Why was the Mariana Trench called the Mariana Trench. For everyone and everything

The discovery of the Mariana Trench occurred during the British oceanographic expedition of 1972-1976 on the steam-sailing corvette Challenger (HMS Challenger). In 1875, researchers, using a deep-water lot, determined its depth - 8367 m. Already at that time, researchers of marine fauna were worried about the problem of the habitability of a deep-water source, and what the monsters of the Mariana Trench were.

Mariana Trench (Marian Rift) - Challenger Abyss (Challenger Deep) was found by the members of the Soviet expedition on the ship "Vityaz", specially converted for oceanographic research. According to 1957 data, the depth measured with an echo sounder was 11,034 m. In the water intakes raised from deep horizons, the simplest foraminifers were found - the owners of a cytoplasmic body dressed in a shell and bacteria - xenophyophores, which can develop only at an excessive volumetric pressure of the surrounding environment. According to updated data in 2011, obtained by American scientists during research organized by the University of New Hampshire, the depth of the Challenger Deep is 10994 ± 40 m.

Inhabitants of the Mariana Trench

During the first dive of a manned deep-sea vehicle " Trieste» at the bottom of the Challenger Abyss in 1960, French explorer Jacques Piccard and American deep-sea diver Don Walsh saw strange fish.

These deep-sea inhabitants of the Mariana Trench appearance resembled a flounder and had dimensions not exceeding 30 cm. The study of photographs made it possible to establish the presence of life at the bottom of the Challenger Abyss and its bottom waters. During this expedition, frightening monsters were not found in the depths of the Mariana fauna, and the discovered representatives of the fauna were identified as isopods, gastropods and bivalves, amphipods and polychaete worms.

During recent missions, when the Mariana Trench was explored with the help of deep-sea robots, amoeba-ctenophores - giant, monstrous single-celled creatures, whose dimensions reach 10 cm. According to zoologists, a consistently low, constant temperature, lack of natural light and enormous pressure are the main factors that made it possible for single-celled organisms to reach such incredible sizes. These creatures live in an environment enriched with compounds of mercury, lead and uranium, the concentration of which would lead to the inevitable death of most other representatives of the higher fauna.

In 2009, the American deep-sea robot " Nereus” (“Nereus”), while diving into the depths of the Mariana Fault, photographed several fearsome toothy fish which radiated light in pitch darkness.

The last discovery was made in 2012. At the bottom of the depression, near geothermal serpentine (magnesium-iron hydrosilicate) sources, there were mollusks, which violates the basic laws of physics and biology. According to modern ideas, at a depth of 11,000 m, at a pressure of 1.1 thousand atmospheres, living beings with their own bone skeleton or shells cannot exist. However, contained in hydrothermal vents methane and hydrogen made possible the competition of higher forms of life.

Legends of the monsters of the Mariana Trench

On the pages of the newspaper New York Times"details appeared about an attempt to explore the Mariana Trench in 2003 using a deep-sea vehicle of a drilling ship" Glomar Challenger "(USA). During the dive, acoustics heard sounds in the depths, reminiscent of the grinding of a saw on metal, and vague images of moving dragon-like creatures appeared on the monitor. Fearing for the safety of the unique equipment, scientists were forced to raise a deep-sea vehicle. During a visual inspection of the nine-meter capsule of the apparatus, traces of contact deformation were noted on it, and a steel cable with a diameter of 20 cm was half sawn through with something. Three facts testify to the fact that this is a myth:

Glomar Challenger, put into operation in 1968, was not an oceanographic, but a drilling vessel, and no bathyscaphes or special deep-sea research devices were provided on board.
The ship was decommissioned and cut into scrap metal in 1983 - hence the 2003 expedition simply could not take place.
Expeditions to the Glomar Challenger never engaged in deep-water drilling in the Pacific Ocean - their goal was drilling in the Mid-Atlantic Ridge zone (1968) and in the Mediterranean Sea (70s of the XX century).

Even more strange case happened with the German bathyscaphe " highfish ". The researchers reached a depth of seven meters, after which all attempts to dive were in vain. Turning on the infrared video camera, they saw mesozoic plesiosaur (according to another version of the kronosaurus), which grabbed a deep-sea vehicle with its teeth. Only a salvo from an electromagnetic cannon allowed the monster to be driven away. Here, both the conduct of deep-sea expeditions by the Federal Republic of Germany and the presence of oceanographic vessels in its fleet (not counting the period of A. Hitler's rule) are fiction.

Research at the bottom of one of the deepest places on Earth continues. The main purpose of their conduct is to establish the exact parameters of a unique water source. It is assumed that the monsters of the Mariana Trench belong to the prehistoric era.

