Where is the deepest place in the world? The deepest place in the world The deepest place underground

Even though the oceans are closer to us than distant planets solar system, People Only five percent of the ocean floor has been explored, which remains one of the greatest mysteries of our planet.

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

Temperature at the bottom of the Mariana Trench

1. Very hot water

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

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

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

Inhabitants of the Mariana Trench

2. Giant toxic amoebas

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

These single-celled organisms likely became so large because of the environment they live in at a depth of 10.6 km. Cold temperatures, high pressure and lack of sunlight likely contributed to these amoebas have acquired enormous dimensions.

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

3. Shellfish

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

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

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

At the bottom of the Mariana Trench

4. Pure liquid carbon dioxide

Hydrothermal source of Champagne The Mariana Trench, which lies outside the Okinawa Trench near Taiwan, is the only known underwater area where liquid carbon dioxide can be found. The spring, discovered in 2005, was named after the bubbles that turned out to be carbon dioxide.

Many believe these springs, called "white smokers" due to their lower temperatures, 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 begin.

5. Slime

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

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

Mariana Trench

6. Liquid sulfur

Daikoku Volcano, which is located at a depth of about 414 meters on the way to the Mariana Trench, is the source of one of the most rare 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", there is a bubbling black emulsion boils at 187 degrees Celsius. Although scientists have not been able to explore this site in detail, it is possible that even more liquid sulfur is contained deeper. It may reveal the secret of the origin of life on Earth.

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

7. Bridges

At the end of 2011, it was discovered in the Mariana Trench four stone bridges, which extended 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 Deep.

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

8. James Cameron's Dive into the Mariana Trench

Since opening the deepest part of the Mariana Trench - the Challenger Deep in 1875, only three people visited here. The first were American Lieutenant Don Walsh and researcher Jacques Picard, who dived on January 23, 1960 on the ship Trieste.

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

The depths of the ocean have attracted researchers since the beginning of the last century. Legends about the Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean still excite minds; entire legends are made up about the depths of the sea. There are many videos that confirm that the bottom of the World Ocean can really surprise with both its unusual topography and very unusual inhabitants. What do the greatest depths of the World Ocean hide?

What is the deepest place in the ocean

The Mariana Trench is recognized as the deepest part of the World Ocean. It is located in the Pacific Ocean and reaches a depth of 10 km 994 m. Its deepest point is called the Challenger Deep. If you compare the Mariana Trench with Mount Everest, it seems that the latter is significantly inferior.

It took several attempts to measure the maximum depth in the Pacific Ocean. The ridges that are part of the relief are 180 million years old. The trench is formed between the Philippine and Pacific lithospheric plates. The Challenger Deep was explored 4 times.

1. The first was a researcher from Brussels, Jacques Piccard.
2. The Japanese conquered the abyss for the second time.
3. For the third time, several countries were engaged in exploring the trench, using the Nereus apparatus to study the depths.
4. The most famous explorer of the Mariana Trench was James Cameron. He also closes the top three people who have ever visited the maximum depth of the Pacific and World Oceans.

Read more about exploring the deepest ocean depths

Explorer Jacques Piccard from Brussels conquered the Challenger Deep together with American John Walsh. Together they dived to maximum depth, which required the use of the Trieste bathyscaphe. The dive took place in 1960 - in fact, such an expedition was a feat for that time. It took about 5 hours to descend. The very first discoveries stunned researchers and the entire scientific world. At the bottom of this part of the Pacific Ocean, living representatives of the fauna were actually discovered that have adapted to incredible living conditions. Impressed by the dive greater depth Piccard wrote the book “11 KM” (“11 thousand meters”).

Only 35 years later, people again repeated the study of the abyss in the Pacific Ocean. This was done by the Japanese, who used more modern equipment, which made it possible to study the inhabitants of the trench as accurately as possible. The aforementioned Nereus apparatus collected soil, which they were able to examine in laboratories.

James Cameron's exploration of the maximum depth of the Pacific Ocean was carried out alone. The famous director shot an entire film for the National Geographic channel.

The Tonga Trench is another large trench in the Pacific Ocean

The maximum depth of the Tonga Trench is approximately 10,882 m. This makes it the second deepest in the World Ocean. The trench is confined to a volcanic archipelago, which was formed as a result of magmatic activity. For a long time, one plate sank into the mantle, which gave birth to a large fault. Note that while the Mariana Trench and its trench receive quite a lot of attention, the Tonga Trench is not studied so closely. Stretching for 860 km, it connects with the Kermadec Trench, maximum depth which is 10,047 m.

