Why was the Mariana Trench called the Mariana. Depth of the Mariana Trench. Inhabitants of the Mariana Trench. The deepest place in the Mariana Trench

The Mariana Trench is the most deep place on our planet. I think almost everyone has heard about it or studied at school, but I myself, for example, have long forgotten both its depth and the facts about how it was measured and studied. So I decided to “refresh” my and your memory

This absolute depth got its name thanks to the nearby Mariana Islands. The entire depression stretches along the islands for one and a half thousand kilometers and has a characteristic V-shaped profile. In fact, this is an ordinary tectonic fault, the place where the Pacific plate goes under the Philippine plate, just Mariana Trench- this is the deepest place of this kind) Its slopes are steep, on average about 7-9 °, and the bottom is flat, 1 to 5 kilometers wide, and divided by rapids into several closed sections. The pressure at the bottom of the Mariana Trench reaches 108.6 MPa - more than 1,100 times the normal atmospheric pressure!

The first to dare to challenge the abyss were the British - the military three-masted corvette "Challenger" with sailing equipment was rebuilt into an oceanographic vessel for hydrological, geological, chemical, biological and meteorological work in 1872. But the first data on the depth of the Mariana Trench was obtained only in 1951 - according to the measurements, the depth of the depression was declared equal to 10 863 m. After that, the deepest point of the Mariana Trench was called the “Challenger Deep”. It is hard to imagine that in the depths of the Mariana Trench the most high mountain of our planet - Everest, and above it there will still be more than a kilometer of water to the surface ... Of course, it will not fit in area, but exclusively in height, but the numbers are still amazing ...

The next researchers of the Mariana Trench were already Soviet scientists - in 1957, during the 25th voyage of the Soviet research vessel Vityaz, they not only declared the maximum depth of the depression equal to 11,022 meters, but also established the presence of life at depths of more than 7,000 meters , thereby refuting the then prevailing notion about the impossibility of life at depths of more than 6000-7000 meters. In 1992 "Knight" was transferred to the newly formed Museum of the World Ocean. The ship was repaired at the shipyard for two years, and on July 12, 1994, it moored forever at the museum pier in the very center of Kaliningrad.

On January 23, 1960, the first and only human dive to the bottom of the Mariana Trench was carried out. Thus, the only people who have been “at the bottom of the Earth” were the US Navy Lieutenant Don Walsh and the researcher Jacques Picard

During the dive, they were protected by armored, 127 mm thick, walls of the bathyscaphe called "Trieste"

The Bathyscaphe was named after the Italian city of Trieste, in which the main work on its creation was carried out. According to the instruments on board the Trieste, Walsh and Picard plunged to a depth of 11,521 meters, but later this figure was slightly corrected - 10,918 meters

The dive took about five hours, and the ascent took about three hours, the researchers stayed at the bottom for only 12 minutes. But even this time was enough for them to make a sensational discovery - at the bottom they found flat fish up to 30 cm in size, similar to a flounder !

Studies in 1995 showed that the depth of the Mariana Trench is about 10,920 meters, and the Japanese probe Kaik?, Launched into the Challenger Abyss on March 24, 1997, recorded a depth of 10,911.4 meters. Below is a diagram of the depression - when clicked, it will open in a new window in normal size

The Mariana Trench has repeatedly frightened researchers with monsters lurking in its depths. For the first time the expedition of the American research vessel "Glomar Challenger" collided with the unknown. Some time after the start of the descent of the apparatus, the device recording sounds began to transmit to the surface some kind of metallic rattle, reminiscent of the sound of metal being cut. At this time, some obscure shadows appeared on the monitor, similar to giant fairy dragons with several heads and tails. An hour later, scientists were worried that the unique equipment, made in the NASA laboratory from beams of ultra-strong titanium-cobalt steel, having a spherical structure, the so-called “hedgehog” with a diameter of about 9 m, could remain in the abyss of the Mariana Trench forever - so it was decided to immediately raise apparatus on board the ship. The “hedgehog” was taken from the depths for more than eight hours, and as soon as it appeared on the surface, they immediately put it on a special raft. The TV camera and echo sounder were lifted to the deck of the Glomar Challenger. The researchers were horrified when they saw how deformed the strongest steel beams of the structure were, as for the 20-centimeter steel cable on which the hedgehog was lowered, the scientists were not mistaken in the nature of the sounds transmitted from the water abyss - the cable was half-sawn. Who tried to leave the device at depth and why - will forever remain a mystery. The details of this incident were published in 1996 by the New York Times

Another encounter with the unexplained in the depths of the Mariana Trench happened with the German research vehicle "Highfish" with a crew on board. At a depth of 7 km, the vehicle suddenly stopped moving. To find out the cause of the malfunction, the hydronauts turned on the infrared camera ... What they saw in the next few seconds seemed to them a collective hallucination: a huge prehistoric lizard, gnawing its teeth into the bathyscaphe, tried to gnaw it like a nut. Recovering from the shock, the crew activated a device called an "electric cannon", and the monster, struck by a powerful discharge, disappeared into the abyss ...

