The Mariana Trench is one of the most famous places on the planet. But this does not prevent him from being the keeper of secrets and mysteries. What is at the bottom of the Mariana Trench and which living creature is able to withstand these incredible conditions?

Unique depth of the planet

The bottom of the Earth, the Challenger abyss, the deepest place on the planet ... What titles were not given to the little-studied Mariana Trench. It presents a malfunctioning V-shaped bowl with a diameter of about 5 km with steep slopes located at an angle of only 7-9 ° and a flat bottom. According to measurements in 2011, the depth of the trough is 10, 994 km below sea level. It is difficult to imagine, but in its depths Everest can easily fit - the most high mountain planets.

The deep-sea trench is located in the western part The Pacific... The unique geographical point got its name in honor of the located in the immediate vicinity Mariana Islands... Along them, it stretches for 1.5 km.

This amazing place on the planet was formed as a result of a tectonic fault, where the Pacific plate partially overlaps with the Philippine plate.

Secrets and mysteries of the "Womb of Gaia"

There are many secrets and legends hovering around the little-studied Mariana Trench. What is hidden in the depths of the gutter?

Japanese scientists who have studied goblin sharks for a long time claim that they saw a gigantic creature while feeding predators. It was a 25-meter shark that came to feed on goblin sharks. It is assumed that they had the good fortune to contemplate the direct descendant of the megalodon shark, which, according to official version became extinct 2 million years ago. In support of the fact that these monsters could well have survived in the depths of the trench, scientists provided giant teeth found at the bottom.

The world knows many stories about how the bodies of unknown giant monsters thrown out by the waters were found on the shores of nearby islands.

Interesting case describe the participants in the descent of the German bathyscaphe "Highfish". At a depth of 7 km, a sudden stop of the self-propelled vehicle occurred. To find out the reason for the stop, the researchers turned on the searchlights and were horrified by what they saw. In front of them was a prehistoric deep-sea lizard trying to gnaw at an underwater vessel. The monster was frightened off only by the tangible electrical impulse of the outer skin of the self-propelled vehicle.

Another unexplained incident occurred during the sinking of an American deep-sea vessel. At the moment of lowering the apparatus on titanium cables, the researchers heard the grinding of metal. To find out the reason, they took the apparatus back to the surface. As it turned out, the beams of the ship were bent, and the titanium cables were practically sawn. Which of the inhabitants of the Mariana Trench tried their teeth, remained a mystery.

Amazing gutter dwellers

The pressure at the bottom of the Mariana Trench reaches 108.6 MPa. This parameter is more than 1100 times higher than normal atmospheric pressure. It is not surprising that people for a long time believed that at the bottom of the gutter at icy cold and there is no unbearable pressure of life.

But in spite of everything, at a depth of 11 kilometers, there are deep-sea monsters that have managed to adapt to these terrible conditions. So who are these representatives of the animal world, who have successfully mastered the deepest place on the planet and feel comfortable within the walls of the Mariana Trench?

Sea slug

These amazing creatures, living at a depth of 7-8 km, in appearance more resemble not the usual "surface" fish, but rather tadpoles.

The body of these amazing fish is a jelly-like substance, the density parameter of which is slightly higher than water. This feature of the device allows sea slugs to swim with minimal energy consumption.

The body of these deep-sea inhabitants is predominantly dark in color from pink-brown to black. Although there are also colorless species, through the transparent skin of which muscles can be seen.

The size of an adult sea slug is only 25-30 cm. The head is pronounced and strongly flattened. A well-developed tail is more than half the length of the body. The fish uses a powerful tail and well-developed fins for movement.

Jellyfish traditionally live in the upper water layers. But bentokodon feels comfortable at a depth of about 750 meters. Outwardly, an amazing inhabitant of the Mariana Trench resembles a red flying saucer D 2-3 cm. The edges of the "saucer" are framed by 1,500 thinnest tentacles that help the jellyfish to navigate in space and move quickly, overcoming the water column.

Bentocodon feeds on unicellular and crustaceans, which exhibit bioluminescent properties in the depths of the sea. According to marine biologists, the red color was donated by nature to these jellyfish for the purpose of camouflage. If they had a transparent color, as their upper water ones gather, then when swallowing the crustaceans glowing in the dark, they would become immediately noticeable to larger predators.

