the monsters that crushed the equipment, or representatives of alien intelligence, or mutated octopuses... A variety of proposals were made, each of which was more incredible than the previous one. However, no one found the true reason, since there was no evidence for any of the theories. All assumptions were at the level of fantastic guesses. But the secrets of the Mariana Trench have still not been revealed.
Another mysterious story
Another incredibly mysterious incident occurred with a team of German researchers who lowered their apparatus called “Highfish” to the bottom. At some point, the device stopped diving, and the cameras installed on it gave an image of the enormous size of the lizard, which was actively trying to chew on an unknown thing. The team drove the monster away from the device using an electrical discharge. The creature got scared and swam away and did not appear again. It is a pity that such events were not recorded by the apparatus so that there would be irrefutable evidence.
After this incident, the Mariana Trench began to acquire more and more new facts, legends and speculations. Ship crews kept reporting about a huge monster in these waters, which was towing ships at high speed. It has become difficult to discern what is truth and what is speculation. The Mariana Trench, whose monsters haunted many people, still remains the most mysterious point on the planet.
Undeniable facts
Along with the most incredible legends regarding the Mariana Trench, there are very specific, but incredible facts. There is no need to doubt them, since they are supported by evidence.
In 1948, lobster fishermen (Australian) reported a large transparent fish that was at least thirty meters long. They saw her in the sea. Judging by their description, it looks like a very ancient shark (Carcharodon megalodon species) that lived several million years ago. Scientists were able to reconstruct the appearance of the shark using the remains. The monstrous creature was 25 meters long and weighed one hundred tons. Her mouth was two meters in size, and each tooth was at least ten centimeters. Just imagine this monster. It was the teeth of such a creature that were discovered by oceanographers at the bottom of the vast Pacific Ocean. The youngest of them is at least eleven thousand years old.
This unique find makes it possible to assume that not all such creatures became extinct a couple of million years ago. Perhaps at the very bottom of the cavity these incredible predators are hiding from human eyes. Research into the mysterious depths continues to this day, since the abyss conceals many secrets that people have not yet come close to revealing.
At the bottom of the depression, living organisms experience enormous pressure. It would seem that in such conditions nothing living could exist. However, this opinion is wrong. Mollusks live peacefully here, their shells do not suffer at all from pressure. They are not even affected by hydrothermal vents that produce methane and hydrogen. Incredible, but it's a fact!
Another mystery is a hydrothermal vent called “Champagne”. Bubbles of carbon dioxide bubble in its waters. This is the only such object in the world and it is located precisely in the depression, which has given scientists reason to talk about the possible origin of life in water in this very place.
There is a volcano called Daikoku in the Mariana Trench. In its crater there is a lake of molten sulfur, which boils at a huge temperature of 187 degrees. You won't find anything like this anywhere else on earth. The only analogue of this phenomenon is in space (on a satellite of Jupiter called Io).
Amazing place
In the Mariana Trench live giant single-celled amoebas, the size of which reaches ten centimeters. They live next to uranium, lead, and mercury that are destructive to living beings. However, they not only do not die from them, but also feel great.
The Mariana Trench is the greatest miracle on earth. Everything inanimate and living are combined here. Everything that kills life under normal conditions, at the bottom of the depression, on the contrary, gives living organisms strength to survive. Isn't this a miracle? How much unknown is hidden in this place!
Today we will talk about the deepest oceanic place on the planet - the Mariana Trench and its deepest point - the Challenger Deep.
“The Mariana Trench (or Mariana Trench) is an oceanic deep-sea trench in the western Pacific Ocean, the deepest known on Earth. Named after the nearby Mariana Islands.
The deepest point of the Mariana Trench is the 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.”
Many people know from school that the depth of the Mariana Trench is 11 km, and this is the deepest place on the planet. However, with a slight amendment, it is the deepest known. That is, theoretically there could be even deeper 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, the terrible inhabitants of the underwater depths, the “monsters” guarding the bottom of the earth, mysteries, 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 atmospheric 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?
The length of the trench along the Mariana Islands is 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 "Challenging 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 sea monster, but he 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 realization 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 of the Mariana Abyss by Cameron, a similar attempt was made 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 previous underwater expeditions, including those 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 Pacific Ocean showed that 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, open on both sides ends of the tubes).
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, extraordinary sea stars 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...