On May 31, 2009, the automatic submarine Nereus sank to the bottom of the Mariana Trench. According to measurements, it sank 10,902 meters below sea level

At the bottom, Nereus filmed a video, took some photos and even collected sediment samples at the bottom

Thanks to modern technology, researchers were able to capture a few representatives Mariana Trench, I suggest you get to know them too :)

So, now we know that different octopuses live in the Mariana Depths.

Scary and not so scary fish)

And various other incomprehensible creatures :)

Perhaps not much time is left until the moment when technology will allow you to get to know the inhabitants in all its diversity. Mariana Trench and others ocean depths, but so far we have what we have

Unknown Earth: Mariana Trench

Despite the fact that humanity has stepped far forward, there appeared a large number of technology that allows us to accomplish the seemingly impossible, there are such corners of the Earth where it is almost impossible to get. Thanks to this, pristine nature, untouched by man, has been preserved in such corners.

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

The most deep point Mariana Trench - "Challenger Abyss". 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 Mariana Trench is the deepest place on our planet. I think almost everyone has heard about it or studied at school, but I myself, for example, have long forgotten both its depth and the facts about how it was measured and studied. So I decided to “refresh” my and your memory

The entire depression stretches along the islands for one and a half thousand kilometers and has a characteristic V-shaped profile. In fact, this is an ordinary tectonic fault, the place where the Pacific Plate goes under the Philippine, just the Mariana Trench is the deepest place of this kind) Its slopes are steep, on average, about 7-9 °, and the bottom is flat, 1 to 5 kilometers wide , and divided by rapids into several closed sections. The pressure at the bottom of the Mariana Trench reaches 108.6 MPa - more than 1,100 times the normal atmospheric pressure!

Snapshot from space

The first to dare to challenge the abyss were the British - the military three-masted corvette "Challenger" with sailing equipment was rebuilt into an oceanographic vessel for hydrological, geological, chemical, biological and meteorological work in 1872. But the first data on the depth of the Mariana Trench was obtained only in 1951 - according to the measurements, the depth of the depression was declared equal to 10 863 m. After that, the deepest point of the Mariana Trench was called the “Challenger Deep”. It is hard to imagine that in the depths of the Mariana Trench the highest mountain of our planet - Everest will easily fit, and more than a kilometer of water will remain above it to the surface ... Of course it will fit not in area, but exclusively in height, but the numbers are still amazing ...

The device recording sounds began to transmit noises to the surface, reminiscent of the grinding of saw teeth on metal. At the same time, obscure shadows appeared on the TV monitor, similar to giant fairy dragons. These creatures had several heads and tails.

An hour later, the scientists of the American research vessel "Glomar Challenger" were worried that the unique apparatus made of super-strong titanium-cobalt steel beams in the NASA laboratory and having a spherical structure, the so-called "hedgehog" with a diameter of about 9 m, could remain in the abyss forever.

It was decided to pick it up immediately. The "hedgehog" was retrieved from the depths for more than eight hours. As soon as he appeared on the surface, he was immediately put on a special raft. The camera and the echo sounder were lifted to the deck of the Glomar Challenger. It turned out that the strongest steel beams of the structure were deformed, and the 20-centimeter steel cable, on which it was lowered, was half-sawn. Who tried to leave the "hedgehog" at depth and why is an absolute mystery. The details of this interesting experiment, conducted by American oceanologists in the Mariana Trench, were published in 1996 by the New York Times (USA)

Research vessel "Vityaz"

Soviet scientists were also researchers of the Mariana Trench - in 1957, during the 25th voyage of the Soviet research vessel Vityaz, they not only declared the maximum depth of the depression equal to 11,022 meters, but also established the presence of life at depths of more than 7,000 meters, thereby refuting the then prevailing notion about the impossibility of life at depths of more than 6000-7000 meters. In 1992 "Knight" was transferred to the newly formed Museum of the World Ocean. The ship was repaired at the shipyard for two years, and on July 12, 1994, it moored forever at the museum pier in the very center of Kaliningrad.

