Depth of the Mariana Trench

For a man, everything that has not been studied has always been of great interest. And the depths of the sea keep so many secrets that more than one generation of scientists will be provided with work.

But there are points on the map that are not just covered with a veil of mystery, but are the main theme of mystical stories.

One of such places - the Mariana Trench or the Trench - is a typical element of the relief of the continental-oceanic transition zones. In such places, there is a lowering of the ocean floor, in form of a narrow long depression. The deepest trenches are the Pacific.

The Mariana Islands gave the name of one of the deep-sea oceanic depressions, two and a half thousand kilometers long. It differs by its flat bottom, the width of which is equal to 1-5 kilometers, steep V-shaped slopes. The maximum depth of the Mariana Trench is approximately 11 kilometers. This is the deepest point of the whole world ocean. It is rather a precipice or abyss than a hollow.

What else does the person know about this mysterious place? The study of the Mariana Trench began back in the 19th century, when the Challenger ship with members of the British expedition on board set out to conduct measurements of the Pacific Ocean depths. In the gutter area is the oldest of the sea litters in the world. This is the reason for the depth of the Mariana Trench. In 1960, the Trieste bathyscaphe, with two explorers on board, plunged into the deepest part of the hollow - the Challenger abyss. This immersion became a journey into the mystery of the sea depths, since the relief of the gutter was not studied at all. The risk was great. His contribution to the study of this issue was made by Hollywood film director James Cameron, who, as the third person in the world to conquer the Mariana Trench, conducted research and produced a lot of new priceless information.

Inhabitants of the Mariana Trench require a separate conversation. Back in 1958, an expedition of Soviet scientists proved the existence of life at a depth of seven thousand meters. Before that, it was believed that it exists no more than six thousand. By the way, this expedition found that the maximum depth of the Mariana Trench is eleven thousand twenty-two meters. As for living organisms, their study is carried out by underwater vehicles made of materials of high strength, they are automatically piloted at depth. Camcorders, which were equipped with these devices, recorded living organisms (whole colony) below the mark of seven thousand meters. In what conditions do these half-meter-long worms live, unidentified creatures two meters long with a soft body, mutated octopuses, sea stars? In total gloom, the absence of algae, at low temperatures and monstrous hydrostatic pressure. In such conditions, all living organisms are really frightening, and they mostly feed on bacteria.

The Mariana Trench is in a place where a tectonic fault has occurred, under which the Pacific Plate bent and partially went under the Philippine Plate. But since there is no strong pressure of one tectonic plate on the other, scientists were sure that earthquakes in this zone are impossible. But today, confidence is significantly reduced. This was caused by two earthquakes that occurred on the island of Sumatra and in Japan in 2004 and 2011.

The depth of the Mariana Trench keeps so much inexplicable that ocean scientists will continue to try to open the veil of secrecy over this part of the Pacific for many years to come. This was confirmed once again by the director from Hollywood, who most recently became a researcher. Having gone down to a depth of eleven kilometers, he photographed a lot of interesting things.