Who lives at the bottom of the Mariana Trench? Depth of the Mariana Trench. Inhabitants of the Mariana Trench Mariana Trench highlights

Not far from the east coast of the Philippine Islands is an underwater canyon. It is so deep that you can place Mount Everest in it and still have about three kilometers left. There is impenetrable darkness and an incredible pressure force, so one can easily imagine the Mariana Trench as one of the most unfriendly places in the world. However, despite all this, life still somehow continues to exist there - and not just barely survive, but actually thrive, thanks to which a full-fledged ecosystem has appeared there.

Life at such a depth is extremely difficult - eternal cold, impenetrable darkness and enormous pressure will not let you exist in peace. Some creatures, such as the anglerfish, create their own light to attract prey or mates. Others, such as the hammerhead fish, have evolved huge eyes to capture as much light as possible reaching incredible depths. Other creatures are just trying to hide from everyone, and in order to achieve this, they turn translucent or red (red absorbs all the blue light that manages to make it to the bottom of the cavity).

Cold protection

It is also worth noting that all creatures that live at the bottom of the Mariana Trench need to cope with cold and pressure. Protection from the cold is provided by the fats that form the shell of the creature's body cells. If this process is not followed, the membranes can crack and stop protecting the body. To combat this, these creatures have acquired an impressive supply of unsaturated fats in their membranes. With the help of these fats, the membranes always remain in a liquid state and do not crack. But is that enough to survive in one of the deepest places on the planet?

What is the Mariana Trench?

The Mariana Trench has the shape of a horseshoe, and its length is 2550 kilometers. It is located in the east of the Pacific Ocean, and its width is about 69 kilometers. The deepest point of the depression was discovered near the southern tip of the canyon in 1875 - the depth there was 8184 meters. A lot of time has passed since then, and with the help of an echo sounder, more accurate data were obtained: it turns out that the deepest point has an even greater depth, 10994 meters. It was named "Challenger Depth" in honor of the vessel that made the very first measurement.

Human immersion

However, about 100 years have passed since that moment - and only then for the first time a person plunged to such a depth. In 1960, Jacques Picard and Don Walsh set off in the Trieste bathyscaphe to conquer the depths of the Mariana Trench. Trieste used gasoline as fuel and iron structures as ballast. Bathyscaphe took 4 hours and 47 minutes to reach a depth of 10916 meters. It was then that the fact that life still exists at such a depth was first confirmed. Picard reported that he saw "flat fish" then, although in fact it turned out that he saw only a sea cucumber.

Who lives at the bottom of the ocean?

However, not only sea cucumbers are at the bottom of the depression. Together with them live large single-celled organisms known as foraminifera - they are giant amoeba that can grow up to 10 centimeters in length. Under normal conditions, these organisms create shells of calcium carbonate, but at the bottom of the Mariana Trench, where the pressure is a thousand times greater than at the surface, the calcium carbonate dissolves. This means that these organisms have to use proteins, organic polymers and sand to build their shells. Shrimps and other crustaceans known as amphipods also live at the bottom of the Mariana Trench. The largest of the amphipods look like giant albino woodlice - they can be found at the depths of the Challenger.

Nutrition at the bottom

Given that sunlight does not reach the bottom of the Mariana Trench, another question arises: what do these organisms feed on? Bacteria manage to survive at this depth because they feed on methane and sulfur that come from the earth's crust, and some organisms feed on these bacteria. But many rely on what's called "sea snow," tiny bits of detritus that reach the bottom from the surface. One of the most striking examples and richest sources of food are the carcasses of dead whales, which as a result end up on the ocean floor.

Fish in the hollow

But what about fish? The deepest-sea fish of the Mariana Trench was discovered only in 2014 at a depth of 8143 meters. An unknown ghostly white subspecies of Liparidae with broad pterygoid fins and an eel-like tail has been recorded several times by cameras that plunged into the depths of the depression. However, scientists believe that this depth is most likely the limit where the fish can survive. This means that there can be no fish at the bottom of the Mariana Trench, since the conditions there do not correspond to the structure of the body of vertebrate species.