The Mariana Trench is located in the western part Pacific Ocean, not far from the Mariana Islands, just two hundred kilometers, thanks to the neighborhood with which it received its 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 are strictly prohibited here, but you can swim and enjoy the beauty.

In shape, the Mariana Trench resembles a grandiose crescent - 2550 km long and 69 km wide. The deepest point - 10994 m below sea level - is called the "Challenger Abyss".

Discovery and first observations

The Mariana Trench began to explore the British. In 1872, the Challenger sailing corvette entered the waters of the Pacific Ocean with scientists and the most advanced equipment of those times. After taking measurements, we set the maximum depth - 8367 m. The value, of course, differs markedly from the correct result. But even this was enough to understand: the deepest point of the globe was discovered. 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 10863 meters.

Then the baton was intercepted by Russian researchers who sent the Vityaz research vessel 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 a depth of more than seven kilometers. Thus, having made a small revolution in the scientific world of the middle of the 20th century, where there was a strong opinion that there are no and cannot be such deeply living beings. This is where the most interesting begins ... Many stories about underwater monsters, huge octopuses, unprecedented bathyscaphees crushed into a cake by huge paws of animals ... 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 on the bathyscaphe "Trieste", which was built in the same name. Italian city. A very heavy structure with thick 13-centimeter walls was immersed to the bottom for five whole hours. Having reached the lowest point, the researchers stayed there for 12 minutes, after which the ascent was immediately begun, which took approximately 3 hours. At the bottom, fish were found - flat, similar to flounder, 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 Nereus automatic underwater vehicle: this miracle of technology not only took several photos at the deepest point of the Earth, but also took soil samples.

In 1996, the New York Times published a shocking story about equipment from the American scientific vessel Glomar Challenger diving into the Mariana Trench. The spherical apparatus for deep-sea travel was affectionately nicknamed the “hedgehog” by the team. 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 crushed, and the strongest and thickest (20 cm in diameter!) Cable seemed to be sawn. There were many explanations immediately. Some said that these were the "tricks" of the inhabitants natural object monsters, others leaned towards the version of the presence of an alien mind, and still others believed that there were mutated octopuses! True, there was no evidence, and all assumptions remained at the level of conjecture and speculation ...

Same mysterious case happened with a German research team that decided to launch the Highfish apparatus into the waters of the abyss. But for some reason he stopped moving, and the cameras impartially showed on the monitor screens an image of the shocking size of the lizard, which was trying to gnaw through the steel "thing". The team was not taken aback and by an electric discharge from the device “scared away” an unknown beast. He sailed away, and did not appear 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 that would allow them to be photographed.

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

Confirmed testimonies

Depth of the Mariana Trench

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

Found giant shark tooth

In 1918, Australian lobster fishermen told of a translucent white fish about 30 meters long that they saw in the sea. According to the description, it looks like an ancient shark of the species Carcharodon megalodon, 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. Can you 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 died out 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 mysteries.

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 the normal atmospheric pressure by 1072 times. A vertebrate animal simply cannot survive in such monstrous conditions. But, oddly enough, shellfish have taken root here. How their shells withstand such colossal water pressure is not clear. The discovered mollusks are an incredible example of "survival". They exist near 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 springs also emit a gas that is deadly for molluscs - hydrogen sulfide. But the "cunning" and life-hungry mollusks have learned to process hydrogen sulfide into protein, and continue, as they say, clover to live 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 "boil" in the waters of the source. Of course, these are by no means the bubbles of your favorite champagne - this is liquid carbon dioxide. Thus, the world's only underwater source of liquid carbon dioxide is located in the Mariana Trench. Such sources are called "white smokers", their temperature is below ambient temperature, and there are always vapors 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 temperature, 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. The "black smokers" took care of that. Being the antipode of "white smokers", hydrothermal springs contain a large amount 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 recall the school physics course, from which we know that water boils at 100 degrees Celsius. So what's going on? Does the spring spew boiling water? Fortunately, no. It's all about the colossal water pressure - it is 155 times higher than on the surface of the Earth, 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 saturated with various minerals, which also contributes to the comfortable habitation of living beings.

Incredible Facts

How many more mysteries and incredible miracles is fraught with this incredible place? A bunch of. At a depth of 414 meters, the Daikoku volcano is located here, which served as another proof that life originated here, at the deepest point on the globe. In the crater of the volcano, under water, there is a lake of the purest molten sulfur. In this "cauldron" sulfur seethes at a temperature of 187 degrees Celsius. The only known analogue of such a lake is located on Jupiter's moon Io. There is nothing else like it on Earth. Only in space. It is no wonder that most of the hypotheses about the origin of life from water are associated with this mysterious deep-sea object in the Pacific Ocean.

