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

What is its depth? This is not a simple question...

But definitely not 14 kilometers!

In cross-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 areas. 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 thanks to hydrothermal vents nicknamed “black smokers.” They constantly heat the water and maintain the overall temperature in the cavity 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 English oceanographic vessel Challenger during a scientific expedition across the World Ocean. The British discovered the Mariana Trench quite by accident, during a routine sounding of the bottom using a lot (Italian hemp rope and lead weight). Despite the inaccuracy of such a measurement, the result was amazing: 8367 m. In 1877, a map was published in Germany on which this place was marked as the Challenger Deep.

A measurement taken in 1899 from the American coal miner Nero showed a greater depth: 9636 m.

In 1951, the bottom of the depression was measured by the British hydrographic vessel Challenger, named after its predecessor, unofficially called Challenger II. Now, using an echo sounder, a depth of 10899 m was recorded.

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

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

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

It is not yet possible to obtain absolutely accurate readings even with the most modern equipment. The operation of an 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 what the most durable hulls of underwater vehicles look like after testing at extreme pressure. Photo: Sergey Ptichkin / RG

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

The message that the device was created and was tested 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, among other things, in deep-sea vehicles. It’s even strange that no one paid attention to this sensation and has not yet voiced it. And the developers themselves did not particularly open up. Or maybe they are just playing it safe and want to get reinforced concrete evidence? And now we have every reason to expect a new scientific sensation.

It was decided to create an uninhabited deep-sea vehicle capable of withstanding pressure much higher than what 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, studying it up and down. In addition, the developers claim that with not very complicated modifications, the AUV can be made habitable. And this will be comparable to manned flights into deep space.

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

During the entire study of the Mariana Trench (Mariana Trench), vehicles with people on board were lowered to its bottom twice and automatic vehicles were dropped four times (as of April 2017). This, by the way, is less than the number of people who have been to the Moon.

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

A black and white photograph from half a century ago shows the legendary bathyscaphe Trieste as it prepares to dive. The crew of two was in a spherical steel gondola. It was attached to a float filled with gasoline to provide positive buoyancy.

The descent of the Trieste lasted 4 hours 48 minutes, with the crew periodically interrupting it. At a depth of 9 km, the 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 kind of crustacean creature. After staying at a depth of 10912 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 film director James Cameron (born 1954) became the third to reach the bottom of the Challenger Deep. Previously, he repeatedly dived on Russian Mir submersibles into the 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 twice as fast as the Trieste—and spent 2 hours 36 minutes at a depth of 10,898 m. After which he rose to the surface in just an hour and a half. At the bottom, Cameron saw only creatures that looked like shrimp.
The fauna and flora of the Mariana Trench have been poorly studied.

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

The main inhabitants of the Mariana Trench (Mariana Trench), living at the very bottom, are barophilic (developing only at high pressure) bacteria, protozoan creatures - foraminifera - single-celled in shells and xenophyophores - amoebas, reaching 20 cm in diameter and living by shoveling silt.
Foraminifera were obtained by the Japanese automatic deep-sea probe "Kaiko" in 1995, which dived to 10,911.4 m and took soil samples.

The larger inhabitants of the trench live throughout its thickness. Life at depth made them either blind or with very developed eyes, often telescopic. Many have photophores - luminous organs, a kind of bait for prey: some have long processes, like an angler fish, while others have them right in the mouth. Some accumulate luminous liquid and, in case of danger, shower the enemy with it in the manner of a “light curtain”.

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

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

The trench is located in the western Pacific Ocean and is a V-shaped depression that flows 1,500 km around the Mariana Islands - hence the name. The deepest point is the Challenger Deep, which received its name from the Challenger II echo sounder (Challenger), which managed to record 10,994 m below sea level. Measuring the bottom under conditions of pressure 1072 times higher than normal for a person is akin to suicide; in 1875, a corvette of an English expedition was first sent under the water column. The contribution of Soviet scientists is also invaluable - the Vityaz ship in 1957 obtained invaluable data: there is life in the Mariana Trench, despite the fact that even light does not penetrate to a depth of over 1000 m.

