Many people know that the highest point 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 look at a curious image Mariana Trench to 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 it was, the fantasy of scientists obsessed with research work, mass hypnosis, the delirium of people tired of colossal stress, or just someone's joke, is still unknown.

The deepest place in the Mariana Trench

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

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

Inhabitants of the Mariana Trench

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

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

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

As a general summary, we can confidently say that at the bottom of the Mariana Trench, between 6,000 and 11,000 meters under water, the following were reliably found: worms (up to 1.5 meters in size), crayfish, a variety of, amphipods, gastropods, mutant octopuses, mysterious marine 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, people do not leave attempts to explore this unique place on the planet.

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

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

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

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

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

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

It is important to understand that 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?

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There are many more places on earth about which we know less than about the vast expanses of space. It's about first of all about unconquerable water depths. According to scientists, science has not actually begun to study the mysterious life at the bottom of the oceans, all research is at the beginning of the journey.

From year to year, there are more and more brave souls who are ready to perform a new record deep dive. In the presented material, I would like to talk about swims without equipment, with scuba gear and with the help of bathyscaphes, which have gone down in history.

Deepest human dive

For a long time, the champion in the field of freediving was the French athlete Loic Leferm. In 2002, he managed to make a deep dive to 162 meters. Many divers tried to improve this figure, but died in the depths of the sea. In 2004, Leferm himself became a victim of his own vanity. During a training swim in the oceanic basin of Villefranche-sur-Mer, he plunged to 171 meters. However, the athlete did not manage to rise to the surface.

The last record deep dive was made by Austrian freediver Herbert Nietzsch. He managed to descend 214 meters without an oxygen tank. Thus, the achievement of Loïc Leferme is a thing of the past.

Record deep-sea dive for women

Several records among women were set by the French athlete Audrey Mestre. On May 29, 1997, she dived as much as 80 meters in one breath hold, without an air tank. A year later, Audrey broke her own record by diving 115 meters into the depths of the sea. In 2001, the athlete plunged as much as 130 meters. The specified record, which has the status of a world among women, is assigned to Audrey to this day.

On October 12, 2002, Mestre made her last attempt in life, diving 171 meters without equipment off the coast of the Dominican Republic. The athlete used only a special load, not having oxygen cylinders with her. The rise was to be carried out with the help of an air dome. However, the latter was not filled. 8 minutes after the deep dive started, Audrey's body was brought to the surface by scuba divers. As the official cause of death of the athlete, problems with equipment for lifting to the surface were noted.

Record-breaking scuba diving

Now let's talk about deep-sea scuba diving. The most significant of them was carried out by the French diver Pascal Bernabe. In the summer of 2005, he managed to descend into the depths of the sea at 330 meters. Although it was originally planned to conquer a depth of 320 meters. Such a significant record took place as a result of a small incident. During the descent, the rope stretched at Pascal, which made it possible to swim 10 extra meters in depth.

The diver managed to successfully ascend to the surface. The ascent lasted a long 9 hours. The reason for such a slow rise was the high risk of development, which could lead to respiratory arrest and damage to blood vessels. It is worth noting that in order to set a record, Pascal Bernaba had to spend as much as 3 years in constant training.

Record diving in a bathyscaphe

On January 23, 1960, scientists Donald Walsh and Jacques Piccard set the record for diving to the bottom of the ocean in a manned vehicle. On board the small submarine Trieste, the researchers reached the bottom at a depth of 10,898 meters.

The deepest dive in a manned submersible was carried out thanks to the construction of the Deepsea Challenger, which took the designers a long 8 years. This mini-submarine is a streamlined capsule weighing more than 10 tons and with a wall thickness of 6.4 cm. It is noteworthy that before commissioning, the bathyscaphe was tested several times with a pressure of 1160 atmospheres, which is higher than the figure that should have affected the walls of the apparatus on the ocean floor .

In 2012, the famous American film director James Cameron, piloting the mini-submarine Deepsea Challenger, conquered the previous record set on the Trieste apparatus, and even improved it by diving 11 km into the Mariinsky Trench.