Macropina barrel-eye

Among the amazing inhabitants of the Mariana Trench, an unusual fish called the smallmouth macropina is of genuine interest. She is rewarded by nature with a transparent head. The fish's eyes, located deep inside the transparent dome, can rotate in different directions. This enables the barrel-eye to search in all directions without moving, even in dim and diffused light conditions. The false eyes located in the front of the head are actually the organs of smell.

The body of the fish, compressed from the sides, resembles a torpedo in shape. Thanks to this structure, it is able to "hang" in one place for several hours. To give the body acceleration, the macropin simply presses the fins to the body and begins to actively work with its tail.

This cute animal, living at a depth of 7 thousand meters, is the deepest octopus known to science. Due to its wide bell-shaped head and sweeping elephant "ears", it is often called nothing other than the Dumbo octopus.

The deep-sea creature has a soft semi-hardy body and two fins located on the mantle, connected by wide membranes. The octopus carries out hovering movements above the bottom surface due to the work of a siphon funnel.

Soaring along the seabed, it looks out for prey - bivalve molluscs, worm-like animals and crustaceans. Unlike most cephalopods, Dumbo does not peck at prey with its beak-like jaws, but swallows it whole.

Small fish with bulging telescopic eyes and huge open mouths live at a depth of 200-600 meters. They got their name for their characteristic body shape, which bears a resemblance to a chopping tool equipped with a short handle.

The hatchet fish inhabiting the depths of the Mariana Trench have photophores. Special organs of luminescence are located in the lower half of the body in small groups along the abdomen. By emitting diffused light, they create an anti-shade effect. This makes the hatchet less visible to bottom-dwelling predators.

Osedax bone eaters

Among those who live at the bottom of the Mariana Trench are polychaete worms. They reach a length of only 5-7 cm. In the role of food, the Ossedaxi use substances contained in the bones of dead sea inhabitants.

Secreting an acidic substance, they penetrate into the skeleton, extracting from it all the trace elements necessary for life. Tiny bone eaters breathe through fluffy processes on the body, which are able to extract oxygen from water.

Equally interesting is the way these creatures are adaptable. Males, the size of which is ten times smaller than females, live on the body of their ladies. Inside the dense gelatinous cone framing the body, up to hundreds of males can live at the same time. They leave their shelter only when the female prey finds a new source of food.

Active bacteria

During the last expedition, Danish scientists discovered colonies of active bacteria at the bottom of the depression, which are of great importance in maintaining the carbon cycle of the ocean.

Remarkably, at a depth of 11 km, bacteria are 2 times more active than their counterparts, but living at a depth of 6 km. Scientists attribute this to the need to recycle the colossal volumes of organic material that fall here, descending from shallower depths, and as a result of earthquakes.

Underwater monsters

The vast ocean in the Mariana Trench is filled with more than just cute and harmless creatures. The deepest monsters leave the most indelible impression.

In contrast to the above-mentioned inhabitants of the Mariana Trench, iglora has a very formidable appearance. Its long body is covered with slippery, scaleless skin, and its terrible muzzle is "adorned" with huge teeth. The monster lives at a depth of 1800 m.

Since the sun's rays practically do not penetrate into the depths of the gutter, many of its inhabitants have the ability to glow in the dark. Eaglewing is no exception.

On the body of the fish there are photophores - glow glands. The deep-sea inhabitant uses them for three purposes at once: to protect against large predators, to communicate with their own kind, and to lure small fish. During the hunt, the needle-throat also uses a special mustache - a luminous thickening. The potential victim takes the luminous strip for a small fish and eventually falls for the bait itself.

The fish is amazing not only in appearance, but also in the way of life. She received the nickname "angler" for a remarkable growth on the head, filled with bioluminescent bacteria. Attracted by the glow of the "fishing rod", a potential victim swims up to a close distance. The angler can only open his mouth to meet her.

These deep sea predators are very voracious. To accept prey that exceeds the size of the predator itself, the fish is able to stretch the walls of its stomach. For this reason, in the event of an attack by an angler fish on a prey that is too large, both may die as a result.

The predator has a very unusual appearance: a long body with short fins, an intimidating muzzle with a giant beak-like nose, huge jaws protruding forward and unexpectedly pink skin.