Ocean monsters

In 1960, US Navy Lieutenant Don Walsh and explorer Jacques Piccard descended into the dark abyss on the bathyscaphe Trieste, depth of the Mariana Trench. At a record 10,915 m, they found flathead fish that resembled flounder. There were some problems: the instruments recorded the shadows of creatures resembling mystical multi-headed dragons. Scientists heard the gnashing of teeth on metal - and the hull of the ship was 13 cm thick! As a result, it was decided to urgently raise the Trieste to the surface before tragedy occurred. On land they discovered that the thick cable was almost half broken - unknown creatures clearly did not tolerate strangers in their underwater kingdom... Details about this dangerous journey in 1996 were published in the New York Times newspaper.

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

Champagne at the bottom of the ocean

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

In 2012, famous film director James Cameron became the first person to reach the bottom of the Pacific Ocean alone. Moving on the Dipsy Challenger apparatus, he was able to take soil samples from the Challenger Deep and conduct shooting in 3D format. The resulting footage served science and formed the basis documentary film on the National Geographic Channel. Russia is not lagging behind - for an expedition to the bottom depths of the Mariana Trench Our famous traveler Fyodor Konyukhov is also preparing. Perhaps he will be able to shed light on the mysteries of the lowest point on the planet?

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

ETNOMIR, Kaluga region, Borovsky district, Petrovo village

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

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

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

Despite the fact that the oceans are closer to us than the distant planets of the solar system, people Only five percent of the ocean floor has been explored, which remains one of greatest mysteries of our planet.

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

Going down to such depths, we expect it to be very cold. The temperature here reaches just 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 support life in the area. Despite the water temperature being hundreds of degrees above boiling point, she doesn't boil here due to incredible pressure, 155 times higher than on the surface.

Inhabitants of the Mariana Trench

2. Giant toxic amoebas

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

These single-celled organisms likely became so large because of the environment they live in at a depth of 10.6 km. Cold temperatures, high pressure and lack of sunlight likely contributed to these amoebas have acquired enormous dimensions.

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. Shellfish

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

TO How did mollusks preserve their shells under such pressure?, remains unknown.

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

At the bottom of the Mariana Trench

4. Pure liquid carbon dioxide

Hydrothermal source of Champagne 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, was named after the bubbles that turned out to be carbon dioxide.

Many believe these springs, called "white smokers" due to their lower temperatures, 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 begin.

5. Slime

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

The bottom of the depression mainly consists of crushed shells and plankton remains 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 is located at a depth of about 414 meters on the way to the Mariana Trench, is the source of one of the most rare 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", there is a bubbling black emulsion boils at 187 degrees Celsius. Although scientists have not been able to explore this site 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 the Gaia hypothesis, our planet is one self-governing organism in which everything living and nonliving is 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 move into the air and return to land.

7. Bridges

At the end of 2011, it was discovered in the Mariana Trench four stone bridges, which extended 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 Deep.

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

8. James Cameron's Dive into the Mariana Trench

Since opening the deepest part of the Mariana Trench - the Challenger Deep in 1875, only three people visited here. The first were American Lieutenant Don Walsh and researcher Jacques Picard, who dived on January 23, 1960 on the ship Trieste.

52 years later, another person dared to dive here - a famous film director. James Cameron. So On March 26, 2012, Cameron sank to the bottom and took some photos.

Today we will talk about the deepest oceanic place on the planet - the Mariana Trench and its deepest point - the Challenger Deep.

“The Mariana Trench (or Mariana Trench) is an oceanic deep-sea trench in the western Pacific Ocean, the deepest known on Earth. Named after the nearby Mariana Islands.

The deepest point of the Mariana Trench is the Challenger Deep. It is located in the southwestern part of the depression, 340 km southwest of the island of Guam (point coordinates: 11°22′N 142°35′E (G) (O)). According to measurements in 2011, its depth is 10,994 ± 40 m below sea level.

The deepest point of the depression, called the Challenger Deep, is further from sea level than Mount Everest is above it.”

Many people know from school that the depth of the Mariana Trench is 11 km, and this is the deepest place on the planet. However, with a slight amendment, it is the deepest known. That is, theoretically there could be even deeper depressions... but they are still unknown. Even the most high mountain in the world - Everest - can easily fit into the trench and there will still be room left.

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

MARIANA TRENCH. PuzzlesMarianadepressions:

In the video they show and tell that at such a great depth the pressure is higher than from powder gases when fired from a hunting rifle, about 1100 times more than atmospheric pressure: 108.6 MPa (Mariana Trench - bottom) by 104 MPa (powder gases). Glass and wood turn into powder under such conditions.

