The deepest place on earth where it is. Diving into the abyss

Despite the fact that the oceans are closer to us than the outer planets of the solar system, people have explored only five percent of the ocean floor, which remains one of the greatest mysteries of our planet. The deepest part of the ocean - the Mariana Trench or the Mariana Trench is one of the most famous places about which we don't know much. With water pressure that is a thousand times greater than at sea level, diving into this place is akin to suicide. But thanks to modern technology and a few brave souls who, risking their lives, went down there, we learned a lot of interesting things about this amazing place.

The Mariana Trench or the Mariana Trench is located in the western Pacific Ocean to the east (about 200 km) from 15 Mariana Islands near Guam. It is a crescent-shaped trench in the earth's crust, about 2550 km long and 69 km wide on average.

The coordinates of the Mariana Trench are 11°22′ north latitude and 142°35′ east longitude.

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

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

1. Very hot water

Going down to such a depth, we expect that it will be very cold there. The temperature here reaches just above zero, varying from 1 to 4 degrees Celsius. However, at a depth of about 1.6 km from the surface of the Pacific Ocean, there are hydrothermal vents called "black smokers". They shoot water that heats up to 450 degrees Celsius.

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

2 Giant Toxic Amoebas

A few years ago, at the bottom of the Mariana Trench, giant 10-centimeter amoebas called xenophyophores were discovered. These single-celled organisms probably got so big because of the environment they live in at a depth of 10.6 km. The cold temperature, high pressure and lack of sunlight most likely contributed to the fact that these amoeba acquired huge sizes.

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

3. Clams

The strong water pressure in the Mariana Trench does not give any animal with a shell or bones a chance to survive. However, in 2012, shellfish were discovered in a trough near serpentine hydrothermal vents. Serpentine contains hydrogen and methane, which allows living organisms to form. How the molluscs retained their shell under such pressure remains unknown.

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

4. Pure liquid carbon dioxide

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

Many believe that these springs, called "white smokers" because of 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. Slime

If we had the opportunity to swim to the very depths of the Mariana Trench, we would feel that it is covered with a layer of viscous mucus. Sand, in its usual form, does not exist there. The bottom of the depression is mainly composed of crushed shells and plankton remains that have sunk to the bottom for many years. Due to the incredible pressure of the water, almost everything there turns into fine greyish-yellow thick mud.

6. Liquid sulfur

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

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

7. Bridges

At the end of 2011, four stone bridges were discovered in the Mariana Trench, 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 Dutton Ridge bridges, which was opened back in the 1980s, turned out to be incredibly high, like a small mountain. At its highest point, the ridge reaches 2.5 km above the "Challenger Deep". 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 unknown places discovered these formations is amazing.

8James Cameron's dive into the Mariana Trench

Since the discovery of the deepest part of the Mariana Trench, the Challenger Deep in 1875, only three people have been here. The first were American lieutenant Don Walsh and explorer Jacques Picard, who dived on January 23, 1960 on the Challenger.

After 52 years, another person ventured here - the famous film director James Cameron. So on March 26, 2012, Cameron went down to the bottom and took some photos. During James Cameron's 2012 dive to the Challenger Abyss in the DeepSea Challenge submersible, he tried to observe everything that was going on in the place until mechanical problems forced him to rise to the surface.

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

9. Mariana Trench

10. The Mariana Trench in the ocean is the largest reserve

The Mariana Trench is a US National Monument and the largest marine reserve in the world. Since it is a monument, there are a number of rules for those who want to visit this place. Within its borders, fishing and mining are strictly prohibited here. However, swimming is allowed here, so you may be the next one to venture into the most deep place in the ocean.

Many people know that the most high point- this is Everest (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 interesting facts about the Mariana Trench 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 the scientists when it turned out that almost all the elements of the unique apparatus, made of the most durable metals 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 was it, fantasy of the possessed research work scientists, mass hypnosis, 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 bacteria, amphipods, gastropods, mutant octopuses, mysterious sea ​​stars, unidentified 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, the person does not give up trying to investigate it. unique place planets.