The Kuril-Kamchatka Trench is a surprisingly interesting place on the planet

The maximum depth of the trench is 9717 m. Only very recently, scientists studying the great depths of the trench managed to find living organisms, many of which do not exceed 1 cm in length. By studying such finds in as much detail as possible, it is possible to create a global picture and find out what secrets the deep-sea fauna hides Pacific and World Oceans. The samples collected in 2017 showed that their diversity is so great that it exceeds the number of all species discovered by science in the surveyed area. Thus, most of the discovered organisms are discovered for the first time. Some of them are of great interest for biomedicine.

Experts from several countries took part in the expedition to study one of the deepest trenches in the World Ocean. It is now known that the Kuril-Kamchatka Trench is the narrowest in the entire Pacific Ocean. Its average width is 59 km and its length is 2200 km.

Philippine Trench - a large trench vying for second place in the Pacific Ocean

Accurate studies of the Philippine Trench are lacking. It is believed that it has a much greater depth than the Tonga Trench. It has now been established that the maximum depth is 10,540 m.

Its formation was facilitated by the collision of two layers, one of which (basalt) has a larger mass. Moving towards the granite layer, he actually found himself underneath it. This process is usually called subduction. The most important thing here is that the presence of subduction directly indicates seismic activity. Next to the Philippine Trench is the Mariana Trench, as well as the Japan Trench.
Until 1970, the Philippine Trench was believed to have the maximum depth and be the deepest in the world. This conclusion was made as a result of a large expedition on the Emden ship. After this, the Galatea expedition was carried out. It is its results that are the latest this moment, although they are almost 50 years old. During the expedition, scientists found that the ocean floor of the trench is represented by a flat plain, the maximum width of which is 5 km.

Is there life in the depths of the ocean

The question is quite reasonable, because it is difficult to imagine how living organisms manage to adapt at the greatest depths. It is known that most living organisms cannot withstand maximum pressure, which exceeds a thousand atmospheres. Paradoxically, the deep-sea world is diverse, despite the pressure and temperature. Moreover, they do not need sunlight at all, which simply cannot get here. So where did life come from at the greatest depths?

On the territory of all the considered Pacific Ocean trenches there are volcanoes called black smokers. These mountain formations are distinguished by great volcanic activity. They throw hot water into the ocean waters, heated by magma rising from the bowels of the planet. By enriching the water with minerals, it is the black smokers that allow living organisms to carry out their life activities. One of these volcanoes is Daikoku, discovered at a relatively large depth - 414 m. Its activity contributes to the formation of lakes of molten sulfur. This phenomenon occurs only on Jupiter's moon Io.

The study of deep-sea organisms and the construction of versions that explain their appearance is an important scientific task. In this case, the world's scientists are again focusing their attention on underwater volcanoes, which may contribute to the occurrence of chemical reactions in such a way that life appears even under conditions of monstrous pressure. This could explain how life began on the entire planet.

The first research vessel to reach maximum depth was the Glomar Challenger. Using a special device released into the ocean waters, he was able to study the bottom topography in detail. The device was made of titanium-cobalt steel, which protected it from breakage.

The immersion of the device was accompanied by a fair amount of mystification. Journalists wrote about monsters living at the bottom of the ocean. However, they were partly right, because the deep-sea vehicle was actually attacked. The most striking discovery was the discovery of a twisted cable. To cause serious damage to it, the creature had to have powerful jaws.

Some of the most common creatures of the deep are xenophyophores. These are the largest amoebas on the planet, reaching 10 cm. Such gigantism is quite a common occurrence for all creatures that experience the negative impact of the environment in the ocean. Xenophyophores are able to withstand the effects of radiation, mercury and lead. Amazing fact- these creatures withstand enormous pressure precisely because they do not have a shell. Experiments have shown that any bone and even wood will be destroyed by pressure. Before your eyes, a wooden block will turn into wood powder. But at the same time, one discovery amazed the scientific world. Several years ago, a mollusk was discovered whose shell had not been destroyed by pressure. Moreover, the mollusk lived under the influence of hydrogen sulfide, which usually kills these creatures. Most likely, the mollusk simply synthesizes hydrogen sulfide into protein, which is why it manages to survive in such dangerous conditions.

How the depths of the ocean are studied

The study of the bottom is important for geology. Processes associated with movement lithospheric plates, must be recorded continuously, as they make it possible to predict seismic hazards. The highest seismic hazard is observed in areas of deep-sea trenches. As a consequence, the occurrence of powerful earthquakes causing big waves(tsunami).