According to the results of measurements carried out in 1957 during the 25th voyage of the Soviet research vessel "Vityaz" (headed by Aleksey Dmitrievich Dobrovolsky), the maximum depth of the trough was 11023 m (updated data, the depth was originally reported as 11034 m). in the fact that the speed of sound in water depends on its properties, which are different at different depths, therefore, these properties must also be determined at several horizons with special instruments (such as a bottle and thermometer), and the depth value shown by the echo sounder has been amended Research in 1995 showed that it is about 10,920 m, and research in 2009 - that 10,971 m. The latest research in 2011 gives a value of 10,994 m with an accuracy of ± 40 m

Single apparatus Deepsea Challenger

It should be noted that the latest research carried out by the American Oceanographic Expedition from the University of New Hampshire (USA) found real mountains on the surface of the bottom of the Mariana Trench.

The research took place from August to October 2010, when a seabed area of 400,000 square kilometers was studied in detail using a multibeam echo sounder. As a result, at least 4 oceanic mountain ranges with a height of 2.5 kilometers were discovered, crossing the surface of the Mariana Trench at the junction of the Pacific and Philippine lithospheric plates.

One of the researchers commented: “At this place geological structure oceanic crust is very complex ... These ridges were formed about 180 million years ago in the process constant movement lithospheric plates. Over the course of millions of years, the marginal part of the Pacific plate gradually “creeps up” under the Philippine plate, as it is older and “heavier” ... In the course of this process, folding is formed. "

Dives

So, a person could never resist the desire to explore the unknown, and the rapidly developing world of technical progress allows you to penetrate deeper into the secret world of the most inhospitable and rebellious environment in the world - the World Ocean. There will be enough subjects for research in the Mariana Trench for many more years, given that the most inaccessible and mysterious point of our planet, unlike Everest (altitude 8848 m above sea level), was conquered only once.

So, on January 23, 1960, US naval officer Don Walsh and Swiss explorer Jacques Picard, protected by armored 12-centimeter thick walls of a bathyscaphe called "Trieste", managed to descend to a depth of 10,915 meters. Despite the fact that scientists have taken a huge step in the study of the Mariana Trench, the questions have not diminished, new mysteries have emerged that have yet to be solved. And the ocean abyss knows how to keep its secrets. Will people be able to reveal them in the near future?

The first human dive to the bottom of the Mariana Trench was made on January 23, 1960 by US Navy Lieutenant Don Walsh and explorer Jacques Picard on the Trieste bathyscaphe, designed by Jacques' father Auguste Picard. The instruments recorded a record depth of 11,521 meters (corrected value - 10,918 m). At the bottom, the researchers unexpectedly met flat fish up to 30 cm in size, similar to a flounder. During the dive, they were protected by armored, 127 mm thick, walls of a bathyscaphe called "Trieste"

The Japanese Kaiko probe, which was launched into the region of the maximum depth of the depression on March 24, 1995, recorded a depth of 10,911.4 meters In the silt samples taken by the probe, living organisms were found - foraminifers

On May 31, 2009, the automatic submarine Nereus sank to the bottom of the Mariana Trench (see Nereus, ancient Greek mythology). The device sank to a depth of 10902 meters, where it filmed a video, took several photographs, and also collected sediment samples at the bottom.

to the Mariana Trench

While he was in the deepest point of the world's oceans, he came to the shocking conclusion that he was completely alone. There were no scary sea monsters or miracles in the Mariana Trench. According to Cameron, the very bottom of the ocean was "lunar ... empty ... lonely," and he felt "complete isolation from all of humanity"

On March 26, 2012, director James Cameron became the third person in history to reach the deepest point in the oceans and the first to do it alone. Cameron dived in a single-seater Deepsea Challenger equipped with everything necessary for photo and video filming. Filming was carried out in 3D format, for this the bathyscaphe was equipped with special lighting equipment. Cameron reached the "Challenger Abyss" - a section of a depression at a depth of 10898 meters (accurate calculations show that the bathyscaphe reached a depth of 10908 meters, and not 10898 - the depth recorded by the device during the dive). He took samples of rocks, living organisms and filmed using 3D cameras. The footage filmed by the director formed the basis for the eponymous scientific documentary (2013) of the National Geographic Channel

Can living organisms live at such a huge depth, and how should they look, given that they are pressed by huge masses of oceanic waters, the pressure of which exceeds 1100 atmospheres? The difficulties associated with the study and comprehension of creatures that live in these unimaginable depths are enough, but human ingenuity knows no boundaries. For a long time, oceanologists considered it madness to hypothesize that at depths of more than 6,000 meters in impenetrable darkness, under monstrous pressure and at temperatures close to zero, life could exist.