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 research geographical feature 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?

Subscribe to - with us interesting facts will make your leisure time extremely exciting and useful for the intellect!

The Mariana Trench (or the Mariana Trench) is the deepest place on the earth's surface. It is located on western outskirts Pacific Ocean, 200 kilometers east of the Mariana Archipelago.

Paradoxically, but about the mysteries of space or mountain peaks humanity knows much more than about the ocean depths. And one of the most mysterious and unexplored places on our planet is just the Mariana Trench. So what do we know about him?

Mariana Trench - the bottom of the world

In 1875, the crew of the British corvette Challenger discovered a place in the Pacific Ocean where there was no bottom. Kilometer after kilometer the rope of the lot went overboard, but there was no bottom! And only at a depth of 8184 meters the descent of the rope stopped. Thus, the deepest underwater crack on Earth was discovered. It was named the Mariana Trench, after the nearby islands. Its shape (in the form of a crescent) and the location of the deepest section, called the "Challenger Abyss", were determined. It is located 340 km south of the island of Guam and has coordinates 11°22′ N. sh., 142°35′ E d.

The "Fourth Pole", "the womb of Gaia", "the bottom of the world" has since been called this deep-water depression. Oceanographic scientists have long tried to find out its true depth. Research different years gave different values. The fact is that at such a colossal depth, the density of water increases as it approaches the bottom, so the properties of the sound from the echo sounder also change in it. Using barometers and thermometers at different levels along with echo sounders, in 2011 the depth value in the Challenger Abyss was set at 10994 ± 40 meters. This is the height of Mount Everest plus another two kilometers from above.

The pressure at the bottom of the underwater crevasse is almost 1100 atmospheres, or 108.6 MPa. Most of the deep-sea vehicles are designed for a maximum depth of 6-7 thousand meters. Since the opening deepest canyon, it was possible to successfully reach its bottom only four times.

In 1960, the Trieste deep-sea bathyscaphe, for the first time in the world, descended to the very bottom of the Mariana Trench in the area of ​​​​the Challenger Abyss with two passengers on board: US Navy Lieutenant Don Walsh and Swiss oceanographer Jacques Picard.

Their observations led to an important conclusion about the presence of life at the bottom of the canyon. The discovery of the upward flow of water was also of great ecological importance: based on it, the nuclear powers refused to bury radioactive waste at the bottom of the Mariana Trough.

In the 90s, the gutter was explored by the Japanese unmanned probe Kaiko, which brought samples of silt from the bottom, in which bacteria, worms, shrimp were found, as well as pictures of a hitherto unknown world.

In 2009, the American robot Nereus conquered the abyss, raising samples of silt, minerals, samples of deep-sea fauna and photos of inhabitants of unknown depths from the bottom.

In 2012, James Cameron, the author of Titanic, Terminator and Avatar, dived into the abyss alone. He spent 6 hours at the bottom, collecting samples of soil, minerals, fauna, as well as taking photographs and 3D video. Based on this material, the film "Challenge to the Abyss" was created.

Amazing discoveries

In a trench at a depth of about 4 kilometers is located active volcano Daikoku spewing liquid sulfur that boils at 187°C in a small depression. The only lake of liquid sulfur was discovered only on Jupiter's moon Io.

At 2 kilometers from the surface, "black smokers" swirl - sources of geothermal water with hydrogen sulfide and other substances that, upon contact with cold water, turn into black sulfides. The movement of sulfide water resembles puffs of black smoke. The water temperature at the point of release reaches 450 ° C. The surrounding sea does not boil only because of the density of the water (150 times greater than at the surface).

In the north of the canyon there are "white smokers" - geysers spewing liquid carbon dioxide at a temperature of 70-80 ° C. Scientists suggest that it is in such geothermal "boilers" that one should look for the origins of life on Earth. Hot springs "warm up" the icy waters, supporting life in the abyss - the temperature at the bottom of the Mariana Trench is in the range of 1-3 ° C.