At a depth of more than 100 m, due to the lack of sunlight, research without special instruments is impossible. Places where sunlight cannot reach are called abyssals. When working in the abyssal areas, even with a spotlight it is impossible to provide enough light to take clear pictures. Artificial light makes it possible to achieve only a close-up view. This is why using light is generally not a good idea. The situation is completely different with the use of sound. Ultrasound is the most effective means of studying the bottom topography. With the help of echo sounders, scientists have been successfully studying the seabed for many years. The operating principle of the echo sounder is based on the reflection of sound from various surfaces. The device reads the data by receiving a return signal, which allows it to create a picture. Previously, people used complex measuring instruments that gave minimal measurement efficiency. For example, when measuring depths from the North Pole to the Greenland Sea, Soviet researchers had to use a heavy surveyor. Lowering it with a winch, they took depth measurements, which was an extremely labor-intensive task. Since the measurements were carried out from a drifting ice floe, corrections had to be constantly introduced. In addition, the lot itself turned out to be mobile, so precise measurements were out of the question. Now scientists do not need to spend a lot of time - the echo sounder will make all the necessary calculations in seconds and is installed on the ship.

Despite the importance of echo sounders, they have not replaced bathyscaphes and other underwater vehicles. At shallow depths it is still advisable to use them. As for photo and video shooting, it is necessary to use special modules in which cameras are installed. For the first time, the Soviet scientist Zenkevich became famous for such a hobby, who photographed fish living at relatively great depths.

The study of the Pacific and World Oceans is considered one of the most important tasks of the world of science. There are still many discoveries ahead for humanity that will be able to protect people’s lives and allow us to shed light on many of the mysteries of earthly life.

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, scary inhabitants underwater depths, “monsters” guarding the earth’s bottom, secrets, 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.

In response to questions about whether the director saw any scary creature- 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. Most of The viewer spends 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 that look like 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, found it there strange objects... 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 the Pacific Ocean have shown that even 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 tubes open at both ends).

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, unusual starfish 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...

Extremely uneven in depth. It contains deep-sea depressions, which are also called trenches. The greatest depths are marked by the trenches belonging to the Quiet.

To date, they have been extremely poorly studied. Some scientists argue that we know less about the ocean floor than about the surface of the Moon. However, it is known for sure that there are amazing life forms there.

At the bottom of the deepest depressions, a huge pressure of a 10-kilometer column of water with a value of 108.6 MPa is created. This is 1000 times more than atmospheric pressure. Most bathyscaphes are not designed for such conditions. Only a few times have people dived to such depths. The water temperature in such gutters is 1-3°C.

Today it is difficult to even accurately measure the depth in these depressions, since the properties of the water change due to high pressure. Therefore, all obtained values ​​have an error of the order of several tens of meters. What depressions are among the deepest places on Earth?

Map "The deepest points (depressions) of the World Ocean"

Aleutian Trench

Located south of the Aleutian Islands, which in turn are the southern border Bering Sea. The trench stretches 3,400 km from the coast of Alaska to the Kamchatka Peninsula. Its depth is 7679 m. At this place, the North American lithospheric plate collides with the Pacific plate.

Java Basin

Also known as the Sunda Trench. The depression is the deepest point in everything Indian Ocean. It is located to the south of the Sunda Islands. The depth of the trench is 7729 m, and its length is 4.5 thousand km. It originates from the island of Myanmar, where its width is about 50 km. Further, when moving to the southeast, it narrows and at the same time deepens. In the area of ​​​​the island of Java, the width of the trench is 10 km, and the depth becomes maximum. The depression is located at the point where the Sunda Plate meets the Australian lithospheric plate. As a result, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur frequently in the area.

Puerto Rico Trench

Located north of the island of the same name, on the border between the Atlantic Ocean and its constituent Caribbean Sea. The Caribbean and North American lithospheric plates border here. There are no volcanoes near the depression, but the risk of earthquakes and tsunamis exists. The 97 km wide trench stretches for 1754 km. Its depth at its deepest point is 8742 m. This is the deepest point of the Atlantic Ocean. Deeper depressions are found only in the Pacific Ocean

Izu-Bonin Basin

Also known as the Izu-Ogasawara Trench. Located to the east of the Bonin Islands group, which belong to Japan. The maximum depth of the depression is estimated at 9810 m, and the length of the trench is 1030 km. In the north it connects with the Japan Trench. Its depth was determined by Soviet scientists from the Vityaz ship in 1955.