The Mariana Trench (or Mariana Trench) became known in 1875, when the British research ship Challenger first studied the depth of this place using a deep-water lot.

Probably, the ship's crew was very surprised when they unwound kilometers of rope so that the lot could finally reach the bottom. According to the results of the study, it was determined that at the deepest point the bottom is at a distance of 8,367 meters from the ocean surface.

In 1951, a new British expedition aboard the Challenger 2, using an echo sounder, determined the depth of the depression at 10,863 ± 100 meters. The depth of the bottom varies depending on its topography. Since then, the deepest point on the planet has been called the Challenger Deep.

Progress moved forward, and people began to think about visiting the bottom of the Mariana Trench with the help of a manned deep-sea vehicle.

The first human dive to the bottom of the Mariana Trench. Project "Nekton"

The first two people in history to reach the deepest point on earth are Swiss scientist Jacques Piccard and US Navy Lieutenant Don Walsh.

The device that made it possible to dive under conditions of extreme pressure was called the Trieste and was originally built by two Swiss enthusiastic scientists - Auguste Picard and his son Jacques Picard. After a series of successful dives in the Mediterranean, the Trieste was bought by the US Navy, who were interested in exploring the ocean depths. After upgrading the bathyscaphe, installing a heavy-duty gondola and modern navigation and electronic systems, Trieste was ready to conquer new depths.

The goal for the dive was chosen no less than the deepest point on the globe. The project, dubbed Nekron, planned to take two people to the bottom of the Challenger Abyss in the Mariana Trench and carry out on-site scientific research. On January 23, 1960, at 08:23 local time, the Trieste, with Jacques Picard and Don Walsh on board, began a slow descent into darkness. After 4 hours and 43 minutes, the bathyscaphe touched the bottom at a distance of 10,919 meters from the ocean surface.

For the first time, a man was at the bottom of the deepest place on the planet. The pressure, 1072 times higher than the norm, squeezed the bathyscaphe's gondola with terrible force.

At the bottom, the researchers spent 20 minutes, during which they conducted a series of scientific experiments to measure radiation, measured the temperature of the water, which was 3.3 ° C (the air temperature in the gondola was 4.5 ° C), took a large number of photographs of the ocean floor, and even saw a small fish that looked like a flounder.

After dropping the ballast, the bathyscaphe began to rise, which lasted 3 hours and 27 minutes.

For a long 52 years, no other person conquered the Mariana Trench, limiting themselves only to the descent into the Challenger Abyss of automatic robots.

Conquest of the Mariana Trench by James Cameron

Who would have thought that the next person who, for the first time in many years, decides to visit the bottom of the Mariana Trench, will not be some kind of oceanologist, but the famous Hollywood director James Cameron! On March 26, 2012, Cameron on the Deepsea Challenger submerged to a depth of 10,908 meters.

Bathyscaphe Deepsea Challenger, containing the latest scientific equipment and 3D cameras, implies the presence of only one pilot in the cockpit, but allows you to stay under water for up to 56 hours and freely maneuver on the ocean floor using 12 electric motors. Its creation, taking into account the design stage, took almost 7 years, and the construction was carried out by a private Australian company.

During the study of the bottom of the Mariana Trench, the director conducted video and photography, and also, with the help of manipulators, took samples of the ocean soil, where, as it turned out later, there are microorganisms previously unknown to science.

At the moment, James Cameron is the third and last person to visit the deepest point on the planet - the Challenger Abyss at the very bottom of the Mariana Trench. In total, only two underwater vehicles with people on board fell to the bottom of the Mariana Trench.

Illustration: depositphotos.com | tolokonov

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:: Bathyscaphe

Bathyscaphe is a small underwater vessel designed to dive to extreme depths. Main difference underwater bathyscaphe from a submarine lies in its design: the bathyscaphe is equipped with a lighter spherical hull and a float, the walls of which are filled with a liquid whose mass is less than water, usually gasoline. The course of the underwater bathyscaphe is carried out due to the rotation of mushroom propellers driven by electric motors.