Let's remember a little school biology course. The simplest living creatures are amoeba. Tiny, single-celled, they can only be seen through a microscope. They reach, as it is written in textbooks, a length of half a millimeter. Giant toxic amoebas 10 centimeters long have been found in the Mariana Trench. Can you imagine this? Ten centimeters! That is, this single-celled living being can be perfectly examined with the naked eye. Isn't this a miracle? As a result of scientific research, it has been established that amoeba acquired such gigantic sizes for their class of unicellular organisms, adapting to the “savory” life on the seabed. 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 xenophyophores are quite surprising: they have adapted to the effects of most harmful substances - uranium, mercury, lead. And they live in this environment, like mollusks. In general, the Mariana Trench is a miracle of miracles, where everything living and non-living 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, only the remains of crushed shells and plankton, which have been lying there for thousands of years, and due to the pressure of the water, they have long turned into a thick greyish-yellow mud. And the tranquility and measured life of the seabed are disturbed only by the bathyscaphes of researchers descending here from time to time.

Inhabitants of the Mariana Trench

Research continues

Everything secret and unknown has always attracted a person. And with each secret revealed, there were no fewer new mysteries on our planet. All this fully applies to the Mariana Trench.

At the end of 2011, researchers discovered unique natural stone formations in it, 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 the tectonic plates - the Pacific and the Philippine - touch, and stone bridges (there are four in total) were formed at their junction. True, the very first of the bridges - Dutton Ridge - was opened in the late 80s of the last century. He impressed then with his size and height, which were the size of a small mountain. In her own high point, located 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, the creator of the legendary film Titanic, dived into the Mariana Trench. The unique equipment and powerful cameras installed on his DeepSea Challenge bathyscaphe made it possible to film the majestic and deserted “bottom of the Earth”. It is not known how long he would have been observing local landscapes if some malfunctions had not occurred on 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 account of the dive, he called the bottom of the trough "the boundary of life." Emptiness, silence, and - nothing, not the slightest movement or disturbance of water. No sunlight, no shellfish, no algae, much less sea monsters. But this is only at first glance. In the bottom soil samples taken by Cameron, more than twenty thousand different microorganisms were found. Great amount. How do they survive under such incredible water pressure? Still a mystery. Among the inhabitants of the depression, a shrimp-like amphipod has also been found that produces a unique chemical that scientists are testing as a vaccine against Alzheimer's disease.

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

Even as a child, I did not really like to go deep into the sea. It always seemed to me that someone or something would drag me to the depths. But then I still did not understand that three meters from the shore is generally difficult to call depth. There are sea depths on our planet that are not even half explored yet. This is the place I will tell you about.

Where is the Mariana Trench located

The Mariana Trench is also called the Mariana Trench. This place is called the deepest on our planet. Conducted expeditions have shown that the maximum depth of the Mariana Trench is about 11 000 metmoat. Just think about this number. As much as 11 km under water. The deepest point of this trough is called the Challenger Deep.

This underwater attraction is located in the western pacific off the coast of Micronesia and Guam. Anyone who wants to visit this place, of course, will not be able to. To visit, you will need an expedition prepared in accordance with all the rules.

First time heard about this place in 1875. Studies of that time showed that the depth of this trough was about 8000 m. A man went to this depth for the first time in 1960.

Mysteries of the Mariana Trench

It's incredible deep place on the planet, one might say, is practically not studied. Its entire territory has been explored by no more than 5%. And already during this time it was noted some amazing facts associated with the Mariana Trench:

Availability of hot water at a depth of 1.6 km.
Live in the depths huge amoeba.
Mollusks live that have adapted to high pressure.
At the bottom there are sources of liquid carbon dioxide.
In 2011 there were 4 stone bridges were found.

The last person to dive into the Mariinsky Trench was James Cameron. His name, I think, many know or have heard. It was he who directed the well-known film "Titanic". The dive was completed in 2012. Probably, the Mariana Trench holds many more mysteries. Perhaps years later, or perhaps hundreds of years, humanity will be able to fully experience this depth.

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

What is the Mariana Trench?

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

Location

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

"Challenger Abyss"

This name has the deepest place (10,994 meters) of the Mariana Trench. Here it must be clarified that it is not yet possible to obtain the exact dimensions of this gigantic trough 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 using the echo sounder is always slightly different.

Discovery history

People have long known that deep seas exist in the seas and oceans. In 1875, the English corvette Challenger opened one of these points. What depth of the Mariana Trench was recorded then? It was 8367 meters. The measurement instruments 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 descend to such a depth. Without modern means diving was tantamount to suicide.

A re-examination of the trench 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 vessel "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 research into the Mariana Trench to descend to its bottom. He was the first in the world to do it alone. Prior to its sinking, the trough was explored by Don Walsh and Jacques Picard in 1960 using the Trieste submersible. In addition, Japanese scientists tried to find out what the depth of the Mariana Trench is using the Kaiko probe for this. And in 2009, the Nereus apparatus descended to the bottom of the gutter.

Descent to such an incredible depth 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 device, which will lead to the death of the pilot. Another serious danger that awaits when descending to a depth is the cold that reigns there. It can not only lead to equipment failure, but also kill a person. The bathyscaphe can collide with rocks and get damaged.

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

In addition to photographs and video filming, the Deepsea Challenger bathyscaphe had to take 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 readings of the apparatus, was 10,908 meters.

The director was impressed by 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 porthole of the bathyscaphe 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.

Creepy Dwellers of the Deep

The lower the bottom of the ocean, the less sunlight penetrates through 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 become an obstacle to the origin of life. Darkness gives birth to beings who have never seen the sun. And they, in turn, have only recently been able to see marine biologists.

The sight is not for the faint of heart. Almost all the inhabitants of the Mariana Trench seem to be 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, they look so alien.

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

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

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

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

Amoeba

Xenophyophores (amoebae) are single-celled organisms that can only be seen with a microscope. But at a depth, these inhabitants of the Mariana Trench reach gigantic sizes - up to 10 centimeters. Previously, they were found at a depth of 7500 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 disk or tetrahedral shaped. Xenophyophores feed on bottom sediments.

Hirondellea gigas

Large amphipods (amphipods) have been found in Mariana Trench. These deep-sea crayfish feed on dead organic matter that accumulates at the bottom of the depression and have a keen sense of smell. The largest specimen found was 17 centimeters long.

Holothurians

Sea cucumbers are another representatives 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. No one knows what creatures inhabit it and how many secrets it keeps.

The deepest place in the world's oceans

The Mariana Trench (Marian Trench) is a deep-sea trench located in the western Pacific Ocean. Today, the Mariana Trench is the deepest place on the planet. deepest point The trough was named the Challenger Deep.

The history of research on the Mariana Trench begins in 1875, when the British corvette Challenger lowered a deep-water lot into the trench and recorded a depth of 8367 m. In 1951, the British repeated the experiment using an echo sounder and recorded a maximum depth of 10,863 m. In 1957, a Russian expedition on the Vityaz vessel, she was able to record a new depth of the depression - 11,023 m. Studies in 1995 and 2011 showed new figures - 10,920 and 10,994 m, respectively.

3 people were able to visit the bottom of the Mariana Trench. In 1960, the bathyscaphe Trieste sank to the bottom of the depression, on board of which were explorer Jacques Picard and US Navy Lieutenant John Walsh. They descended to a depth of 10,918 m and dispelled the myth that life at such a depth is impossible. Bathyscaphe "Trieste" found flat fish about 30 cm long at the bottom of the cavity.

In 1995, the Japanese probe Kaiko was lowered into the depression, with the help of which new microorganisms, foraminifera, were discovered.

In 2012, American director James Cameron descended on the Deepsea Challenger bathyscaphe to the bottom of the Mariana Trench. He reached a depth of 10,898 m. The bathyscaphe was equipped with all possible recording equipment, so Cameron was able to capture unique footage of underwater life.

Map of the Mariana Trench

On satellite map The Mariana Trench looks like a large fold on the ocean floor. The depression is a trough that stretches for 1500 km. The width of the depression is from 1 to 5 km. Mountains were found at the bottom of the trench, which were formed about 180 million years ago in the process of movement of lithospheric plates. The pressure at the bottom of the Mariana Trench is 108.6 MPa, which is 1072 times higher than atmospheric pressure at the level of the World Ocean.

Mysteries and secrets of the Mariana Trench

Research complexity ocean depths led to the fact that many myths and legends began to form around the Mariana Trench. Some believe that prehistoric monsters live at the bottom of the depression, others believe that Cthulhu sleeps there.

During the descent to the bottom of the hollow of the Ezh research apparatus belonging to the Glomar Challenger vessel, the recording instruments recorded some kind of metallic rattle. It was decided to take the device on board. When the device was taken out of the water, they found that the 20-centimeter cable, on which the "Hedgehog" was lowered into the hollow, was half sawn through.