What every student knows from the subject of geography: the highest point on the planet is Mount Everest (8848 m), and the lowest is the Mariana Trench. The trench is the deepest and most mysterious point of our planet - despite the fact that the oceans are closer than space stars, humanity has managed to explore only 5 percent of the ocean depths.

The basin is located in the western part of the Pacific Ocean and is a V-shape that flows around the Mariana Islands for 1500 km - hence the name. The deepest point is the Challenger Deep, named after the Challenger II (Challenge) echo sounder, which was able to record 10,994 m below sea level. To measure the bottom under conditions of pressure 1072 times higher than the norm for a person is akin to suicide; in 1875, an English expedition corvette was sent under the water column for the first time. The contribution of Soviet scientists is also invaluable - the Vityaz ship in 1957 obtained invaluable data: there is life in the Mariana Trench, despite the fact that even light does not penetrate to a depth of more than 1000 m.

ocean monsters

In 1960, U.S. Navy Lieutenant Don Walsh and explorer Jacques Picard descended into the dark abyss in the Trieste bathyscaphe, into depth of the Mariana Trench. At a record high of 10,915 m, they found flat fish resembling a flounder. Not without problems: the instruments recorded the shadows of creatures resembling mystical many-headed dragons. Scientists heard the gnashing of teeth on metal - and the skin of the ship was 13 cm thick! As a result, it was decided to urgently raise the Trieste to the surface, until a tragedy happened. On land, they discovered that the thick cable was almost half bitten - unknown creatures clearly did not tolerate strangers in their underwater kingdom ... Details about this dangerous journey in 1996 were published in the New York Times newspaper.

Later, researchers using special equipment confirmed that there really is life at the bottom of the depression - the latest developments in technology have made it possible to take unique pictures of half-meter mutant octopuses, strange jellyfish and anglerfish. They feed mainly on each other - and sometimes on bacteria. It is interesting that crustaceans caught in the abyss have much more toxins in their frail bodies than the inhabitants of the coastal waters of the ocean. Most of all, scientists were surprised by mollusks - in theory, the monstrous pressure should have flattened their shells, but the ocean inhabitants feel good in these conditions.

Champagne at the bottom of the ocean

Another mystery of the depression is the so-called "Champagne", a hydrothermal spring that emits countless bubbles of carbon dioxide into the water. It is the world's only underwater source of a liquid chemical element. It was thanks to him that the first hypotheses about the appearance of life on Earth in water were born. By the way, the temperature in the Mariana Trench is not the coldest - from 1 to 4 degrees. It is provided by "black smokers" - the same thermal springs that emit ore substances, which is why they acquire a dark color. They are very hot, but due to the high pressure, the water in the abyss does not boil, so the temperature is quite suitable for living organisms.

In 2012, renowned film director James Cameron became the first person to reach the bottom of the Pacific Ocean alone. Moving on the Dipsy Challenger, he was able to take soil samples from the Challenger Abyss and shoot in 3D. The resulting footage served science and became the basis of a documentary film on the National Geographic channel. Russia is not far behind - to the expedition to the bottom depths of the Mariana Trench our famous traveler Fyodor Konyukhov is also preparing. Perhaps he will be able to shed light on the mysteries of the lowest point on the planet?

Pavilion “Around the World. Asia, Africa, Latin America, Australia and Oceania"

ETHNOMIR, Kaluga region, Borovsky district, Petrovo village

In the ethnographic park-museum "ETNOMIR" - an amazing place. The "City" street is built inside a spacious pavilion, so it is always warm, light and good weather on Mira Street - just right for an exciting walk, especially since within the framework of the latter you can make a whole trip around the world. Like any tourist street, it has its own sights, workshops, street artisans, cafes and shops located inside and outside the 19 houses.

The facades of the buildings are made in different ethnic styles. Each house is a "quote" from the life and traditions of a particular country. The very appearance of the houses begins the story of distant lands.

Step inside and you will be surrounded by new, unfamiliar objects, sounds and smells. The color scheme and decoration, furniture, interior and household items - all this helps to plunge into the atmosphere of distant countries, to understand and feel their uniqueness.

What do we know about the deepest place in the World Ocean? This is the Mariana Trench or the Mariana Trench.