Biologists believe that a long beak-shaped outgrowth is necessary for a predator to find food in pitch darkness. For such an unusual and even terrible appearance, a predator is often called a goblin shark.

It is noteworthy that house sharks do not have a swim bladder. This is partially offset by an enlarged liver, which can weigh up to 25% relative to the body.

You can only meet a predator at a depth of at least 900 m. It is noteworthy that the older the individual, the deeper it will dwell. But even adult individuals of goblin sharks cannot boast of impressive dimensions: the body length is on average 3-3.5 m, and the weight is about 200 kg.

Frilled Shark

This dangerous creature that lives in the bowels of the Mariana Trench is rightfully considered the king of the underwater world. The most ancient species of shark has a serpentine body, covered with folded skin. The gill membranes intersecting in the throat area form a wide sac from skin folds, outwardly resembling a wavy cloak 1.5-1.8 meters long.

The prehistoric monster has a primitive structure: the spine is not divided into vertebrae, all fins are concentrated in one area, the caudal fin consists of only one extremity. The main pride of the frilled bearer is his mouth, dotted with 3 hundred teeth arranged in several rows.

Despite the fact that the oceans are closer to us than the distant planets of the solar system, people explored only five percent of the ocean floor, which remains one of the greatest mysteries of our planet. The deepest part ocean - Mariana Trench or the Mariana Trenchis one of the most famous places, about which we do not know very much.

With a water pressure that is a thousand times greater than at sea level, diving in this place is akin to suicide.

But thanks to modern technology and a few daredevils who, risking their lives, went down there, we learned a lot of interesting things about this amazing place.

Mariana Trench on the map. Where is she located?

The Mariana Trench or the Mariana Trench is located in the western pacific east (about 200 km) from 15 Mariana Islands near Guam. It is a crescent-shaped trench in the earth's crust about 2,550 km long and an average of 69 km wide.

Coordinates of the Mariana Trench: 11 ° 22 ′ north latitude and 142 ° 35 ′ east longitude.

Depth of the Mariana Trench

According to the latest research in 2011, the depth of the deepest point in the Mariana Trench is about 10 994 meters ± 40 meters... For comparison, the height of the high summit world - Everest is 8,848 meters. This means that if Everest was in the Mariana Trench, then it would be covered by another 2.1 km of water.

Here are others Interesting Facts about what can be found along the way and at the very bottom of the Mariana Trench.

Temperature at the bottom of the Mariana Trench

1. Very hot water

Descending to this depth, we expect it to be very cold there. The temperature here reaches slightly above zero, varying 1 to 4 degrees Celsius.

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

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

Inhabitants of the Mariana Trench

2. Giant toxic amoeba

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

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

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

3. Molluscs

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

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

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

At the bottom of the Mariana Trench

4. Pure liquid carbon dioxide

Hydrothermal Champagne spring The Mariana Trench, which lies outside the Okinawa Trench near Taiwan, is the only known underwater area where liquid carbon dioxide can be found... The source, discovered in 2005, got its name from the bubbles, which turned out to be carbon dioxide.

Many believe that these springs, called "white smokers" due to the lower temperature, may be the source of life. It was in the depths of the oceans with low temperatures and an abundance of chemicals and energy that life could originate.

5. Mucus

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

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

Mariana Trench

6. Liquid sulfur

Daikoku volcano, which lies at a depth of about 414 meters on the way to the Mariana Trench, is the source of one of the rarest phenomena on our planet. Here is lake of pure molten sulfur... The only place where liquid sulfur can be found is Jupiter's moon Io.

In this pit called the "cauldron", a seething black emulsion boils at 187 degrees Celsius... Although scientists have not been able to investigate this place 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 Gaia's hypothesis, our planet is one self-governing organism in which all living and non-living things are combined to support its life. If this hypothesis is correct, then a number of signals can be observed in the natural cycles and systems of the Earth. So the sulfur compounds created by organisms in the ocean must be stable enough in the water to allow them to pass into the air, and then return to land.

7. Bridges

At the end of 2011, it was discovered in the Mariana Trench four stone bridges, which stretched from one end to the other for 69 km. They appear to have formed at the junction of the Pacific and Philippine tectonic plates.

One of the bridges Dutton Ridge, which was discovered back in the 1980s, turned out to be incredibly high, like a small mountain. In the most high point, the ridge reaches 2.5 km over the Challenger Abyss.