Life beyond life

It would seem that in an atmosphere of complete darkness, silence, icy cold and unbearable pressure life in the cavity is simply unthinkable. But studies of the depression prove the opposite: there are living creatures almost 11 kilometers under water!

The bottom of the sinkhole is covered with a thick layer of mucus from organic sediments that have been descending from the upper layers of the ocean for hundreds of thousands of years. Mucus is an excellent nutrient medium for barrophilic bacteria, which form the basis of the nutrition of protozoa and multicellular organisms. Bacteria, in turn, become food for more complex organisms.

Ecosystem underwater canyon truly unique. Living beings have managed to adapt to an aggressive, destructive environment under normal conditions, with high pressure, lack of light, a small amount of oxygen and a high concentration of toxic substances. Life in such unbearable conditions gave many inhabitants of the abyss a frightening and unattractive look.

Deep-sea fish have incredible mouths, seated with sharp long teeth. High pressure made their bodies small (from 2 to 30 cm). However, there are also large specimens, such as the xenophyophora amoeba, reaching 10 cm in diameter. The frilled shark and goblin shark, living at a depth of 2000 meters, generally reach 5-6 meters in length.

Representatives of different types of living organisms live at different depths. The deeper the inhabitants of the abyss, the better their organs of vision are, allowing them to catch the slightest glimmer of light on the body of their prey in complete darkness. Some individuals themselves are able to produce directional light. Other creatures are completely devoid of organs of vision, they are replaced by organs of touch and radar. With increasing depth, underwater inhabitants lose their color more and more, the bodies of many of them are almost transparent.

On the slopes where the "black smokers" live, molluscs have learned to neutralize the sulfides and hydrogen sulfide that are fatal to them. And, which remains a mystery to scientists so far, under conditions of enormous pressure at the bottom, they somehow miraculously manage to keep their mineral shell intact. Similar abilities are shown by other inhabitants of the Mariana Trench. The study of fauna samples showed a multiple excess of the level of radiation and toxic substances.

Unfortunately, deep sea creatures die due to the change in pressure with any attempt to bring them to the surface. Only thanks to modern deep-sea vehicles it became possible to study the inhabitants of the depression in their natural environment. Representatives of the fauna unknown to science have already been identified.

Secrets and mysteries of the "womb of Gaia"

The mysterious abyss, like any unknown phenomenon, is shrouded in a mass of secrets and mysteries. What does she hide in her depths? Japanese scientists claimed that while feeding goblin sharks, they saw a shark 25 meters long devouring goblins. A monster of this size could only be a megalodon shark, which became extinct almost 2 million years ago! Confirmation is the findings of megalodon teeth in the vicinity of the Mariana Trench, whose age dates back to only 11 thousand years. It can be assumed that specimens of these monsters are still preserved in the depths of the failure.

There are many stories about the corpses of giant monsters thrown ashore. When descending into the abyss of the German bathyscaphe "Highfish", the dive stopped 7 km from the surface. To understand the reason, the passengers of the capsule turned on the lights and were horrified: their bathyscaphe, like a nut, was trying to crack open some prehistoric lizard! Only a pulse of electric current through the outer skin managed to scare away the monster.

On another occasion, when an American submersible was submerging, a scraping of metal began to be heard from under the water. The descent was stopped. When inspecting the lifted equipment, it turned out that the titanium alloy metal cable was half sawn (or gnawed), and the beams of the underwater vehicle were bent.

In 2012 the video camera unmanned vehicle"Titan" from a depth of 10 kilometers transmitted a picture of metal objects, presumably UFOs. Soon the connection with the device was interrupted.

Unfortunately, there is no documentary evidence of these interesting facts; they are all based only on eyewitness accounts. Every story has its fans and skeptics, its pros and cons.

Before a risky dive into the trench, James Cameron said that he wanted to see with his own eyes at least some of those secrets of the Mariana Trench, about which there are so many rumors and legends. But he did not see anything that would go beyond the cognizable.