What is her depth? This is not an easy question...

But definitely not 14 kilometers!

In section, the Mariana Trench has a characteristic V-shaped profile with very steep slopes. The bottom is flat, several tens of kilometers wide, divided by ridges into several almost closed sections. The pressure at the bottom of the Mariana Trench is more than 1100 times higher than normal atmospheric pressure, reaching 3150 kg/cm2. The temperature at the bottom of the Mariana Trench (Marian Trench) is surprisingly high thanks to hydrothermal vents, nicknamed "black smokers". They constantly heat the water and maintain the overall temperature in the cavity at around 3°C.

The first attempt to measure the depth of the Mariana Trench (Marian Trench) was made in 1875 by the crew of the English oceanographic vessel Challenger during a scientific expedition across the World Ocean. The British discovered the Mariana Trench quite by accident, during the duty sounding of the bottom with the help of a lot (Italian hemp rope and lead weight). Despite the inaccuracy of such a measurement, the result was amazing: 8367 m. In 1877, a map was published in Germany, on which this place was marked as the Challenger Abyss.

A measurement made in 1899 from the board of the American collier Nero showed already a great depth: 9636 m.

In 1951, the bottom of the depression was measured by the English hydrographic vessel Challenger, named after its predecessor, unofficially referred to as the Challenger II. Now, with the help of an echo sounder, a depth of 10899 m was recorded.

The maximum depth indicator was obtained in 1957 by the Soviet research vessel "Vityaz": 11,034 ± 50 m. It is strange that no one remembered the anniversary date of the generally epoch-making discovery of Russian oceanologists. However, they say that when taking readings, the change in environmental conditions at different depths was not taken into account. This erroneous figure is still present on many physical and geographical maps published in the USSR and Russia.

In 1959, the American research ship Stranger measured the depth of the trench in a rather unusual way for science - using depth charges. Result: 10915 m.

The last known measurements were made in 2010 by the American ship Sumner, they showed a depth of 10994 ± 40 m.

It is not yet possible to obtain absolutely accurate readings even with the help of the most modern equipment. The work of the echo sounder is hindered by the fact that the speed of sound in water depends on its properties, which manifest themselves differently depending on depth.

This is how the strongest hulls of underwater vehicles look after extreme pressure tests. Photo: Sergey Ptichkin / RG

And now it is reported that an autonomous uninhabited underwater vehicle (AUV) has been developed in Russia, capable of operating at a depth of 14 kilometers. From this, conclusions are drawn that our military oceanologists have discovered a depression deeper than the Mariana Trench in the World Ocean.

The message that the apparatus was created and passed its test compression at a pressure corresponding to a depth of 14,000 meters was made during an ordinary press trip of journalists to one of the leading research centers dealing, among other things, with deep-sea vehicles. It is even strange that no one paid attention to this sensation and has not yet voiced it. And the developers themselves did not particularly open up. Or maybe they are just reinsuring themselves and want to get reinforced concrete evidence? And now we have every reason to wait for a new scientific sensation.

The decision was made to create an uninhabited deep-sea vehicle capable of withstanding pressures that are much higher than what exists in the Mariana Trench. The device is ready to work. If the depth is confirmed, it will become a super sensation. If not, the device will work to the maximum in the same Mariana Trench, study it up and down. In addition, the developers claim that with a not very complicated refinement, the AUV can be made habitable. And it will be comparable to manned flights into deep space.

The existence of the Mariana Trench has been known for quite some time, and there are technical possibilities for descending to the bottom, but in the last 60 years only three people have been able to do this: a scientist, a military man and a film director.

For the entire time of the study of the Mariana Trench (Marian Trench), vehicles with people on board fell to its bottom twice and automatic vehicles fell four times (as of April 2017). This, by the way, is less than people have been on the moon.

On January 23, 1960, the bathyscaphe Trieste sank to the bottom of the abyss of the Mariana Trench (Marian Trench). On board were the Swiss oceanographer Jacques Picard (1922-2008) and the US Navy lieutenant, explorer Don Walsh (born in 1931). The bathyscaphe was designed by the father of Jacques Picard - physicist, inventor of the stratospheric balloon and bathyscaphe Auguste Picard (1884-1962).

A half-century-old black-and-white photograph shows the legendary Trieste bathyscaphe in preparation for a dive. The crew of two was in a spherical steel gondola. It was attached to a float filled with gasoline to provide positive buoyancy.

The descent of the Trieste lasted 4 hours 48 minutes, the crew periodically interrupted it. At a depth of 9 km, the plexiglass cracked, but the descent continued until the Trieste sank to the bottom, where the crew saw a 30-centimeter flat fish and some kind of crustacean creature. Having stayed at a depth of 10912 m for about 20 minutes, the crew began the ascent, which took 3 hours and 15 minutes.

Man made another attempt to descend to the bottom of the Mariana Trench (Marian Trench) in 2012, when American film director James Cameron (born 1954) became the third to reach the bottom of the Challenger Abyss. Previously, he repeatedly dived on Russian Mir submersibles into the Atlantic Ocean to a depth of more than 4 km during the filming of the movie Titanic. Now, on the Dipsy Challenger bathyscaphe, he descended into the abyss in 2 hours and 37 minutes - almost a widow faster than the Trieste - and spent 2 hours and 36 minutes at a depth of 10898 m. After which he rose to the surface in just an hour and a half. At the bottom, Cameron saw only creatures that looked like shrimp.
The fauna and flora of the Mariana Trench are poorly studied.

In the 1950s Soviet scientists during the expedition of the ship "Vityaz" discovered life at depths of more than 7 thousand meters. Before that, it was believed that there was nothing alive there. Pogonophores were discovered - a new family of marine invertebrates that live in chitinous tubes. Disputes about their scientific classification are still going on.

The main inhabitants of the Mariana Trench (Marian Trench), living at the very bottom, are barophilic (developing only at high pressure) bacteria, the simplest creatures of foraminifera - unicellular in shells and xenophyophores - amoeba, reaching 20 cm in diameter and living by shoveling silt.
Foraminifera managed to get the Japanese automatic deep-sea probe "Kaiko" in 1995, plunged to 10911.4 m and took soil samples.

Larger inhabitants of the gutter live throughout its thickness. Life at depth has made them either blind or with highly developed eyes, often telescopic. Many have photophores - organs of luminescence, a kind of bait for prey: some have long shoots, like an angler fish, while others have it all right in their mouths. Some accumulate a luminous liquid and, in case of danger, douse it with the enemy in the manner of a "light curtain".

Since 2009, the territory of the depression has been part of the American conservation area Mariana Trench Marine National Monument with an area of 246,608 km2. The zone includes only the underwater part of the trench and the water area. The reason for this action was the fact that the Northern Mariana Islands and the island of Guam - in fact, American territory - are the island boundaries of the water area. The Challenger Deep is not included in this zone, as it is located on the oceanic territory of the Federated States of Micronesia.

sources

Many people know that the highest point is (8848 m). If you are asked where is the deepest point of the ocean, what will you answer? Mariana Trench- this is the place we want to tell you about.

But first I want to note that they never cease to amaze us with their riddles. The described place is also still not properly studied for quite objective reasons.

So, we offer you or, as it is also called, the Mariana Trench. Below are valuable photographs of the mysterious inhabitants of this abyss.

It is located in the western part of the Pacific Ocean. This is the deepest place in the world, of all known today.

Having a V-shape, the depression runs along the Mariana Islands for 1500 km.

Mariana Trench on the map

An interesting fact is that the Mariana Trench is located at the junction: the Pacific and the Philippine.

The pressure at the bottom of the trough reaches 108.6 MPa, which is almost 1072 higher than the normal pressure.

Probably, now you understand that because of such conditions, it is extremely difficult to explore the mysterious bottom of the world, as this place is also called. Nevertheless, the scientific community, starting from the end of the 19th century, has not ceased to study this mystery of nature step by step.

Exploration of the Mariana Trench

In 1875, an attempt was made for the first time to globally explore the Mariana Trench. The English expedition "Challenger" carried out measurements and analysis of the trough. It was this group of scientists who set the initial mark at 8184 meters.

Of course, this was not the full depth, since the capabilities of that time were much more modest than today's measuring systems.

Soviet scientists also made a huge contribution to research. An expedition led by the Vityaz research vessel in 1957 began its own studies and found that there is life at a depth of more than 7,000 meters.

Until that time, there was a strong belief that at such a depth life is simply impossible.

We invite you to see a curious image of the Mariana Trench on a scale:

Diving to the bottom of the Mariana Trench

1960 was one of the most fruitful years in terms of the study of the Mariana Trench. The Trieste research bathyscaphe made a record dive to a depth of 10,915 meters.

This is where something mysterious and inexplicable began. Special devices that record underwater sound began to transmit terrible noises to the surface, reminiscent of the grinding of a saw on metal.

The monitors registered mystical shadows, which in shape resembled fairy-tale dragons with several heads. For an hour, scientists tried to capture as much data as possible, but then the situation began to get out of control.

It was decided to immediately raise the bathyscaphe to the surface, since there were reasonable fears that if you wait a little longer, the bathyscaphe will forever remain in the mysterious abyss of the Mariana Trench.

For more than 8 hours, specialists have been extracting unique equipment made of heavy-duty materials from the bottom.

Of course, all the instruments, and the bathyscaphe itself, were carefully placed on a special platform for studying the surface.

What was the surprise of scientists when it turned out that almost all elements of the unique apparatus, made from the most durable at that time, were severely deformed and mangled.

The cable, 20 cm in diameter, lowering the bathyscaphe to the bottom of the Mariana Trench, was half sawn. Who and why tried to cut it remains a mystery to this day.

An interesting fact is that only in 1996 the American newspaper The New York Times published the details of this unique study.

lizard from the Mariana Trench

The German expedition "Highfish" also encountered the inexplicable mysteries of the Mariana Trench. While plunging the research apparatus to the bottom, scientists encountered unexpected difficulties.

Being at a depth of 7 kilometers under water, they decided to raise the equipment.

But the technology refused to obey. Then special infrared cameras were turned on to find out the cause of the failures. However, what they saw on the monitors plunged them into indescribable horror.

On the screen, a fantastic lizard of gigantic proportions was clearly visible, which was trying to gnaw through the bathyscaphe, like a squirrel nut.

Being in a state of shock, the hydronauts activated the so-called electric gun. Having received a powerful discharge of current, the lizard disappeared into the abyss.

What it was, the fantasy of scientists obsessed with research work, mass hypnosis, the delirium of people tired of colossal stress, or just someone's joke, is still unknown.

The deepest place in the Mariana Trench

On December 7, 2011, researchers at the University of New Hampshire submerged a unique robot to the bottom of a research trough.

Thanks to modern equipment, it was possible to register a depth of 10,994 m (+/- 40 m). This place was named after the first expedition (1875), which we wrote about above: “ Challenger Abyss».

Inhabitants of the Mariana Trench

Of course, after these inexplicable and even mystical secrets, logical questions began to arise: what monsters live at the bottom of the Mariana Trench? After all, for a long time it was believed that below 6000 meters the existence of living beings is in principle impossible.

However, later studies of the Pacific Ocean in general, and the Mariana Trench in particular, confirmed the fact that at a much greater depth, in impenetrable darkness, under monstrous pressure and water temperature close to 0 degrees, a huge number of unprecedented creatures live.

Undoubtedly, without modern technology, made of the most durable materials and equipped with cameras that are unique in their properties, such a study would be simply impossible.

Half-meter mutant octopus

One and a half meter monster

As a summary, we can confidently say that at the bottom of the Mariana Trench, between 6000 and 11000 meters under water, the following were reliably found: worms (up to 1.5 meters in size), crayfish, a variety of amphipods, gastropods, mutants, mysterious, not identified soft-bodied creatures of two meters in size, etc.

These inhabitants feed mainly on bacteria and the so-called "corpse rain", that is, dead organisms that slowly sink to the bottom.

Hardly anyone doubts that the Mariana Trench stores many more. However, people do not leave attempts to explore this unique place on the planet.

Thus, the only people who dared to dive to the "bottom of the earth" were the American marine specialist Don Walsh and the Swiss scientist Jacques Picard. On the same Trieste bathyscaphe, they reached the bottom on January 23, 1960, sinking to a depth of 10,915 meters.

However, on March 26, 2012, James Cameron, an American director, made a solo dive to the bottom of the deepest point in the oceans. Bathyscaphe collected all the necessary samples and made a valuable photo and video shooting. Thus, we now know that only three people have been in the Challenger Abyss.

Did they manage to answer at least half of the questions? Of course not, since the Mariana Trench still hides much more mysterious and inexplicable things.

By the way, James Cameron stated that after diving to the bottom, he felt completely cut off from the world of people. Moreover, he assured that there are simply no monsters at the bottom of the Mariana Trench.

But here we can recall a primitive Soviet statement, after a flight into space: "Gagarin flew into space - he did not see God." This led to the conclusion that there is no God.

Similarly, here, we cannot unequivocally say that the giant lizard and other creatures that scientists saw in the course of previous studies were the result of someone's sick fantasy.

It is important to understand that the geographic object under study has a length of more than 1000 kilometers. Therefore, potential monsters, the inhabitants of the Mariana Trench, could well be located many hundreds of kilometers from the place of study.

However, these are just hypotheses.

Panorama of the Mariana Trench on Yandex Map

Another interesting fact may intrigue you. On April 1, 2012, Yandex published a comic panorama of the Mariana Trench. On it you can see a sunken ship, water plumes and even the glowing eyes of a mysterious underwater monster.

Despite the humorous idea, this panorama is tied to a real place and is still available to users.

To view it, copy this code into the address bar of your browser:

https://yandex.ua/maps/-/CZX6401a

The abyss knows how to keep its secrets, and our civilization has not yet reached such a development as to “crack” natural mysteries. However, who knows, maybe one of the readers of this article in the future will become the very genius who will be able to solve this problem?

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The Mariana Trench is a fracture in the earth's crust located in the ocean. It is one of the famous objects in the world. We will find out where the Mariana Trench is located on the map and what it is known for.

What it is?

The Mariana Trench is an oceanic trench, or a break in the earth's crust, located under water. It got its name from the nearby Mariana Islands. In the world, this object is known as the deepest place. The depth of the Mariana Trench in meters is 10994. This is 2000 meters more than the highest mountain on the planet - Everest.

For the first time, the British learned about this depression in 1875 on the Challenger ship. At the same time, the first measurement of its depth was made, which amounted to 8367 meters.

How was the Mariana Trench formed?

It represents the boundary between two lithospheric plates. There is a break in the earth's crust, formed as a result of the movements of these plates. The depression is V-shaped and is 1,500 kilometers long.

Location

How to find the Mariana Trench on the world map? It is located in the Pacific Ocean, in its eastern part, between the Philippine and Mariana Islands. The coordinates of the deepest point of the depression are 11 degrees north latitude and 142 degrees east longitude.

Rice. 1. The Mariana Trench is located in the Pacific Ocean

Research

The enormous depth of the Mariana Trench determines the pressure at the bottom, which is 108.6 MPa. This is a thousand times more pressure on the surface of the Earth. Naturally, it is extremely difficult to conduct research in such conditions. However, the secrets and mysteries of the deepest place in the world attract many scientists.

Who lives at the bottom of the hollow

Despite the enormous depth and high pressure of the water column, the Mariana Trench is not uninhabited. Until recently, it was believed that life stops at a depth of 6000 m. and no animals are able to endure the enormous pressure. In addition, at the level of 2000 m, the passage of light stops and only darkness is located below.

Recent studies have found that even below 6000 m there is life. So, who lives at the bottom of the Mariana Trench:

worms up to one and a half meters long;
crustaceans;
shellfish;
octopuses;
sea stars;
many bacteria.

All these inhabitants have adapted to withstand pressure and darkness, therefore they have specific shapes and colors.

Rice. 3. Inhabitant of the Mariana Trench

What have we learned?

So, we found out in which ocean the Mariana Trench is located - the deepest place in the world. Its depth significantly exceeds the height of the largest mountain in the world. Despite the harsh conditions, the depression is inhabited by a variety of inhabitants. Until now, this place is a big mystery, which scientists from all over the world are trying to solve.