Still, it is not clear then how there is life there and the ominous underwater monsters about which there are legends?

The length of the trench along the Mariana Islands is 1.5 km.

“It has a V-shaped profile: steep (7-9°) slopes, a flat bottom 1-5 km wide, which is divided by rapids into several closed depressions.

The depression is located at the junction of two tectonic plates, in the zone of movement along faults, where the Pacific plate goes under the Philippine plate.”

The Mariana Trench was discovered in 1875:

“The first measurements (and discovery) of the Mariana Trench were taken in 1875 from the British three-masted corvette Challenger. Then, with the help of a deep-sea lot, the depth was established at 8367 meters (with repeated sounding - 8184 m).

In 1951, an English expedition on the research vessel Challenger recorded a maximum depth of 10,863 meters using an echo sounder.”

Back in 1951, this point was given the name Challenger Deep.

Later, during several expeditions, the depth of the Mariana Trench was established to be more than 11 km; the last measurement (late 2011) recorded a depth of 10,994 m (+/- 40 m):

“According to the results of measurements carried out in 1957 during the 25th voyage of the Soviet research vessel Vityaz (headed by Alexey Dmitrievich Dobrovolsky), the maximum depth of the trench is 11,023 m (updated data, initially the depth was reported as 11,034 m).

On January 23, 1960, Don Walsh and Jacques Piccard dived in the bathyscaphe Trieste. They recorded a depth of 10,916 m, which also became known as the "Trieste depth".

The unmanned Japanese submarine Kaiko collected soil samples from this location in March 1995 and recorded a depth of 10,911 m.

On May 31, 2009, the unmanned submarine Nereus took soil samples at this location. The collected mud mostly consists of foraminifera. This dive recorded a depth of 10,902 m.

More than two years later, on December 7, 2011, researchers at the University of New Hampshire published the results of an underwater robot dive that recorded a depth of 10,994 m (+/- 40 m) using sound waves.

And yet, despite many obstacles, difficulties, and dangers, three people in the entire history of the Mariana Trench managed to reach the bottom, naturally, while in special devices. On March 26, 2012, director James Cameron single-handedly reached the bottom of the Abyss on the Deepsea Challenger.

Channel One's story "James Cameron - diving to the bottom of the Mariana Trench":

And here is Jace Cameron's film "Challenge the Abyss 3D|Journey to the Bottom of the Mariana Trench":

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

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

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

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

From reviews of the film:

“Of course, the content of the film can hardly be called exciting. The viewer spends most of the time in endless tedious meetings and tests in the laboratory. But I believe that this difficult and long path from a dream to its implementation definitely had to be shown. It is he who most inspires us to work for our idea.”

I mentioned the film precisely because the path that led the director to the creation of the creation is the basis for the interaction of the secrets of nature and mortal man.

People are frightened and attracted by the unknown, rebellion, depth, danger, mortality, mystery, eternity, loneliness, independence of the depths, distances, heights of nature. And the title of the film - “Challenge to the Abyss...” - is naturally not without reason: at a certain stage of potential development, a person either wants to touch the unknown, or completely forget about its existence, to live in everyday life.

Cameron, having the opportunity and zeal, decided to take this leap into depth. This is the desire to rise to a level close to God, and pride, and to perpetuate this abyss in oneself and to perpetuate oneself in the abyss, understanding the frailty of matter and much more.

Many people look in and are interested, some out of curiosity, some out of nothing to do. But only a few will dare to come close.

Let us recall the famous saying of F. Nietzsche: “If you gaze into an abyss for a long time, the abyss will begin to peer into you,” or another translation: “For a person who gazes into an abyss for a long time, the abyss begins to live in his eyes,” or the full text of the quote: “Who fights with monsters, he should be careful not to become a monster himself. And if you look into the abyss for a long time, then the abyss also looks into you.” Here we are talking about the dark sides of the soul and the world; if you attract evil, evil will attract you, although there are many interpretation options.

But the very words “abyss” and “abyss” imply something dangerous, dark, akin to the source of dark forces. There are a lot of legends around the Mariana Trench, legends that are far from good, whoever came up with anything: monsters live there, and monsters of unknown etiology can swallow alive deep-sea research vehicles with or without people, gnaw through 20-centimeter cables, and creepy devilish creatures seem to in hell they scurry between the black waves of the deep, terrify extremely rare human guests, and in circles discussing the deepest trench, versions are expressed that people who knew how to breathe under water used to live here, and almost life originated here, etc. People want to see darkness in this abyss. And, in general, they see her...

