Who discovered the Mariana Trench. Diving into the Mariana Trench by James Cameron. Who is the real “master” of planet earth?

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

Sensational discovery by the Challenger team

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

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

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

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

Dive into the world of silence and darkness

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

They lowered the submersible to the bottom for five long hours; Despite such a long descent, the researchers spent only 20 minutes at the bottom at a depth of 10,911 meters; it took them about 3 hours to rise. Within minutes of being in the abyss, Walsh and Picard were able to make a very impressive discovery: they saw two 30-centimeter flat fish, similar to flounder, that swam past their porthole. Their presence at such a depth became a real scientific sensation!

In addition to discovering the presence of life at such a mind-boggling depth, Jacques Piccard was able to experimentally refute the then prevailing opinion that at depths of more than 6000 m there is no upward movement of water masses. In terms of ecology, this was a major discovery, because some nuclear powers were planning to bury radioactive waste in the Mariana Trench. It turns out that Picard prevented large-scale radioactive contamination of the Pacific Ocean!

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

On March 26, 2012, a man again found himself at the bottom of the Mariana Trench; it was the famous director, creator of the legendary film “Titanic,” James Cameron.

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

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

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

Inhabitants of the Mariana Trench

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

Mollusks were also discovered in the Mariana Trench. It is unclear how their shells withstand enormous water pressure, but they feel very comfortable at depth, and are located next to hydrothermal vents that emit hydrogen sulfide, which is lethal to ordinary mollusks. However, local mollusks, having demonstrated incredible abilities for chemistry, somehow adapted to process this destructive gas into protein, which allowed them to live where, at first
look, it’s impossible to live.

Many of the inhabitants of the Mariana Trench are quite unusual. For example, scientists discovered here a fish with a transparent head, in the center of which are its eyes. Thus, during the course of evolution, the eyes of the fish received reliable protection from possible injury. At great depths there are many bizarre and sometimes even scary fish; here we managed to capture on video a fantastically beautiful jellyfish. Of course, we don’t yet know all the inhabitants of the Mariana Trench; in this regard, scientists still have many discoveries to make.

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

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

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 tallest mountain in the world - Everest - could easily fit into the trench and still have room left.

The Mariana Trench is rich in records and titles: it became famous not only for its depth, but also for its mystery, the terrible inhabitants of the underwater depths, the “monsters” guarding the bottom of the earth, mysteries, the unknown, primordiality, darkness, etc. In general, Space Inside Out is the bottom of the Mariana Trench. There are versions that life began in the Mariana Trench.

MARIAN Trench. RiddlesMarianadepressions:

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 "Challenge the Abyss 3D|Journey to the Bottom of the Mariana Trench":

The film was created in collaboration with National Geographic, created in a documentary format. Before some of his box-office creations (like Titanic), the director also sank to the bottom of the depths to the place of events, so before his “visit” of the Mariana Trench in 2012, many were waiting for either a grandiose masterpiece, or a video with monsters living in the darkness of the ocean .

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

To questions about whether the director saw any terrible creature at the bottom of the depression, he answered: “Probably everyone would like to hear that I saw some kind of sea monster, but it wasn’t there... There was nothing living, more than 2- 2.5 cm".

Public reaction to Cameron's film The Abyss was mixed. Some people thought the film was boring and could not be compared with his works like “Titanic”, “Avatar”, someone said that the film was real and in its “boringness” it showed the way of interaction between one of the seven billion people on the planet and the deepest abyss.

From reviews of the film:

“Of course, the content of the film can hardly be called exciting. The viewer spends most of the time in endless tedious meetings and tests in the laboratory. But I believe that this difficult and long path from a dream to its implementation definitely 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 previously completed underwater expeditions, including without the participation of people, various forms of life, fish, hitherto never seen, strange creatures, creatures similar to monsters, giant octopuses. But let's not forget that “monsters” are just unexplored creatures.

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

Here are some photos of those whom the expedition cameras met at the depths of the Mariana Trench:

The photo shows the bottom of the Mariana Trench:

“The mystery of the Mariana Trench. Great mysteries of the ocean." Ren-TV program.

Still, it remains a big mystery what is there, at the bottom of the Mariana Trench... They scare us in absentia with monsters, but in reality no one, in particular Cameron, who spent 3 hours at the bottom of the trench, discovered strange objects there... silence... depth... eternity.

And the most important questions are “how can monsters live there if there is enormous pressure at the bottom, no light, no oxygen??” Answer from scientific experts:

“The inexplicable and incomprehensible have always attracted people, which is why scientists all over the world want to answer the question: “What does the Mariana Trench hide in its depths?”

Can living organisms live at such great depths, and what should they look like, given the fact that they are pressed by huge masses of ocean waters, the pressure of which exceeds 1100 atmospheres?

The challenges associated with exploring and understanding the creatures that live at these unimaginable depths are numerous, but human ingenuity knows no bounds. For a long time, oceanographers considered the hypothesis that life could exist at depths of more than 6,000 m in impenetrable darkness, under enormous pressure and at temperatures close to zero, to be crazy.

However, the results of research by scientists in 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...

There are many amazing places in this world that have not yet been explored by man. It turns out that only 5% of the ocean area is subject to science, the rest remains a mystery to it, shrouded in darkness. One of these mysterious places is the Mariana Trench, the depth of which is the greatest among all the explored areas of the seabed. Mariana Trench is another name for the place.

Under the thickness of sea water, the pressure is a thousand times higher than the pressure that is recorded in normal sea space. But high-tech devices and caring risk-takers helped us learn at least a little about the deep crevasse. The Pacific Ocean is a true nature reserve, not only home to exotic, unique animals, but also to remarkable topographical features.

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

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

History of the study of the phenomenon

1872 is considered the date of discovery of the Mariana Trench; photographs of the object appear a little later. The tectonic fault was explored as best as possible by the British on a military corvette in 1951. The depth of the Mariana Trench becomes known - 10863 meters. Since it was the Challenger ship that sank to the very bottom, to the deepest point, it began to be called the “Challenger Abyss.”

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

The dive to the “bottom of the Earth” takes at least five hours. The ascent is somewhat faster. You cannot stay at the very bottom for more than 12 minutes, taking into account the technology that was at the disposal of the researchers of that time. Cosmic sums have to be allocated for the study of such terrestrial objects, so work is proceeding slowly.

Where is it located

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

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

Interesting facts and stories

It's hot there. It turns out it’s not cold at this crazy depth. The thermometer column shows a positive value - up to 4⁰С. There are hot springs in the gorge, they make the water a hundred points hotter. High pressure prevents the water column from boiling.

Population. Ignoring the unsuitable conditions for life, the inhabitants of the “bottom of the world” settled down well. Huge xenophyophore amoebas live there - up to 10 cm. These are protozoa, but they have mutated due to hot water and pressure. Amoebas are able to survive in an environment filled with dangerous chemical elements.

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

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

The depression is slimy. There's no sand or anything like that. At the very bottom there is a layer of small shells and dead plankton accumulated over thousands of years. The pressure makes this mass look like mucus.

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

There are bridges there. In 2011, a group of research scientists discovered stone bridges in the Mariana Trench. Four structures stretch between the abyss for almost 70 km. They are located between two tectonic plates - the Pacific and the Philippine. One of them was discovered even earlier, in the 80s of the 20th century. It is very high, more than 2.5 km.

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

The mystery of sawn cables. The incredible depths are terrifying. And the first explorers were afraid of unprecedented monsters inside the Mariana Trench. The first fact of collision with the unknown happened at the moment of the Glomar Challenger dive. The recorder began to record a metallic sound, like a grinding sound, and shadows appearing around the ship. The scientists became concerned about the expensive titanium equipment in the shape of a hedgehog, and the decision was made to lift the research vessel onto the ship. After extraction, the “hedgehog” turned out to be damaged, the 20-centimeter titanium cables were bent, or rather, half sawed through. The complete impression was created that someone wanted to stop the ship at depth.

Prehistoric lizard. There was a hitch during the dive of the Highfish vessel with scientists on board. The device reached a depth of 7 kilometers and stopped. The researchers turned on the infrared camera. She suddenly snatched out of the ocean darkness a huge dinosaur that was biting into the submersible. They managed to drive him away with the help of an electric gun.

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

The Mayan depression is inhabited by:

1. Scary and not very fish

2. Various octopuses

3. And other strange creatures

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

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There is a place on Earth about which we know much less than about distant space - mysterious ocean floor. It is believed that world science has not yet really even begun to study it.

On March 26, 2012, 50 years after the first dive, man again sank to the bottom of the deepest depression on Earth: the Deepsea Challenge bathyscaphe with Canadian director James Cameron sank to the bottom of the Mariana Trench. Cameron became the third person to reach the deepest point of the ocean and the first to do it alone.

Mariana Trench- the deepest trench on earth in the western Pacific Ocean. It stretches along the Mariana Islands for 2,500 km. The deepest point of the Mariana Trench is called "Challenger Deep". According to the latest surveys in 2011, its depth is 10,994 meters (±40 m) below sea level. By the way, the highest peak in the world, Everest, rises to a height of “only” 8,848 meters.

At the bottom of the Mariana Trench, water pressure reaches 1,072 atmospheres, i.e. 1,072 times normal atmospheric pressure. (Infographics ria.ru):

Half a century ago. Bathyscaphe "Trieste", designed by the Swiss scientist Auguste Picard, which made a record dive into the Mariana Trench 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:

Let's go back to the present day. This is the Deepsea Challenge Submersible, in which James Cameron sank to the bottom of the ocean. It was developed in an Australian laboratory, weighs 11 tons and is more than 7 meters long:

The dive began on March 26 at 05:15 am local time. James Cameron's last words were: "Lower, lower, lower."

When diving to the bottom of the ocean, the bathyscaphe turns over and sinks vertically:

This is a real vertical torpedo that glides through a huge layer of water at high speed:

The compartment in which Cameron was located during the dive is a metal sphere with a diameter of 109 cm with thick walls capable of withstanding pressure of more than 1,000 atmospheres:

In the photograph, to the left of the director, a hatch covering the sphere is visible:

HD video. Dive:

James Cameron spent more than 3 hours at the bottom of the Mariana Trench, during which he took photographs and videos of the underwater world. The result of this underwater journey will be a joint film with National Geographic. The photo shows manipulators with cameras:

At a depth of 11 kilometers:

3D camera:

However, the underwater expedition was not entirely successful. Due to a malfunction metal "hands", controlled by hydraulics, James Cameron was unable to take samples from the ocean floor that scientists need to study geology:

Many were tormented by the question of animals that live at such monstrous depths. “Probably everyone would like to hear that I saw some kind of sea monster, but it wasn’t there... There was nothing alive, more than 2-2.5 cm.”

A few hours after the dive, the Deepsea Challenge bathyscaphe with the 57-year-old director successfully returned from the bottom of the Mariana Trench.

Lifting the bathyscaphe:

James Cameron - the first person in the world to make a solo dive into the abyss- to the bottom of the Mariana. In the coming weeks it will descend to depth 4 more times.

The ocean is much closer to us than the planets of the solar system. However, only 5 percent of its bottom has been studied. How many more secrets do the waters of the world's oceans hold? This is the greatest mystery of our planet.

Maximum depth

The Mariana Trench, or otherwise the Mariana Trench, is the deepest place in the world's oceans. Amazing creatures live here and there is practically no light. However, this is the most famous place, which is still not fully explored and conceals many unsolved mysteries.

Diving into the Mariana Trench is truly suicide. After all, the water pressure here is thousands of times higher than the pressure at sea level. The maximum depth of the world's oceans is approximately 10,994 meters with an error of 40 meters. However, there are brave souls who descended to the very bottom, risking their own lives. Of course, this could not have happened without modern technologies.

Where is the deepest place in the world's oceans?

The Mariana Trench is located in the region, or more precisely, in its western part, closer to the east, near Guam, about 200 kilometers from the deepest place in the world's oceans, shaped like a crescent-shaped trench. The width of the depression is approximately 69 kilometers and the length is 2550 kilometers.

Coordinates of the Mariana Trench: eastern longitude - 142°35’, northern latitude - 11°22’.

Temperature at the bottom

Scientists have suggested that at maximum depth there should be a very low temperature. However, they were very surprised by the fact that at the bottom of the Mariana Trench this figure remains above zero and amounts to 1 - 4 ° C. Soon an explanation was found for this phenomenon.

Hydrothermal springs are located approximately at a depth of 1600 meters from the surface of the water. They are also called “white smokers.” Jets of very hot water come out of the springs. Its temperature is 450° Celsius.

It is worth noting that this water contains a huge amount of minerals. It is these chemical elements that support life at great depths. Despite such a high temperature, which is several times higher than the boiling point, the water does not boil here. And this is explained by fairly high pressure. At this depth, this figure is 155 times higher than that on the surface.

As you can see, the deepest places in the world's oceans are not so simple. There are still many secrets hidden in them that need to be unraveled.

Who lives at such depths?

Many people think that the deepest place in the world's oceans is an abyss where life cannot exist. However, this is far from the case. At the very bottom of the Mariana Trench, scientists discovered very large amoebas, which are called xenophyophores. Their body length is 10 centimeters. These are very large single-celled organisms.

Scientists suggest that this type of amoeba acquired such a size due to the environment in which they have to exist. It is worth noting that these single-celled creatures were found at a depth of 10.6 kilometers. Their development was influenced by many factors. This includes the lack of sunlight, fairly high pressure, and, of course, cold water.

In addition, xenophyophores have simply unique abilities. Amoebas perfectly tolerate exposure to a variety of chemicals and elements, including lead, mercury and uranium.

Shellfish

There is very high pressure at the bottom of the Mariana Trench. In such conditions, even creatures with bones or shells have no chance of surviving. However, not so long ago, mollusks were found in the Mariana Trench. They live near hydrothermal springs, because serpentine contains methane and hydrogen. These substances allow a living organism to fully form.

It is still not known how mollusks manage to preserve their shells in such conditions. In addition, hydrothermal springs release another gas - hydrogen sulfide. And it is known to be fatal to any mollusks.

Liquid carbon dioxide in its pure form

The Mariana Trench is a deep place in the world's oceans, as well as an amazing world with many unexplained phenomena. There are hydrothermal vents located near Taiwan, outside the Okinawa Trench. This is the only underwater area currently known to contain liquid carbon dioxide. This place was discovered back in 2005.

Many scientists believe that it was these sources that allowed life to arise in the Mariana Trench. After all, there is not only the optimal temperature, but also chemicals present.

In conclusion

The deepest places of the world's oceans simply amaze with the extraordinary nature of their world. Here you can find living organisms that thrive in complete darkness and at high pressure and cannot exist in any other environment.

It is worth noting that the Mariana Trench has the status of a US national monument. This marine reserve is the largest in the world. Of course, for those who want to visit here, there is a certain list of rules. Mining and fishing is strictly prohibited in this place.