However, the results of research by scientists in Pacific showed that in these depths, well below the 6,000-meter mark, there are huge colonies of living organisms pogonophora ((rogonophora; from the Greek pogon - beard and phoros - carrying), a type of marine invertebrates living in long chitinous, open from both tube ends). Recently, the veil of secrecy has been lifted by manned and automatic, made of heavy-duty materials, underwater vehicles equipped with video cameras. The result was the discovery of a rich animal community, made up of both well-known and less familiar marine groups.

Formation of the Mariana Trench.
The gutter stretched along Mariana Islands 1 500 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. At the bottom, the water pressure reaches 108.6 MPa, which is about 1072 times higher than the normal atmospheric pressure at the level of the World Ocean. 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.

Thus, at depths of 6000 - 11000 km, the following were found: - barophilic bacteria (developing only at high pressure), - of the protozoa - foraminifera (a group of protozoa of the subclass of rhizopods with a cytoplasmic body, dressed with a shell) and xenophyophores (barophilic bacteria from protozoa); - from multicellular organisms - polychaete worms, isopods, amphipods, holothurians, bivalves and gastropods.

At the depths there is no sunlight, no algae, constant salinity, low temperatures, 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-seated animals are bacteria, as well as rain of "corpses" and organic detritus coming from above; deep animals are either blind or with highly developed eyes, often telescopic; many fish and cephalopods with photofluoroids; in other forms, the surface of the body or parts of it glows. Therefore, the appearance of these animals is as terrible and incredible as the conditions in which they live. Among them - a frightening-looking worms 1.5 meters long, without a mouth and anus, mutant octopuses, extraordinary starfish and some soft-bodied creatures two meters long, which have not yet been identified at all.

Descending to this depth, we expect it to be very cold there. The temperature here reaches slightly above zero, ranging from 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 keep the area alive. Despite the temperature of the water, which is hundreds of degrees above its boiling point, it does not boil here due to the incredible pressure, 155 times higher than on the surface.

Giant toxic amoeba

A few years ago, at the bottom of the Mariana Trench, giant 10 cm amoebas called xenophyophores.

These single-celled organisms are likely to have grown so large because of the environment in which they live at a depth of 10.6 km. Cold temperatures, high pressure and lack of sunlight most likely contributed to the fact that these amoebas have become enormous.

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

Molluscs

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

TO How did the molluscs keep their shells under this pressure? remains unknown.

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

Pure liquid carbon dioxide

Hydrothermal Champagne spring 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 source, discovered in 2005, gets its name from the bubbles, which turned out to be carbon dioxide.

Many believe that these springs, called "white smokers" due to 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.

Slime

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

The bottom of the depression is mainly composed of crushed shells and plankton debris 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 grayish-yellow thick mud.

Liquid sulfur

Daikoku volcano, which lies 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 the "cauldron", a seething black emulsion boils at 187 degrees Celsius... Although scientists have not been able to investigate the site in detail, there may be even more liquid sulfur contained deeper. It may reveal the secret of the origin of life on Earth.

According to Gaia's hypothesis, our planet is one self-governing organism, in which all living and non-living things are combined 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 then return to land.

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. In the most high point, the ridge reaches 2.5 km over the Challenger Abyss.

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

The Mariana Trench is located in the western part of the Pacific Ocean, not far from the Mariana Islands, just two hundred kilometers, thanks to the neighborhood with which it received this name. It is a huge marine reserve in the status of national monument USA, therefore, is under state protection. Fishing and mining is strictly prohibited here, but you can swim and admire 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 British began to explore the Mariana Trench. In 1872 the sailing corvette "Challenger" entered the waters of the Pacific Ocean with scientists and the most advanced equipment of those times. After taking measurements, we established the maximum depth - 8367 m. The value, of course, differs markedly from the correct result. But 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 10,863 meters.

Then the baton was intercepted by Russian researchers, who sent the research vessel Vityaz 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 more than seven kilometers depth. Thus, having made a small revolution in the scientific world of the middle of the 20th century, where there was a stable opinion that there are no such deeply living beings and cannot be. This is where the most interesting begins ... A lot of stories about underwater monsters, huge octopuses, crumpled into a cake by the huge paws of animals of unprecedented bathyscaphes ... Where is the truth, and where is a 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 in the "Trieste" bathyscaphe, which was built in the Italian city of the same name. A very heavy structure with thick 13-centimeter walls was sunk to the bottom for five hours. Having reached the lowest point, the researchers stayed there for 12 minutes, after which the ascent began immediately, which took about 3 hours. At the bottom, fish were found - flat, flounder-like, 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 automatic underwater vehicle "Nereus": this miracle of technology not only took several photographs at the deepest point of the Earth, but also took soil samples.