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

8. The immersion of James Cameron in the Mariana Trench

Since opening the deepest place of the Mariana Trench - "Challenger Abyss" in 1875, only three people visited it. The first were an American lieutenant Don Walsh and researcher Jacques Piccard who dived on 23 January 1960 on the ship "Trieste".

After 52 years, another person dared to dive here - a famous film director James Cameron... So March 26, 2012 Cameron went down and took some photos.

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

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

But definitely not 14 kilometers!

In the 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 1,100 times higher than normal atmospheric pressure, reaching 3,150 kg / cm2. Temperatures at the bottom of the Mariana Trench (Mariana Trench) are surprisingly high due to hydrothermal vents, nicknamed "black smokers". They constantly heat the water and keep the overall temperature in the trough at about 3 ° C.

The first attempt to measure the depth of the Mariana Trench (Mariana Trench) was made in 1875 by the crew of the British oceanographic vessel "Challenger" during a scientific expedition to the World Ocean. The British discovered the Mariana Trench quite by accident, during a routine bottom measurement using a lot (Italian hemp rope and lead weight). For all 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.

The measurement, made in 1899 from the board of the American coal miner "Nero", already showed a great depth: 9636 m.

In 1951, the bottom of the depression was measured by the British survey vessel “Challenger”, named after its predecessor, informally called “Challenger II”. Now, with the help of the 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 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 vessel "Stranger" measured the depth of the trough in a rather unusual way for science - using depth charges. Result: 10915 m.

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

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

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

And now it is reported that Russia has developed an autonomous unmanned underwater vehicle (AUV) capable of operating at a depth of 14 kilometers. Hence, it is concluded that our military oceanographers have found a depression in the World Ocean deeper than the Mariana.

The message that the device 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 scientific centers involved in 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 become too frank. Or maybe they just reinsure themselves and want to get reinforced concrete evidence? And now we have every reason to expect a new scientific sensation.

The decision was made to create an uninhabited deep-sea vehicle capable of withstanding pressure that is much higher than that exists in the Mariana Trench. The device is ready for use. 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 revision, the AUV can be made habitable. And it will be comparable to manned deep space missions.

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

During the entire time of the study of the Mariana Trench (Mariana Trench), devices with people on board dropped to its bottom twice and automatic devices four times (as of April 2017). By the way, fewer than people have visited the moon.

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

The black-and-white photograph half a century ago shows the legendary bathyscaphe "Trieste" at the time of preparation for the 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 "Trieste" lasted 4 hours 48 minutes, the crew periodically interrupted it. At a depth of 9 km, plexiglass glass cracked, but the descent continued until the Trieste sank to the bottom, where the crew saw a 30-centimeter flat fish and some crustacean creature. Having stayed at a depth of 10,912 m for about 20 minutes, the crew began the ascent, which took 3 hours 15 minutes.

Man made another attempt to descend to the bottom of the Mariana Trench (Mariana Trench) in 2012, when American filmmaker James Cameron (born 1954) became the third to reach the bottom of the Challenger Abyss. Previously, he repeatedly dived on Russian Mir spacecraft in Atlantic Ocean to a depth of over 4 km during the filming of the movie "Titanic". Now, on the Dipsy Challenger bathyscaphe, he sank into the abyss in 2 hours 37 minutes - almost a widow faster than the Trieste - and spent 2 hours 36 minutes at a depth of 10898 m. Then he rose to the surface in just an hour and a half. At the bottom, Cameron saw only creatures that looked like shrimps.
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 living there. Pogonophores were discovered - a new family of marine invertebrates living in chitinous tubes. Disputes about their scientific classification are still ongoing.

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

The larger inhabitants of the gutter live throughout its entire thickness. Deep life 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 processes, like an angler fish, while others have it right in the mouth. Some accumulate a luminous liquid and, in case of danger, douse the enemy with it in the manner of a "light curtain".

Since 2009, the trench has been part of the American Conservation Area Mariana Trench National Marine Monument with an area of ​​246,608 km2. The zone includes only the underwater part of the trough 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 Abyss is not included in this zone, as it is located in ocean territory. Federated States Micronesia.

sources

There are 5 oceans on Earth, which occupy a significant part of the land. Having conquered space and having landed a man on the moon, sending autonomous spacecraft to the most distant planets of the solar system, people know negligible little about what is hidden in the depths of the sea on their home planet.

What is the Mariana Trench?

This name is the deepest known place in the Pacific Ocean today. It is a trench formed by the convergence of tectonic plates. The maximum depth of the Mariana Trench is approximately 10,994 meters (data for 2011). There are other troughs in all other oceans, but not as deep. Only the Yavan (7729 meters) can be compared with the Mariana Trench.

Location

The deepest place on Earth is located in the west of the Pacific Ocean, near the Mariana Islands. The chute stretches along them for one and a half thousand kilometers. The bottom of the depression is flat; its width ranges from 1 to 5 kilometers. The gutter got its name in honor of the islands next to which it is located.

"Abyss Challenger"

This name has the deepest place (10,994 meters) of the Mariana Trench. It should be clarified here that it is not yet possible to obtain the exact dimensions of this giant depression of the ocean floor. The speed of sound at different depths is very different, and the Mariana Trench has a very complex structure, so the data obtained with the echo sounder is always slightly different.

Discovery history

People have long known that there are deep-water places in the seas and oceans. In 1875, the British corvette Challenger opened one of these points. What depth of the Mariana Trench was recorded then? It was 8367 meters. The instruments of measurement at that time were far from ideal, but even this result made a stunning impression - it became clear that the deepest point of the ocean floor on the planet had been found.

Gutter studies

In the 19th century, it was simply impossible to explore the bottom of the Mariana Trench. At that time, there was no technology to go down to such depth. Without modern means of immersion, this was tantamount to suicide.

The re-examination of the gutter took place many years later, in the next century. Measurements made in 1951 showed a depth of 10,863 meters. Then, in 1957, members of the Soviet scientific ship "Vityaz" were engaged in the study of the depression. According to their measurements, the depth of the Mariana Trench was 11,023 meters.

The last study of the gutter was carried out in 2011.

Cameron's great journey

The Canadian director became the third person in the history of Mariana Trench exploration to descend to its bottom. He was the first in the world to do it alone. Before its sinking, the trench was explored by Don Walsh and Jacques Piccard in 1960 with the help of the Trieste submersible. In addition, Japanese scientists tried to find out what the depth of the Mariana Trench is using the Kaiko probe. And in 2009, the Nereus device descended to the bottom of the trough.

Descent to such incredible depths is associated with a huge number of risks. First of all, a person is threatened by a monstrous pressure of 1100 atmospheres. It can damage the body of the aircraft, resulting in the death of the pilot. Another serious danger that lies in wait when descending to depth is the cold reigning there. He is able not only to cause equipment malfunction, but also to kill a person. The bathyscaphe can collide with rocks and be damaged.

For many years, James Cameron dreamed of visiting the most deep point Mariana Trench - "Challenger Abyss". In order to carry out his plans, he equipped his own expedition. Especially for this, an underwater vehicle was developed and built in Sydney - a single-seat Deepsea Challenger bathyscaphe, equipped with scientific equipment, as well as photo and video cameras. In it, Cameron sank to the bottom of the Mariana Trench. This event happened on March 26, 2012.

In addition to photographs and video filming, the Deepsea Challenger bathyscaphe had to make new measurements of the chute and try to give accurate data on its dimensions. Everyone was worried about one question: "How much?" The depth of the Mariana Trench, according to the apparatus, was 10,908 meters.

The director was impressed with what he saw below. Most of all, the bottom of the depression reminded him of a lifeless lunar landscape. He did not meet the terrible inhabitants of the abyss. The only creature he saw through the bathyscaphe window was a small shrimp.

After a successful voyage, James Cameron decided to donate his bathyscaphe to the Oceanographic Institute so that it could continue to be used to explore the depths of the sea.

Eerie denizens of the deep

The lower the ocean floor, the less sunlight penetrates the water column. The depth of the Mariana Trench is the reason that impenetrable darkness always reigns in it. But even the absence of light cannot hinder the origin of life. Darkness gives birth to beings who have never seen the sun. And they, in turn, only recently were able to see marine biologists.

The sight is not for the faint of heart. Almost all the inhabitants of the Mariana Trench seem to have been born from the imagination of an artist who creates monsters for horror films. Seeing them for the first time, you might think that they do not live next to a person on the same planet, but are alien creatures, so alien they look.

To some extent, this is true - very little is known about the oceans and their inhabitants. The bottom of the Mariana Trench has been less explored to date than the surface of Mars. Therefore, for a long time it was believed that life at such a depth was impossible without sunlight. It turned out that this is not the case. The depth of the Mariana Trench, gigantic pressure and cold are not a hindrance to the emergence of amazing creatures living in complete darkness.

Most of them have an ugly appearance due to the terrible living conditions. The sheer darkness that reigns in the depths has made the marine inhabitants of these places completely blind. Many fish have huge teeth, such as the Hawliods, which swallow their prey whole.

What can living creatures eat so far from the ocean surface? Remains of living organisms accumulate at the bottom of the depression, forming a multi-meter layer of bottom silt. The inhabitants of the depths feed on these deposits. Predatory fish have luminous areas of the body with which they attract small fish.

The trough is inhabited by bacteria that can develop only at high pressure, unicellular organisms, jellyfish, worms, mollusks, and sea cucumbers. The depth of the Mariana Trench gives them the ability to reach very large sizes. For example, amphipods found at the bottom of the trough are 17 centimeters long.

Amoeba

Xenophyophores (amoebas) are unicellular organisms that can only be viewed with a microscope. But at depth, these inhabitants of the Mariana Trench reach gigantic sizes - up to 10 centimeters. Previously, they were found at a depth of 7,500 meters. An interesting feature of these organisms, in addition to their size, is the ability to accumulate uranium, lead and mercury. Outwardly, deep-sea amoebas look different. Some are disc-shaped or tetrahedral. Xenophyophores feed on bottom sediments.

Hirondellea gigas

Large amphipods (amphipods) were found in the Mariana Trench. These deep-sea crayfish feed on dead organics that accumulate at the bottom of the cavity and have a keen sense of smell. The largest specimen found was 17 centimeters long.

Holothurians

Sea cucumbers are another species of organisms that live at the bottom of the Mariana Trench. This class of invertebrates feeds on plankton and bottom sediments.

Conclusion

The Mariana Trench has not yet been properly explored. Nobody knows what creatures inhabit it and how many secrets it keeps.

The Mariana Trench is located in the western part of the Pacific Ocean, not far from the Mariana Islands, just two hundred kilometers, thanks to the neighborhood with which it received this name. It is a huge marine reserve in the status of a national monument of the United States, therefore it is under state protection. Fishing and mining is strictly prohibited here, but you can swim and admire the beauty.

In shape, the Mariana Trench resembles a grandiose crescent - 2,550 km long and 69 km wide. The deepest point - 10994 m below sea level - is called the "Challenger Abyss".

Discovery and first observations

The British began to explore the Mariana Trench. In 1872 the sailing corvette Challenger entered the waters of the Pacific Ocean with scientists and the most advanced equipment of those times. After taking measurements, we established the maximum depth - 8367 m. The value, of course, differs markedly from the correct result. But this was enough to understand: the deepest point was discovered the globe... So the next riddle of nature was “challenged” (translated from English “Challenger” - “challenging”). Years passed, and in 1951 the British carried out "work on the mistakes." Namely: a deep-sea echo sounder recorded a maximum depth of 10,863 meters.

Then the baton was intercepted by Russian researchers, who sent the research vessel Vityaz to the area of ​​the Mariana Trench. In 1957, with the help of special equipment, they were not only able to fix the depth of the depression, equal to 11022 m, but also established the presence of life at more than seven kilometers depth. Thus, having made a small revolution in the scientific world of the middle of the 20th century, where there was a stable opinion that there are no such deeply living beings and cannot be. This is where the most interesting begins ... A lot of stories about underwater monsters, huge octopuses, crumpled into a cake by the huge paws of animals of unprecedented bathyscaphes ... Where is the truth, and where is the lie - let's try to figure it out.

Secrets, riddles and legends

The first daredevils who dared to dive to the "bottom of the Earth" were US Navy Lieutenant Don Walsh and explorer Jacques Picard. They dived in the bathyscaphe "Trieste", which was built in the eponymous Italian city... A very heavy structure with thick 13-centimeter walls was sunk to the bottom for five hours. Having reached the lowest point, the researchers stayed there for 12 minutes, after which the ascent began immediately, which took about 3 hours. At the bottom, fish were found - flat, flounder-like, about 30 centimeters long.

Research continued, and in 1995 the Japanese descended into the "abyss". Another "breakthrough" was made in 2009 with the help of the automatic underwater vehicle "Nereus": this miracle of technology not only took several photographs at the deepest point of the Earth, but also took soil samples.

In 1996, the New York Times published a shocking article about the immersion of equipment in the Mariana Trench from the American research vessel Glomar Challenger. The team affectionately nicknamed the spherical apparatus for deep-sea travel "the hedgehog". Some time after the start of the dive, the instruments recorded terrifying sounds, reminiscent of the grinding of metal on metal. The "hedgehog" was immediately raised to the surface, and they were horrified: the huge steel structure was crumpled, and the strongest and thickest (20 cm in diameter!) Cable seemed to have been cut. There were many explanations at once. Some said that these were the "tricks" of the inhabitants natural object monsters, others were inclined to the version about the presence of an alien intelligence, and still others believed that it was not without mutated octopuses! True, there was no evidence, and all assumptions remained at the level of guesses and conjectures ...

The same mysterious incident happened with the German research team, which decided to lower the Highfish apparatus into the waters of the abyss. But for some reason he stopped moving, and the cameras impartially displayed on the monitors an image of the shocking size of the lizard, which was trying to gnaw at the steel "contraption". The team was not taken aback and with an electric discharge from the apparatus "scared off" the unknown beast. He sailed away and never appeared again ... It remains only to regret that for some reason those who came across such unique inhabitants of the Mariana Trench did not have the equipment to photograph them.

In the late 90s of the last century, at the time of the "discovery" of the monsters of the Mariana Trench by the Americans, the "fouling" of this geographic site legends. Fishermen (poachers) talked about the glow from its depths, lights running back and forth, and various unidentified flying objects emerging from there. Crews of small ships reported that ships in the area were "towed at great speed" by a monster of incredible strength.

Confirmed evidence

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

In 1918, Australian lobster fishers talked about a translucent white fish about 30 meters long they saw at sea. According to the description, it is similar to the ancient shark of the Carcharodon megalodon species, which lived in the seas 2 million years ago. Scientists from the surviving remains were able to recreate the appearance of a shark - a monstrous creature 25 meters long, weighing 100 tons and an impressive two-meter mouth with teeth 10 cm each. You can imagine such "teeth"! And it was they who were recently found by oceanologists at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean! The "youngest" of the discovered artifacts ... "only" 11 thousand years old!

This find allows us to be sure that not all megalodons became extinct two million years ago. Perhaps the waters of the Mariana Trench hide these incredible predators from human eyes? Research continues, the depths are still fraught with many unsolved secrets.

Features of the deep sea world

The water pressure at the lowest point of the Mariana Trench is 108.6 MPa, that is, it exceeds normal atmospheric pressure by 1072 times. A vertebrate animal simply cannot survive in such monstrous conditions. But, oddly enough, mollusks have taken root here. How their shells can withstand such colossal water pressure is unclear. Discovered molluscs are an incredible example of "survival". They exist next to serpentine hydrothermal springs. Serpentine contains hydrogen and methane, which not only do not pose a threat to the "population" found here, but also contribute to the formation of living organisms in such a seemingly aggressive environment. But hydrothermal vents also emit a gas that is deadly for shellfish - hydrogen sulfide. But the "cunning" and thirsty for life mollusks have learned to process hydrogen sulfide into protein, and continue, as they say, happily living in the Mariana Trench.

Another incredible mystery of the deep-sea object is the Champagne hydrothermal spring, named after the famous French (and not only) alcoholic drink. It's all about the bubbles that "seethe" in the waters of the source. Of course, these are by no means bubbles of your favorite champagne - this is liquid carbon dioxide. Thus, the only underwater source of liquid carbon dioxide in the world is located in the Mariana Trench. These sources are called "white smokers", their temperature is lower than the ambient temperature, and there are always fumes around them that look like white smoke. Thanks to these sources, hypotheses were born about the origin of all life on earth in water. Low temperatures, an abundance of chemicals, colossal energy - all this created excellent conditions for the ancient representatives of flora and fauna.

The temperature in the Mariana Trench is also very favorable - from 1 to 4 degrees Celsius. “Black smokers” took care of this. The antipode of white smokers, hydrothermal vents contain a large number of ore substances, and therefore they are dark in color. These springs are located here at a depth of about 2 kilometers and spew water, the temperature of which is about 450 degrees Celsius. I immediately remember the school physics course, from which we know that water boils at 100 degrees Celsius. So what's going on? Is the source spewing boiling water? Fortunately, no. It's all about the colossal water pressure - it is 155 times higher than on the Earth's surface, so H 2 O does not boil, but it pretty much “warms up” the waters of the Mariana Trench. The water of these hydrothermal springs is incredibly rich in various minerals, which also contributes to the comfortable habitation of living things.

Incredible facts

How many more mysteries and incredible wonders it conceals incredible place? Lots of. At a depth of 414 meters, the Daikoku volcano is located here, which served as another proof that life originated here, in the deepest point of the globe. In the crater of the volcano, under water, there is a lake of the purest molten sulfur. In this "boiler" sulfur boils at a temperature of 187 degrees Celsius. The only known analogue of such a lake is on Jupiter's moon Io. There is nothing like this on Earth. Only in space. It is not surprising that most hypotheses about the origin of life from water are associated with this mysterious deep-sea object in the vastness of the Pacific Ocean.

Let us recall a little the school course in biology. The simplest living things are amoeba. Tiny, unicellular, they can only be viewed under a microscope. Reach, as written in textbooks, a length of half a millimeter. In the Mariana Trench, giant toxic amoebas 10 centimeters long were found. Can you imagine that? Ten centimeters! That is, this single-celled living creature can be perfectly seen with the naked eye. Isn't that a miracle? As a result of scientific research, it has been established that amoebas have acquired such gigantic unicellular sizes for their class, adapting to the "savory" life at the bottom of the sea. Cold water, coupled with its colossal pressure and lack of sunlight, contributed to the "growth" of amoebas, which are called xenophyophores. The incredible abilities of xenophiophores are pretty surprising: they have adapted to the effects of most destructive substances - uranium, mercury, lead. And they live in this environment, like mollusks. In general, the Mariana Trench is a miracle of wonders, where everything living and inanimate is perfectly combined, and the most harmful chemical elements that can kill any organism not only do not harm the living, but, on the contrary, contribute to survival.

The local bottom has been studied in some detail and is not of particular interest - it is covered with a layer of viscous mucus. There is no sand, there are only remnants of crushed shells and plankton, which have been there for thousands of years, and due to the pressure of the water, they have long ago turned into thick mud of a grayish-yellow color. And only the bathyscaphes of researchers, descending here from time to time, disturb the calm and measured life of the seabed.

Inhabitants of the Mariana Trench

Research continues

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

At the end of 2011, researchers discovered in it unique natural formations of stone, shaped like bridges. Each of them stretched from one end to the other for as much as 69 km. Scientists had no doubt: it is here that tectonic plates - the Pacific and Philippine ones - meet, and stone bridges (there are four of them) formed at their junction. True, the very first of the bridges - Dutton Ridge - was opened back in the late 80s of the last century. He impressed then with his size and height, which were like a small mountain. At its highest point, just above the Challenger Abyss, this deep-sea ridge reaches two and a half kilometers.

Why did nature need to build such bridges, and even in such a mysterious and inaccessible place for people? The purpose of these objects is still unclear. In 2012, James Cameron, creator of the legendary Titanic, dived into the Mariana Trench. Unique equipment and powerful cameras installed on his DeepSea Challenge bathyscaphe made it possible to capture the majestic and deserted "bottom of the Earth". It is not known how long he would have been observing the local landscapes if there had not been some problems with the apparatus. In order not to risk his life, the researcher was forced to rise to the surface.

Together with The National Geographic, the talented director created the documentary "Challenge to the Abyss". In his story about the dive, he called the bottom of the trough "the boundary of life." Emptiness, silence, and - nothing, not the slightest movement or wave of water. No sunlight, no molluscs, no algae, let alone sea monsters. But this is only at first glance. In the bottom soil samples that Cameron took, over twenty thousand different microorganisms were found. Great amount. How do they survive under such incredible water pressure? It is still a mystery. Among the inhabitants of the depression, a shrimp-like amphipod was also found, producing a unique chemical that scientists are testing as a vaccine for Alzheimer's disease.

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