Before the conquest of the Mariana Abyss by Cameron, a similar attempt was made in 1960:

“On January 23, 1960, Jacques Piccard and US Navy Lieutenant Don Walsh dived into the Mariana Trench to a depth of 10,920 meters on the bathyscaphe Trieste. The dive took about 5 hours, and the time spent at the bottom was 12 minutes. This was an absolute depth record for manned and unmanned vehicles.

Two researchers then discovered at a terrible depth only 6 species of living creatures, including flat fish up to 30 cm in size.”

Whether the monsters were afraid of James Cameron, or they were not in the mood to pose for the camera that day, or whether there really was no one there, will remain a mystery, however, during previously completed underwater expeditions, including without the participation of people, various forms of life, fish, hitherto never seen, strange creatures, creatures similar to monsters, giant octopuses. But let's not forget that “monsters” are just unexplored creatures.

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

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

The photo shows the bottom of the Mariana Trench:

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

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

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

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

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

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

However, the results of research by scientists in Pacific Ocean showed that in these depths, much below the 6000-meter mark, there are huge colonies of living organisms pogonophora (pogonophora; from the Greek pogon - beard and phoros - bearing), a type of marine invertebrate animals living in long chitinous, open on both sides ends of the tubes).

Recently, the veil of secrecy has been lifted by manned and automatic underwater vehicles made of heavy-duty materials, equipped with video cameras. The result was the discovery of a rich animal community consisting of both familiar and less familiar marine groups.

Thus, at depths of 6000 - 11000 km, the following were discovered:

- barophilic bacteria (developing only at high pressure);

- from protozoa - foraminifera (an order of protozoa of the subclass of rhizomes with a cytoplasmic body covered with a shell) and xenophyophores (barophilic bacteria from protozoa);

- from multicellular organisms - polychaete worms, isopods, amphipods, sea cucumbers, bivalves and gastropods.

At the depths there is no sunlight, no algae, constant salinity, low temperatures, an abundance of carbon dioxide, enormous hydrostatic pressure (increases by 1 atmosphere for every 10 meters).

What do the inhabitants of the abyss eat?

The food sources of deep animals are bacteria, as well as the rain of “corpses” and organic detritus coming from above; deep animals are either blind, or with very developed eyes, often telescopic; many fish and cephalopods with photofluoride; in other forms the surface of the body or parts of it glow.

Therefore, the appearance of these animals is as terrible and incredible as the conditions in which they live. Among them are frightening-looking worms 1.5 meters long, without a mouth or anus, mutant octopuses, unusual starfish and some soft-bodied creatures two meters long, which have not yet been identified at all.

Despite the fact that scientists have made a huge step in researching the Mariana Trench, the questions have not decreased, and new mysteries have appeared that have yet to be solved. And the ocean abyss knows how to keep its secrets. Will people be able to uncover them soon?”

The Mariana Trench, considering that it is the most famous deep point on the planet, has been studied too little; people have flown into space tens of times more, and we know more about space than about the bottom of the 11-kilometer trench. Probably everything is ahead...

The Mariana Trench is the deepest place on our planet. I think almost everyone has heard about it or studied it at school, but I myself, for example, have long forgotten both its depth and the facts about how it was measured and studied. So I decided to “refresh” my and your memory

This absolute depth got its name thanks to the nearby Mariana Islands. The entire depression stretches along the islands for one and a half thousand kilometers and has a characteristic V-shaped profile. In fact, this is an ordinary tectonic fault, the place where the Pacific plate comes under the Philippine plate, just Mariana Trench- this is the deepest place of its kind) Its slopes are steep, on average about 7-9°, and the bottom is flat, 1 to 5 kilometers wide, and divided by rapids into several closed areas. The pressure at the bottom of the Mariana Trench reaches 108.6 MPa - this is more than 1100 times more than normal atmospheric pressure!

The first who dared to challenge the abyss were the British - the three-masted military corvette Challenger with sail equipment was rebuilt into an oceanographic vessel for hydrological, geological, chemical, biological and meteorological work back in 1872. But the first data on the depth of the Mariana Trench were obtained only in 1951 - according to measurements, the depth of the trench was declared equal to 10,863 m. After that, the deepest point of the Mariana Trench began to be called the “Challenger Deep”. It’s hard to imagine that in the depths of the Mariana Trench the tallest mountain of our planet, Everest, can easily fit, and above it there will still be more than a kilometer of water left to the surface... Of course, it will fit not in area, but solely in height, but the numbers are still amazing...