In 1996, the New York Times published a shocking article about equipment diving into the Mariana Trench from the American research vessel Glomar Challenger. The team affectionately nicknamed the spherical apparatus for deep-sea travel "the hedgehog". 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 crumpled, and the strongest and thickest (20 cm in diameter!) Cable seemed to be sawn off. There were many explanations at once. Some said that these were the "tricks" of the inhabitants natural object monsters, others were inclined to the version about the presence of an alien intelligence, and still others believed that it was not without mutated octopuses! True, there was no evidence, and all assumptions remained at the level of guesses and conjectures ...

The same mysterious incident happened with the German research team, which decided to lower the device "Highfish" into the waters of the abyss. But for some reason he stopped moving, and the cameras impartially displayed on the monitors an image of the shocking size of the lizard, which was trying to gnaw at the steel "contraption". The team was not taken aback and with an electric discharge from the apparatus "scared off" the unknown beast. He sailed away and never appeared 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 photograph them.

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 geographic feature legends. Fishermen (poachers) talked about the glow from its depths, lights running back and forth, and various unidentified flying objects emerging from there. Crews of small ships reported that ships in the area were "towed at great speed" by a monster of incredible strength.

Confirmed evidence

Depth of the Mariana Trench

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

Found Giant Shark Tooth

In 1918, Australian lobster fishers reported about a translucent white fish about 30 meters long they saw at sea. According to the description, it is similar to the ancient shark of the Carcharodon megalodon species, 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. You can 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 became extinct 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 secrets.

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 normal atmospheric pressure by 1072 times. A vertebrate animal simply cannot survive in such monstrous conditions. But, oddly enough, mollusks have taken root here. How their shells can withstand such colossal water pressure is unclear. The discovered molluscs are an incredible example of "survival". They exist next to 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 mollusks - hydrogen sulfide. But the "cunning" and thirsty for life mollusks have learned to process hydrogen sulfide into protein, and continue, as they say, happily living 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 "seethe" in the waters of the source. Of course, these are by no means bubbles of your favorite champagne - this is liquid carbon dioxide. Thus, the only underwater source of liquid carbon dioxide in the world is located in the Mariana Trench. These sources are called "white smokers", their temperature is lower than the ambient temperature, and there are always fumes around them, similar to white smoke. Thanks to these sources, hypotheses were born about the origin of all life on earth in water. Low temperatures, 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. “Black smokers” took care of this. The hydrothermal vents, which are the opposite of the "white smokers," contain a large amount 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 remember the school physics course, from which we know that water boils at 100 degrees Celsius. So what's going on? Is the source spewing boiling water? Fortunately, no. It's all about the colossal water pressure - it is 155 times higher than on the surface of the Earth, so H 2 O does not boil, but rather “heats up” the waters of the Mariana Trench. The water of these hydrothermal springs is incredibly rich in various minerals, which also contributes to the comfortable habitation of living things.

Incredible facts

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

Let us recall a little the school course in biology. The simplest living things are amoeba. Tiny, unicellular, they can only be viewed under a microscope. Reach, as written in textbooks, a length of half a millimeter. In the Mariana Trench, giant toxic amoebas 10 centimeters long were found. Can you imagine that? Ten centimeters! That is, this single-celled living creature can be perfectly seen with the naked eye. Isn't that a miracle? As a result of scientific research, it has been established that amoebas have acquired such gigantic unicellular sizes for their class, adapting to the "savory" life at the bottom of the sea. 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 xenophiophores are pretty surprising: they have adapted to the effects of most destructive substances - uranium, mercury, lead. And they live in this environment, like mollusks. In general, the Mariana Trench is a miracle of wonders, where everything living and inanimate 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 are only remnants of crushed shells and plankton, which have been there for thousands of years, and due to the pressure of the water, they have long since turned into thick mud of a grayish-yellow color. And only the bathyscaphes of the explorers, descending here from time to time, disturb the calm and measured life of the seabed.

Inhabitants of the Mariana Trench

Research continues

Everything secret and unknown has always attracted a person. And with each revealed secret, new mysteries on our planet did not diminish. All this fully applies to the Mariana Trench.