The history of the bathyscaphe

For the first time, the idea to build an underwater bathyscaphe came from the Swiss scientist Auguste Picard before the Second World War. He was the first to propose replacing cylinders with compressed oxygen with a float with a liquid whose mass is less than the mass of water. Picard's engineering idea was a success, and already in 1948, the first prototype of the bathyscaphe was launched.

The creation of an apparatus of this class was influenced by the need to study the bottom of the seas and oceans at great depths. Classical submarines are only capable of descending to a certain limited depth. Remarkably, the designers are able to build a hull strong enough, even for a large submarine, that could withstand pressure at extreme depths. However, it is still impossible to solve another problem that prevents submarines from sinking to a considerable depth.

To float to the surface of the water, traditional submarines use compressed oxygen to force water out of the compartments. However, during a dive of more than one and a half thousand meters, under the influence of the gravity of the water, the oxygen in the cylinders loses its properties, in other words, it ceases to be “compressed”.

There are submarines capable of diving to a depth of 2000 meters. Nonetheless, the depth of submersion of the bathyscaphe is much greater.

Bathyscaphe dive

A float filled with gasoline or other liquid makes it possible for an underwater bathyscaphe to stay on the surface of the water and float. After the tanks are filled with water, the process of submerging the bathyscaphe to the depth starts.

In cases where an underwater bathyscaphe hangs due to excessive water density, in order to lower the vessel to the bottom, a buoyant liquid is released from the float. After that, the process of submerging the bathyscaphe resumes.

Lowering the bathyscaphe to the bottom is not so difficult, but how to raise it back up? For this underwater bathyscaphes have special compartments filled with steel shot. When the ship needs to surface, the shot is thrown off, and the float pulls the bathyscaphe to the surface. Also on board are cylinders with compressed oxygen to speed up the ascent of the bathyscaphe to the surface of the water.

Bathyscaphe diving depth

As mentioned above, the bathyscaphe's immersion depth is much greater than that of other underwater vehicles. Back in 1960 modified Bathyscaphe "Trieste" managed to dive to a record depth of 10919 meters. To the surprise of the ship's crew, even at such a depth they saw fish.

Another interesting fact regarding the submersion of the bathyscaphe: the first person to sink to the very bottom of the world's oceans is the well-known director James Cameron.

Our shipbuilders also have something to brag about. The underwater bathyscaphe Mir, designed by Russian engineers, sank to the bottom of the Arctic Ocean. The diving depth of the bathyscaphe was 4261 m. After that, the ship and its crew spent about an hour at the bottom of the coldest and most dangerous ocean on earth.

Even though the oceans are closer to us than distant planets solar system, people explored only five percent of the ocean floor, which remains one of the greatest mysteries of our planet.

Here are other interesting facts about what you can meet 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 a depth, we expect that it will be very cold there. 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 temperature of the water, which is hundreds of degrees above the boiling point, she does not boil here due to incredible pressure, 155 times higher than on the surface.

Inhabitants of the Mariana Trench

2. Giant toxic amoeba

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

These single-celled organisms probably got so big because of the environment they live in at a depth of 10.6 km. Cold temperatures, high pressure, and lack of sunlight most likely contributed to these amoeba have become huge.

In addition, xenophyophores have incredible abilities. They are resistant to many elements and chemical substances, 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.

To How did mollusks keep their shells 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.

At the bottom of the Mariana Trench

4. Pure liquid carbon dioxide

hydrothermal source 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, 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, then we would feel that she covered with a layer of viscous mucus. Sand, in its usual form, does not exist there.

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

Mariana Trench

6. Liquid sulfur

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

One of the bridges Dutton Ridge, which was discovered back in the 1980s, turned out to be incredibly high, like a small mountain. At the highest 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 amazing.

8James Cameron's dive into the Mariana Trench

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

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