So what do we know about her?

To understand how the Mariana Underwater Gap was formed, it should be remembered that such gaps (troughs) are usually formed along the edges of the oceans under the action of moving lithospheric plates. The oceanic plates, being older and heavier, "creep" under the continental ones, forming deep dips at the junctions. The deepest is the junction of the Pacific and Philippine tectonic plates near the Mariana Islands (Marian Trench). The Pacific Plate is moving at a speed of 3-4 centimeters per year, resulting in increased volcanic activity along both of its edges.

Throughout the entire length of this deepest failure, four so-called bridges were found - transverse mountain range. The ridges were presumably formed due to the movement of the lithosphere and volcanic activity.

The gutter is V-shaped in cross-section, strongly widening upwards and narrowing downwards. The average width of the canyon in the upper part is 69 kilometers, in the widest part - up to 80 kilometers. The average width of the bottom between the walls is 5 kilometers. The slope of the walls is almost sheer and is only 7-8°. The depression stretches from north to south for 2500 kilometers. The trough has an average depth of about 10,000 meters.

Only three people have been to the very bottom of the Mariana Trench to date. In 2018, another manned dive to the “bottom of the world” is planned at its deepest section. This time, the well-known Russian traveler Fyodor Konyukhov and polar explorer Artur Chilingarov will try to conquer the depression and find out what it hides in its depths. At present, a deep-sea bathyscaphe is being manufactured and a research program is being drawn up.

Now we approximately know the internal structure of our planet. The outer hard shell of the Earth is called the crust. It is less than 1% of the mass of the planet and has a thickness of 5 to 70 kilometers. Next comes the mantle (outer and inner), and then the core (outer and inner).

How close to the core do you think a person can go? Theoretically, we can in the future make devices that can withstand enormous loads and temperatures in order to get as close as possible to the core, but in practice we have not yet got into the areas that are under the crust.

Let's see what are the deepest places on the planet we know.

✰ ✰ ✰
10

Lake Sunset

Depth 319 meters

The lake is the largest natural well in the world. It is located in Central Mexico. Its depth is 319 meters and its diameter is about 100 meters. At the same time, a hole was found on one of the “walls” of the well, which may be the entrance to another, deeper “well” or even to a system of deep underground caves.

✰ ✰ ✰
9

Depth 370 meters

This is a coal mine located in Elsdorf, Germany. It is considered the deepest open mine in the world. Its depth is about 370 meters, and its area is about 33.9 sq. km. Next to the quarry is an artificial hill, which was formed from the material selected from the quarry.

The hill has its own name Sophienhöhe and is the world's largest artificial hill. Its height is 301 meters.

✰ ✰ ✰
8

Woodingdean Well

Depth 392 meters

Let's start with a man-made feat that appeared in 1862 in the English town of Woodingdean. It all started with the fact that in 1858, during the construction of a new building, a source of water was required. The decision was made to dig a well. To reduce costs, the workers dug the well with their hands. It was planned to go deep into the ground by 122 meters, lining the walls of the well with bricks.

Workers lowered themselves into the well, and raised the excess earth with buckets to the surface. After 2 years of digging, the depth of the well exceeded the design one by 12 meters, but there was still no water. Despite the fact that this depth was slightly below sea level.

Then it was decided to dig four horizontal shafts at this depth in order to get to the water. But this also did not give any results. Then the construction organizers decided not to give up and get to the water at any cost. At the end of one of the horizontal shafts they began to dig deeper again. After another 2 years in March 1862, the workers felt the earth in the mine begin to rise. People in a hurry began to rise to the surface. After 45 minutes, the water rushed out.

This well is the deepest well in the world that has been dug by hand.

✰ ✰ ✰
7

Lake Baikal

Depth 1642 meters

Reaching a maximum depth of 1642 meters, Lake Baikal is the most deep lake in the world. The lake is a treasure not only of Russia, but of the whole world, it is a natural reservoir for the purest fresh water. It is home to many plants and animals that are unique.