At the end of 2011, researchers discovered in it unique natural formations made of stone, 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 tectonic plates - the Pacific and Philippine ones - meet, and stone bridges (there are four of them) formed at their junction. True, the very first of the bridges - Dutton Ridge - was opened back in the late 80s of the last century. He impressed then with his size and height, which were a small mountain. At its highest point, 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, creator of the legendary Titanic, dived into the Mariana Trench. Unique equipment and powerful cameras installed on his DeepSea Challenge bathyscaphe made it possible to capture the majestic and deserted "bottom of the Earth". It is not known how long he would have been observing local landscapes if there had not been some problems with the device. 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 wave of water. No sunlight, no molluscs, no algae, let alone sea monsters. But this is only at first glance. In the bottom soil samples that Cameron took, over twenty thousand different microorganisms were found. Great amount. How do they survive under such incredible water pressure? It is still a mystery. Among the inhabitants of the depression, a shrimp-like amphipod was also found, producing a unique chemical that scientists are testing as a vaccine for Alzheimer's disease.

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

The most mysterious and inaccessible point of our planet - the Mariana Trench - is called the "fourth pole of the Earth." It is located in the western part of the Pacific Ocean and is 2,926 km long and 80 km wide. At a distance of 320 km south of the island of Guam, there is the deepest point of the Mariana Trench and the entire planet - 11022 meters. In these little-studied depths, living creatures are hidden, the appearance of which is as monstrous as the conditions of their habitation.

The Mariana Trench is called the "fourth pole of the Earth"

The Mariana Trench, or the Mariana Trench, is an oceanic trench in the western Pacific Ocean, which is the deepest known on Earth geographic sites. The exploration of the Mariana Trench was laid by the expedition ( December 1872 - May 1876) of the English ship "Challenger" ( HMS Challenger), who carried out the first systemic measurements of the depths of the Pacific Ocean. This military sailing three-masted corvette was converted into an oceanographic vessel for hydrological, geological, chemical, biological and meteorological work in 1872.

In 1960, a great event took place in the history of the conquest of the world's oceans.

The Bathyscaphe Trieste, piloted by French explorer Jacques Picard and US Navy Lieutenant Don Walsh, reached the deepest point of the ocean floor - the Challenger Abyss, located in the Mariana Trench and named after the English ship Challenger, from which the first data were obtained in 1951 about her.

Bathyscaphe "Trieste" before diving, January 23, 1960

The dive lasted 4 hours 48 minutes and ended at a mark of 10911 m above sea level. At this terrible depth, where the monstrous pressure of 108.6 MPa ( which is more than 1100 times the normal atmospheric) flattens all living things, the researchers made the most important oceanological discovery: they saw two 30-centimeter fish, similar to a flounder, swimming past the window. Prior to this, it was believed that at depths exceeding 6,000 m, no life exists.

Thus, an absolute diving depth record was set, which cannot be surpassed even in theory. Picard and Walsh were the only people to have been to the bottom of the Challenger Abyss. All subsequent dives to the deepest point of the world's oceans, with research objectives, were already performed by unmanned robotic bathyscaphes. But there were not so many of them, since “visiting” the Challenger Abyss is both laborious and expensive.

One of the achievements of this dive, which had a beneficial effect on the ecological future of the planet, was the refusal of the nuclear powers from burying radioactive waste at the bottom of the Mariana Trench. The fact is that Jacques Picard experimentally refuted the opinion prevailing at that time that at depths over 6000 m there was no upward movement of water masses.

In the 90s, three dives were made by the Japanese apparatus Kaiko, which was remotely controlled from the "mother" ship via a fiber-optic cable. However, in 2003, while exploring another part of the ocean, during a storm, a towing steel cable snapped, and the robot was lost. Submarine catamaran Nereus, became the third deep-sea vehicle to reach the bottom of the Mariana Trench.

In 2009, mankind again reached the deepest point of the world's oceans.

On May 31, 2009, mankind again reached the deepest point of the Pacific, and indeed the entire world ocean - the American deep-sea vehicle Nereus sank into the Challenger sinkhole at the bottom of the Mariana Trench. The device took soil samples and conducted underwater photo and video filming at the maximum depth, illuminated only by its LED searchlight. During the current dive, Nereus's instruments recorded a depth of 10,902 meters. The indicator was 10,911 meters, and Picard and Walsh measured a value of 10,912 meters. On many Russian maps, the value of 11,022 meters is still given, obtained by the Soviet oceanographic vessel "Vityaz" during the 1957 expedition. All this testifies to the inaccuracy of measurements, and not to a real change in depth: no one carried out a cross-calibration of the measuring equipment that gave the given values.

The Mariana Trench is formed by the boundaries of two tectonic plates: the colossal Pacific plate goes under the not so large Philippine plate. This is a zone of extremely high seismic activity, part of the so-called Pacific volcanic ring of fire, stretching for 40 thousand km, an area with the most frequent eruptions and earthquakes in the world. The deepest point of the trench is the Challenger Abyss, named after an English ship.