Kuril-Kamchatka Trench

The depression is located east of the coast Kuril Islands and reaches in the north to the Kamchatka Peninsula. Further it connects with the Aleutian Trench, while in the south it turns into the Japan Trench. Previously the name Tuscarora was used. The trench is 59 km wide and its length is estimated at 2170 km. At the deepest point with coordinates 44°00′46″ N. w. and 150°19′13″ E. The depth of the depression is 9917 m. The trench begins at a level that corresponds to 6000 m below the surface of the water, and then its walls close at an angle of 7°. There is high seismic activity here.

Kermadec

Located at east coast the island of the same name, just north of New Zealand. The depression stretches from south to north, its length exceeds 1200 km. The maximum depth of the trench reaches 10047 m. Its name geographical feature received in honor of the French navigator Jean-Michel Huon de Kermadec. The depression was discovered in 1889 by the British from the Penguin ship, and its depth was determined during the next scientific expedition of the Soviet ship Vityaz in 1958. In the north it connects with the Tonga Trench.

Japanese gutter

Located along the eastern shore Japanese Islands. The depression has a length of approximately 1000 km, and its maximum depth reaches 10504 m. In the north it connects with the Kuril-Kamchatka depression. The Trench is an area of ​​high seismic activity, with frequent earthquakes causing powerful tsunami hitting the coast of Japan. In 2008, scientists were able to photograph sea slugs here, which are considered the deepest-sea fish on Earth.

Philippine Trench

Named after the Philippine Islands, to the east of which it is located. It begins near the island of Luzon, and then stretches to the Molluc Islands. In the place furthest from the surface of the water, the depth is 10,540 m. The length of the depression is estimated at 1,320 km. Previously, another name was used - the Mindanao Trench. The first explorations of this place were carried out in 1912 by the team of the German ship Planet.

Tonga

Located near the eastern coast of Samoa. The length of the depression is 860 km, and its depth reaches 10882 m. The trench begins at a depth of 6000 m, where its width is 80 km, and then it gradually narrows. In the south it connects with the Kermadec Trench. It is the deepest point of all located to the south.

Mariana Trench

The deepest depression on the planet is located next to Mariana Islands. Its length is 1500 km. The slopes of the depression have a slope of approximately 9°, and the bottom represents a strip with a width of 1 to 5 km. The deepest point of the trench is called the Challenger Deep (11°22.40′N and 142°35.50′E) and is located 10,994 m below sea level. Measurement accuracy ±40 meters. The depression was formed at the junction of two lithospheric plates - the Pacific and the Philippine.

The depression was discovered in 1875 by the crew of the English corvette Challenger. They measured its depth and received a value of 8367 m. Already in 1951, the British on another ship (but with the same name) received a figure of 10863 m. In 1957, the trench was studied by Soviet scientists on the ship "Vityaz" and received a value of 11022 m. The latter measurements were carried out in 2011, during which a value of 10994 ± 40 m was obtained.

The first time a person dived to such a great depth was on January 23, 1960. The names of the two daredevils are Don Walsh and Jacques Picard. The dive took more than 4 hours, and the same amount of time was spent climbing. Only in 2012 did director James Cameron decide to repeat this achievement.

There are thousands of wonders on earth, including , the deepest places on the world map.

Ocean canyons are formed as a result of tectonic activity that occurs in the Earth's lithosphere. The largest of them are located on the floor of the Pacific Ocean as part of the so-called "Ring of Fire", which includes active volcanoes and earthquake zones. Natural fresh water bodies were formed due to sinkholes in karst rocks. Man-made mines are dug by humans for research purposes or to extract raw materials. Deep caves arose in mountain ranges due to the movement of the earth's crust.

Sea depressions

TOP 10 ocean canyons:

Mariana Trench

The deepest place in the world is the Mariana Trench, located in the western Pacific Ocean. It has the shape of a crescent, the length of the abyss is 2550 km, the average width is 69 km. The maximum known depth is 11.03 km at Vityaz-1 and 10.91 km at Challenger. The pressure at the bottom is 12,400 tons per square meter. The depression was first explored in January 1960 by Don Walsh and Jacques Piccard using the bathyscaphe Trieste. Mount Everest can fit in the Mariana Trench with a margin of 2.5 kilometers.

Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean and northern Kermadec Zone, the Tonga Trench lies 10,882 km below sea level. Stretching 2,500 km from northeast New Zealand northeast to the island of Tonga, the chasm was formed by the movement of the Pacific plate. Researchers have discovered that underwater explosions in the Japan and Mariana Trenches also cause strata movement. Over the past 100 years, 15 volcanoes have erupted on the islands.

Would you like to dive to the bottom of the ocean?

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Philippine Trench

The third deepest point in the world's oceans is the Galatea mark in the Philippine Trench, located 10.54 km below sea level. Known as the Mindanao Trench, this undersea trench extends 1,320 km long and 30 km wide in the eastern Philippines. One of the first explorations of this site was carried out in 1950 by a Danish expedition, the initial goal was to collect wildlife from the ocean floor. Scientists considered this ocean trench to be the deepest until 1970. Its age is 8-9 million years.

It was formed in the Pacific Ocean during the Cretaceous period due to volcanic shifts of the Kuril ridge. The trench is located near the Kuril Islands off the coast of Kamchatka at a depth of 10.5 km below sea level. Today, the Pacific Plate continues to slide, causing severe volcanism and seismic activity in the area. The movement of layers occurs at a speed of 75 to 83 millimeters per year.

The Kermadec Chasm in the Pacific Ocean extends 1,000 km between the Louisville Seamount chain and the Hikurangi Plateau, and has a maximum depth of 10.04 km. Five years ago, the Kermadec Trench made the news after the unmanned research submarine Nereus exploded due to high pressure at a depth of 9.99 meters while attempting to reach the bottom.

Japanese Trench

Another deep submarine trench, located east of the Japanese Islands, is part of the Pacific Ring of Fire. With a maximum depth of 9 km, it extends from the Kuril Islands to the Bonin Islands and continues the Kuril-Kamchatka Trench and Izu-Ogasawara to the north and south, respectively.

The chasm is located in the western Pacific Ocean. The proven depth of Izu-Ogasawara is 9.78 km. This trench, also known as the Izu-Bonin, extends from Japan to the northern part of the Mariana Trench and is an extension of the Japan Trench.

Located between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, the Puerto Rico Trench has the deepest elevation in the region at 8.64 km and is 800 km long. The oceanic trench has repeatedly become the cause of many tragic tsunamis and earthquakes.

Located 100 km east of the South Sandwich Islands in Atlantic Ocean on an active volcanic arc. Located at a depth of 8.42 km, its length is 956 km, which makes the abyss one of the most noticeable in the world.

Peru – Chilean Trench

The chasm, also called the Atacama Trench, is located approximately 160 km off the coast of Peru and Chile in the eastern Pacific Ocean. The maximum depth of the Atacama Trench is 8.06 km below sea level.

Fresh water bodies

Lake Baikal is the deepest depression with fresh water. It is located in southeastern Siberia, north of the Mongolian border. It has a depth of 1637 m.

Next to Lake Baikal is Lake Tanganyika, located in Central Africa. Its depth is 1470 meters. It is the second largest freshwater formation in the world. Located between four countries of the black continent.

Lake Vostok, with a maximum depth of 900 meters, is the largest of Antarctica's 400 open subglacial waters. Found in Russia beneath the surface of the East Central Antarctic Ice Sheet.

The depth of Lake O'Higgins San Martin is 836 meters. Has an area of ​​1013 km and a length coastline 525 km. 554 km of water belongs to Chile, and 459 km to Argentina.

El Zacaton is the deepest hole in the ground filled with water. Such formations are unusual a natural phenomenon, as they appear suddenly, causing severe devastation if the area was inhabited. But Zacaton in Mexico has been around since the Pleistocene and is a wonderful natural well. For a long time it was believed that it was bottomless, but in 1997 NASA solved the mystery of the pit by sending an underwater robot and discovered that the depth of El Zacaton is 339 m.

The clear blue water is highly mineralized and has a sulfurous odor. The name comes from the free-floating islands of orchard grass.

Caves

More than 100 very deep sinkholes on land have been discovered in the world; the first three places on the list are occupied by the mountain depressions of Abkhazia.

The fourth deepest cave (1632 m) Lamprechtsofen is located in Austria. It is famous for having a height difference of up to 1 km.

Some famous earthly sinkholes are man-made:

• Thus, the ultra-deep Kola well in Russia takes first place, and was drilled to study the earth's strata. Its depth is 12,262 km;

• South Africa's Mponeng gold mine is the second largest man-made mine on earth and is actively exploited. It will take at least 1.5 hours to reach its bottom. Located at a depth of 4 km from the surface. Deep in the mine, the temperature of the rock is 60ºC and the humidity is 95 percent;

Long, hand-dug underground tunnels are located in England and Africa.

From the early 1870s until 1914, 50,000 workers in Kimberley, South Africa sifted through soil every day to extract diamonds. They eventually reached a depth of more than 240 m before the operation was abandoned. Despite its smaller overall volume, the Woodingdean well, near Brighton in the UK, is the deepest scar that human hand has cut on the surface of the planet. Reaching 390m underground, it is equal to the Empire State Building, but just over a meter wide.

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