An interesting fact is that if all the water from Lake Baikal is divided equally among all citizens of Russia, then for each inhabitant there will be approximately 2780 railway tanks of 60 tons each.

✰ ✰ ✰
6

Depth 2199 meters

This is the deepest cave in the world located in Abkhazia near the city of Gagra. The cave has several entrances located at an altitude of over 2000 meters above sea level. It is a system of several wells, which are interconnected by manholes and galleries. Inside there are several high plumb lines, the deepest of which are 110, 115 and 152 meters.

✰ ✰ ✰
5

Depth 3048 meters

The deepest mine in the world is the Mponeng Mine. South Africa. Its depth is 4000 meters. However, a mine called Kidd Mine in Ontario, Canada, which is 3,048 meters deep, is closer to the Earth's core than the Mponeng Mine. This is because our planet is not an ideal ball shape. Due to the rotation of the Earth in its equatorial part, the diameter is slightly larger than at the poles. The difference in size is about 140 kilometers. So a person standing at the equator is on average 70 kilometers farther from the core than a person standing at the pole.

The Kidd Mine was opened in 1964 as an open cut and is gradually expanding underground. It is now the largest copper mine in the world. It employs 2,200 workers and mines millions of tons of ore annually.

✰ ✰ ✰
4

Litke Gorge

Depth 5449 meters

The Litke Gorge (Litke Trench) is an oceanic trench located northeast of Greenland, 350 km north of Svalbard, in the Eurasian Basin in the North Arctic Ocean. This is the deepest point in the Arctic Ocean, its depth is 5449 meters.

The gorge was found and explored by the Soviet expedition on the icebreaker Fedor Litke in 1955.

✰ ✰ ✰
3

Milwaukee Depression

Depth 8385 meters

The Milwaukee Trench is the deepest part Atlantic Ocean. Its maximum depth is 8385 meters. The place is named after the American cruiser who discovered it in 1939.

The Milwaukee Trench is located in the Puerto Rican Trench, which is located at the boundary of two lithospheric plates. The Caribbean Plate is moving east, and the N American Plate is moving west.

✰ ✰ ✰
2

Challenger Abyss

Depth 10994 meters

The top five deepest sea trenches in the world include those located in the Pacific Ocean, and the most famous of them is the Mariana Trench, with a maximum depth of 10994 meters (Challenger Abyss).

The name of the depression comes from the Mariana Islands, located nearby. The depression stretches for 1500 kilometers, they have a standard V-shaped profile. The bottom of the depression is flat, with a width of 1 to 5 km.

The water pressure at the bottom of the Challenger Abyss is 108600 Pa, which is 1100 times higher than the atmospheric pressure on the Earth's surface. People have twice dived to the bottom of the Mariana Trench. The first dive was made in 1960 by explorer Jacques Picard and US Navy officer Don Walsh. Their bathyscaphe "Trieste" had walls 127 millimeters thick to resist the monstrous pressure. The second time at the bottom of the depression was the famous director James Cameron in 2012. He dived into the Challenger Deep in a single-seat deep-sea submersible. Deepsea Challenger. During the dive, he filmed in 3D.

✰ ✰ ✰
1

Depth 12262 meters

This is the deepest man-made place on Earth. She is located in Murmansk region near the city of Zapolyarny.

Work on the start of drilling of the well was timed to coincide with the centenary of the birth of V.I. Lenin in 1970. Unlike others, this well was drilled specifically for the purpose of studying the structure of the planet. The place was chosen specifically where the thickness of the earth's crust is supposedly the thinnest.

Up to 7000 meters drilling proceeded normally. The drill passed through a uniform granite layer of the lithospheric plate. But below the rock was less dense, crumbled, jamming the equipment. I had to slightly change the drilling angles.