The inexplicable and incomprehensible has always attracted people, so scientists all over the world are so eager to answer the question: “ What is hidden in the depths of the Mariana Trench?»

The inexplicable and incomprehensible have always attracted people

For a long time, oceanologists considered it madness to hypothesize that at depths of more than 6,000 meters in impenetrable darkness, under monstrous pressure and at temperatures close to zero, life could exist. However, the results of research by scientists in the Pacific Ocean showed that even at these depths, well below the 6,000-meter mark, there are huge colonies of living organisms of the pogonophora, a type of marine invertebrates living in long chitinous tubes open at both ends.

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

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

- barophilic bacteria (developing only at high pressure);

- of the protozoa - foraminifera (a detachment of protozoa of the subclass of rhizopods with a cytoplasmic body, dressed with a shell) and xenophyophores (barophilic bacteria from protozoa);

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

Studies have shown that there is life at depths of over 6,000 meters

The food sources of deep-seated animals are bacteria, as well as rain of "corpses" and organic detritus coming from above; deep animals are either blind or with highly developed eyes, often telescopic; many fish and cephalopods with photofluoroids; in other forms, the surface of the body or parts of it glows. Therefore, the appearance of these animals is as terrible and incredible as the conditions in which they live. Among them - a frightening-looking worms 1.5 meters long, without a mouth and anus, mutant octopuses, extraordinary starfish and some soft-bodied creatures two meters long, which have not yet been identified at all.

Despite the fact that scientists have taken a huge step in the study of the Mariana Trench, the questions have not diminished, new mysteries have emerged that have yet to be solved. And the ocean abyss knows how to keep its secrets. Will people be able to reveal them in the near future? We will follow the news.

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

“The Maryana Trench (or the Maryana Trench) is an oceanic deep-sea trench in the western Pacific Ocean, the deepest known on Earth. Named for 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 farther from sea level than Mount Everest is above it. "

Even from school, many people know that the depth of the Mariana Trench is 11 km, and this is the deepest place on the planet. However, with a slight correction, it is the deepest known. That is, theoretically, there may be even more deep depressions... but they are not yet known. Even the tallest mountain in the world - Everest - can successfully fit into the gutter and there will still be room.

The Mariana Trench is rich in records and titles: and it became famous not only for its depth, but also for its mystery, scary inhabitants underwater depths, "Monsters" guarding the earth's bottom, secrets, unknown, primordiality, darkness, etc. In general - Space inside out is the bottom of the Mariana Trench. There are versions that life has become clogged in the Mariana Trench.

MARIANA TRENCH. PuzzlesMarianaDepressions:

The video shows and tells that at such a huge 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) to 104 MPa (powder gases). Glass and wood turn into powder under such conditions.

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

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 the faults, where the Pacific plate goes under the Philippine plate. "

The opening of the Mariana Trench took place in 1875:

“The first measurements (and discovery) of the Mariana Trench were carried out 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 measurements - 8184 m).

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

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

Later, during several expeditions, the depth of the Mariana Trench was found to be more than 11 km, the last measurement (end of 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 Aleksey Dmitrievich Dobrovolsky), the maximum depth of the trough was 11,023 m (revised data, the depth was originally reported as 11,034 m).

On January 23, 1960, Don Walsh and Jacques Piccard dived in the Trieste submersible. They recorded a depth of 10,916 m, which has also come to be referred to as "the depth of Trieste."

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

On May 31, 2009, an unmanned submarine Nereus took soil samples at the site. The collected silt is mostly composed of foraminifera. During this dive, a depth of 10,902 m was recorded.

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

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

The plot of the First channel "James Cameron - diving to the bottom of the Mariana Trench":

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

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

To the 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 was not there ... There was nothing alive, more than 2- 2.5 cm ".

Public reaction to Cameron's "Abyss" film has been mixed. Someone saw the picture as boring and incomparable with his works like Titanic, Avatar, someone said that the film is real and in its “boringness” shows the way of interaction of one of the seven billion people on the planet and the deepest abyss.

From reviews for the film:

“Of course, the content of the film can hardly be called exciting. Most of the viewer spends time in endless boring meetings and tests in the laboratory. But I believe that this hard and long path from a dream to its realization must have been shown. It is he who most of all inspires to work for the sake of his idea. "

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

People are frightened and attracted by the unknown, rebelliousness, depth, danger, mortality, mystery, eternity, loneliness, independence of depths, distant, heights of nature. And the title of the film - "Challenge to the Abyss ..." - of course, for a reason: at a certain stage of development of potential, a person either wants to touch the unknown, or even forget about its existence, to live routine.

Cameron, having the ability and zeal, decided to make this leap into the depths. This is the desire to rise to a step close to God, and pride, and perpetuate this abyss in oneself and perpetuate oneself in the abyss, understanding the frailty of matter and much more.

Many people drop in, some are out of curiosity, some are out of nothing to do. But only a few will risk getting close.

Let us recall the famous saying of F. Nietzsche: “If you peer into the abyss for a long time, the abyss will begin to peer into you,” or another translation: “For a person who has been looking into the abyss for a long time, the abyss begins to live in the eyes”, or the full text of the quote: “Who fights with monsters, he should beware lest he 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”, “abyss” mean something dangerous, dark, akin to the source of dark forces. Around the Mariana Trench there are a lot of legends, far from good legends, who just did not invent anything: both monsters live there, and monsters of unclear etiology can swallow deep-sea research vehicles with and without people alive, gnaw through 20-centimeter cables, and terrible devilish creatures seem to in hell they scurry among the black waves of the deep, terrify extremely rare human guests, and in circles discussing the deepest gutter, versions are expressed that people who could breathe under water used to live here, and almost life was born here, etc. People want to see darkness in this abyss. And, in general, they see her ...

Before Cameron conquered the Mariana Abyss, this was done 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 Trieste bathyscaphe. The dive took about 5 hours, and the time spent at the bottom was 12 minutes. It was an absolute depth record for manned and unmanned aerial vehicles.

Two researchers then discovered at a terrible depth only 6 species of living creatures, including flat fish up to 30 cm in size. "

The monsters were scared of James Cameron, or they were not in the mood to pose in front of the camera that day, or there really was no one there - it will remain a mystery, however, during previous underwater expeditions, including without the participation of people, various forms of life, fish, hitherto never seen, strange creatures, creatures that look like monsters, giant octopuses. But let's not forget that "monsters" are all unexplored creatures.

Several times in the depths of the Mariana Trench, vehicles without people (with people only twice), for example, on May 31, 2009, an automatic underwater vehicle Nereus plunged into the bottom of the Mariana Trench. According to measurements, it sank 10,902 meters below sea level. At the bottom, Nereus filmed a video, took some photos and even collected sediment samples at the bottom.

Here are some photos of those who were met at the depths of the Mariana Trench by the expedition cameras:

In the photo, the bottom of the Mariana Trench:

“The Mystery of the Mariana Trench. Great secrets of the ocean. " Ren-TV program.

Still, a big secret remains that there, at the bottom of the Mariana Trench ... We are frightened in absentia by monsters, but in fact no one, in particular Cameron, who spent 3 hours at the bottom of the trench, found strange objects there ... silence ... depth ... eternity.

And the most important questions - "how can monsters live there if there is tremendous pressure at the bottom, there is no light, oxygen ??". The answer of scientific experts:

“The inexplicable and incomprehensible has always attracted people, which is why scientists all over the world are so eager to answer the question:“ What is hidden in the depths of the Mariana Trench? ”

Can living organisms live at such a huge depth, and how should they look, given that they are pressed by huge masses of oceanic waters, the pressure of which exceeds 1100 atmospheres?

The difficulties associated with the study and comprehension of creatures that live in these unimaginable depths are enough, but human ingenuity knows no boundaries. For a long time, oceanologists considered it madness to hypothesize that at depths of more than 6,000 meters in impenetrable darkness, under monstrous pressure and at temperatures close to zero, life could exist.

However, the results of research by scientists in the Pacific Ocean showed that in these depths, well below the 6,000-meter mark, there are huge colonies of living organisms pogonophora ((rogonophora; from the Greek pogon - beard and phoros - carrying), a type of marine invertebrates living in long chitinous tubes open at both ends).

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

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

- barophilic bacteria (developing only at high pressure);

- of the protozoa - foraminifera (a detachment of protozoa of the subclass of rhizopods with a cytoplasmic body, dressed with a shell) and xenophyophores (barophilic bacteria from protozoa);

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

At the depths there is no sunlight, no algae, constant salinity, low temperatures, 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-seated animals are bacteria, as well as rain of "corpses" and organic detritus coming from above; deep animals are either blind or with highly developed eyes, often telescopic; many fish and cephalopods with photofluoroids; in other forms, the surface of the body or parts of it glows.

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

Despite the fact that scientists have taken a huge step in the study of the Mariana Trench, the questions have not diminished, new mysteries have emerged that have yet to be solved. And the ocean abyss knows how to keep its secrets. Will people be able to reveal them in the near future? "

The Mariana Trench, given that this is the most famous deep point on the planet, is too little studied, people have flown into space dozens of times more, and we know more about space than about the bottom of an 11 kilometer trench. Probably everything is ahead ...