The next researchers of the Mariana Trench were already Soviet scientists - in 1957, during the 25th voyage of the Soviet research vessel Vityaz, they not only declared the maximum depth of the trench equal to 11,022 meters, but also established the presence of life at depths of more than 7,000 meters , thereby refuting the prevailing idea at that time about the impossibility of life at depths of more than 6000-7000 meters. In 1992, “Vityaz” was transferred to the newly formed Museum of the World Ocean. The ship was repaired at the plant for two years, and on July 12, 1994, it was permanently moored at the museum pier in the very center of Kaliningrad

On January 23, 1960, the first and only human dive to the bottom of the Mariana Trench took place. Thus, the only people who visited “the bottom of the Earth” were US Navy Lieutenant Don Walsh and explorer Jacques Piccard

During the dive, they were protected by the armored, 127 millimeter thick, walls of the bathyscaphe called “Trieste.”

Bathyscaphe was named after Italian city Trieste, where the main work on its creation was carried out. According to the instruments on board the Trieste, Walsh and Picard dived to a depth of 11,521 meters, but later this figure was slightly adjusted - 10,918 meters

The dive took about five hours, and the ascent took about three hours; the researchers spent only 12 minutes at the bottom. But this time was enough for them to make a sensational discovery - at the bottom they found flat fish up to 30 cm in size, similar to flounder !

Research in 1995 showed that the depth of the Mariana Trench is about 10,920 m, and the Japanese Kaik? probe, lowered into the Challenger Deep on March 24, 1997, recorded a depth of 10,911.4 meters. Below is a diagram of the depression - when clicked, it will open in a new window in normal size

The Mariana Trench has repeatedly frightened researchers with the monsters lurking in its depths. For the first time, the expedition of the American research vessel Glomar Challenger encountered the unknown. Some time after the descent of the apparatus began, the device recording sounds began to transmit to the surface some kind of metallic grinding sound, reminiscent of the sound of sawing metal. At this time, some unclear shadows appeared on the monitor, similar to giant fairy-tale dragons with several heads and tails. An hour later, scientists became worried that the unique equipment, made in a NASA laboratory from beams of ultra-strong titanium-cobalt steel, having a spherical design, the so-called “hedgehog” with a diameter of about 9 m, could remain in the abyss of the Mariana Trench forever - so it was decided to immediately raise apparatus on board the ship. The “hedgehog” was extracted from the depths for more than eight hours, and as soon as it appeared on the surface, it was immediately placed on a special raft. The television camera and echo sounder were lifted onto the deck of the Glomar Challenger. The researchers were horrified when they saw how much the strongest steel beams of the structure were deformed; as for the 20-centimeter steel cable on which the “hedgehog” was lowered, the scientists were not mistaken in the nature of the sounds transmitted from the watery abyss - the cable was half sawn through. Who tried to leave the device at depth and why will forever remain a mystery. Details of this incident were published in 1996 by the New York Times.

Another collision with the inexplicable in the depths of the Mariana Trench happened with the German research vehicle “Haifish” with a crew on board. At a depth of 7 km, the device suddenly stopped moving. To find out the cause of the problem, the hydronauts turned on the infrared camera... What they saw in the next few seconds seemed to them a collective hallucination: a huge prehistoric lizard, sinking its teeth into the submersible, tried to chew it like a nut. Having recovered from the shock, the crew activated a device called an “electric gun”, and the monster, struck by a powerful discharge, disappeared into the abyss...

On May 31, 2009, the automatic underwater vehicle Nereus sank to the bottom of the Mariana Trench. According to measurements, it fell 10,902 meters below sea level

At the bottom, Nereus filmed a video, took some photographs, and even collected sediment samples at the bottom.

Thanks to modern technologies, researchers were able to capture few representatives Mariana Trench, I suggest you get to know them too :)

So now we know that in Mariana depths different octopuses live

Scary and not so scary fish)

And various other strange creatures :)

Perhaps there is not much time left until technology makes it possible to get acquainted with the inhabitants in all their diversity Mariana Trench and other ocean depths, but for now we have what we have