After 13 years in 1983, the drillers reached the level of 12066 meters and stopped. But after the resumption of drilling, there was a break in the drill string. Drilling had to be restarted from a depth of 7,000 meters. By 1990, the drill crossed the mark of 12262 meters and the accident was repeated. Further, for financial reasons, the project had to be frozen, and in 2008 the Kola Superdeep Well project was finally abandoned.

I really want to believe that Russian science will turn its face to this project. He has many perspectives. The lion's share of the work has already been done, and in order to revive the project, several million rubles are required, an amount that is lifting for a country with high scientific ambitions.

✰ ✰ ✰

Conclusion

It was an article about the deepest places on Earth. We hope you have learned something new and interesting from us. Thank you for your attention!

The deepest place on Earth is an oceanic trench, which is located near the Mariana Islands.

The Mariana Trench is located in the Pacific Ocean, east of the 14 Mariana Islands near Japan. As you probably already know, this is the deepest ocean trench and also the deepest place on Earth. It was created as a result of the opposition of two tectonic plates.

The deepest place in the Mariana Trench is the Challenger Deep point (which means Challenging), it is also the deepest point in the oceans. According to various research deep-sea vehicles, the maximum recorded depth is 11,521 m.

The Mariana Trench was first explored in 1951 by the British navy vessel Challenger II, hence the name of the deepest point on Earth.

The first people to personally dive to the bottom of the Mariana Trench were Swiss oceanographer Jacques Picard and US soldier Don Walsh. This happened in January 1960 on a special round bathyscaphe called Trieste. Great was the surprise of scientists when at such a great depth they met flat fish and other living organisms. Later in 1995, a Japanese deep-sea submersible dived at the point of maximum depth and recorded a bottom-to-surface distance of 10,911.4 meters. According to the most recent research in 2011, with the participation of the newest locators, a depth of 10,994 meters was named. site - interesting facts about everything, read on and learn something new.

The dimensions of the Mariana Trench are huge, along it stretches for 1500 km. The width at the very bottom is only 1-5 km, the bottom is flat and surrounded by sheer cliffs. The water pressure at the very bottom of the depression is 108.6 MPa, which in turn is 11,074 tons/m2, or 1,107 kg/cm2.
For comparison, here are some facts.

123 meters. The record maximum human diving depth without scuba gear and breathing apparatus is 123 m. This record was achieved by a diver from Monaco and officially registered.

100 m. The blue whale is the largest animal on earth, has a diving depth of no more than 100 meters.

1000 m. Below this mark, sunlight does not penetrate.

2000 m. The sperm whale is the only mammal that can dive to a depth of two kilometers.

4000 m. Water pressure reaches 402 kg per cm2. The ambient temperature is not higher than +2 degrees. Fish are blind or with underdeveloped eyes.

6000 m. The pressure is 584 times greater than the pressure on the Earth's surface. Despite this, life exists here.

10994 m. The bottom of the Mariana Trench. The complete absence of light, the water pressure is 1072 times higher than the surface pressure, 1 ton 74 kilograms presses on 1 square centimeter. Hellish conditions. But there is life here. Small fish similar to flounder up to 30 centimeters long.

Below we give photographs of deep-sea fish. Most of these creatures live at a depth of 500 to 6500 meters.




Do you think this monkfish has legs? I hasten to disappoint you. These are not legs at all, but two males that have stuck to a female. The fact is that at great depths and in the complete absence of light it is very difficult to find a partner. Therefore, the male monkfish, as soon as he finds a female, immediately bites into her side. These embraces will never be broken. Later, it grows together with the body of the female, loses all unnecessary organs, merges with her circulatory system and becomes only a source of sperm. Below is another photo of this fish.



This is a deep-sea octopus with a size of only 20 cm. The depth of habitat is from 500 to 5000 meters.

It is a fish with a transparent head. For what? At depth, as you know, there is very little light. The fish has developed a defense mechanism, its eyes are in the center of the head so that they cannot be hurt. In order to see evolution awarded this fish with a transparent head. The two green spheres are the eyes.



We hope you liked the photos of fish living in the depths of the Mariana Trench.

Read also: