Where is the Mariana Trench located in which ocean. Amazing inhabitants of the gutter. Who lives at the bottom of the hollow

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

The deepest part of the ocean - the Mariana Trench or the Mariana Trench is one of the most famous places about which we don't know much.

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

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

Mariana Trench on the map. Where is she?

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

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

Depth of the Mariana Trench

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

See also: The deepest places on Earth

Here are others 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 from 1 to 4 degrees Celsius.

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

This water is rich in minerals that help support life in the area. Despite the temperature of the water, which is hundreds of degrees above the boiling point, it does not boil here due to the 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 amoebas called xenophyophores were discovered.

These single-celled organisms probably got so big because of the environment they live in at a depth of 10.6 km. Cold temperature, high pressure and no sunlight, most likely contributed to the fact that these amoeba acquired huge sizes.

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

3. Clams

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

How the molluscs retained their shell under such pressure remains unknown.

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

LIFE IN PUT DARKNESS

In the course of further research with the help of unmanned deep-sea vehicles, it turned out that at the bottom of the depression, despite the terrifying water pressure, a wide variety of species of living organisms live. Giant 10-centimeter amoeba - xenophyophores, which in normal, terrestrial conditions can only be seen with a microscope, amazing two-meter worms, no less huge sea stars, mutant octopuses and, of course, fish.

The latter amaze with their terrifying appearance. Their distinctive feature is a huge mouth and many teeth. Many open their jaws so wide that even a small predator can swallow an animal larger than itself whole.

There are also completely unusual creatures that reach a two-meter size with a soft jelly-like body, which have no analogues in nature.

It would seem that at such a depth the temperature should be at the level of the Antarctic. However, the Challenger Deep contains hydrothermal vents called "black smokers". They constantly heat the water and thereby maintain the overall temperature in the cavity at 1-4 degrees Celsius.

The inhabitants of the Mariana Trench live in pitch darkness, some of them are blind, others have huge telescopic eyes that catch the slightest glare of light. Some individuals have "lanterns" on their heads, emitting a different color.

There are fish in the body of which a luminous liquid accumulates. When they feel danger, they splash this liquid towards the enemy and hide behind this "curtain of light." Appearance such animals is very unusual for our perception, can cause disgust and even inspire a sense of fear.

But it is obvious that not all the mysteries of the Mariana Trench have yet been solved. Some strange animals of truly incredible sizes live in the depths!

THE LIZARD TRIED TO BUTTON THE BATHISCAFE LIKE A NUT

Sometimes on the shore, not far from the Mariana Trench, people find the bodies of dead 40-meter monsters. Giant teeth were also found in those places. Scientists have proven that they belong to a multi-ton prehistoric megalodon shark, whose mouth span reached two meters.

These sharks were thought to have died out about three million years ago, but the teeth found are much younger. So did the ancient monsters really disappear?

In 2003, another sensational study of the Mariana Trench was published in the United States. Scientists have loaded an unmanned platform equipped with searchlights, sensitive video systems and microphones in the deepest part of the world's oceans.

The platform descended on 6 steel cables of an inch section. At first, the technique did not give any unusual information. But a few hours after the dive, silhouettes of strange large objects (at least 12-16 meters) began to flicker on the monitor screens in the light of powerful searchlights, and at that time the microphones transmitted sharp sounds to the recording devices - the grinding of iron and deaf, uniform blows on metal.

When the platform was raised (never lowered to the bottom due to incomprehensible interference that prevented the descent), it was found that the powerful steel structures were bent, and the steel cables seemed to be sawn. A little more - and the platform would forever remain the "Challenger Abyss".

Earlier, something similar happened to the German apparatus "Hyfish". Having descended to a depth of 7 kilometers, he suddenly refused to emerge. To find out what the problem was, the researchers turned on the infrared camera.

What they saw in the next few seconds seemed to them a collective hallucination: a huge prehistoric lizard, clinging its teeth to a bathyscaphe, tried to crack it like a nut.

Recovering from the shock, the scientists activated the so-called electric gun, and the monster, struck by a powerful discharge, hastened to retreat.

At the bottom of the Mariana Trench

4. Pure liquid carbon dioxide

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

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

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

The bottom of the depression 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

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

In this pit, called the "cauldron," the bubbling black emulsion boils at 187 degrees Celsius. Although scientists have not been able to explore this place in detail, it is possible that even more liquid sulfur is contained deeper. This may reveal the secret of the origin of life on Earth.

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

At the end of 2011, four stone bridge, which stretched from one end to the other for 69 km. They appear to have formed at the junction of the Pacific and Philippine tectonic plates.

One of the Dutton Ridge bridges, which was opened back in the 1980s, turned out to be incredibly high, like a small mountain. In the high point, the ridge reaches 2.5 km above the "Challenger Deep".

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

8James Cameron's dive into the Mariana Trench

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

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

The history of the conquest of the deepest point of the World Ocean is inextricably linked with the name Swiss scientist Auguste Picard, physicist and inventor.

Auguste Piccard, born in the family of a chemistry professor, became interested in aeronautics in the 1930s and developed the world's first stratostat - balloon with a spherical sealed aluminum gondola, allowing flights in the upper atmosphere while maintaining normal pressure inside.

On his apparatus, Picard, who by that time was already 47 years old, made 27 flights, reaching an altitude of 23,000 meters.

Swiss scientist, physicist and inventor Auguste Piccard, 1931. Photo: www.globallookpress.com

During his experiments with the stratospheric balloon, Picard realized that the same principles could be used to conquer sea depths. So the Swiss scientist began to work on the creation of an apparatus capable of diving to great depths.

Second World War interrupted the work of Auguste Picard. Despite the fact that Switzerland remained a neutral country, scientific activity at that time was seriously complicated there as well.

Nevertheless, in 1945, Auguste Piccard completed the construction of a deep-sea vehicle, called the bathyscaphe.

Picard's bathyscaphe was a high-strength pressurized steel gondola for the crew, which was attached to a large float filled with gasoline to provide positive buoyancy. For diving, several tons of steel or cast iron ballast in the form of shot were used, held in bunkers by electromagnets. To reduce the rate of immersion and to ascend, the electric current in the electromagnets was turned off, and part of the shot spilled out. Such a mechanism ensured the ascent even in the event of equipment failure, after a certain time the batteries simply discharged - and all the shot spilled out.

Bathyscaphe was named FNRS-2. FNRS stood for the Belgian National Foundation for Scientific Research (Fonds National de la Recherche Scientifique), which funded Picard's work.

It is curious that the name FNRS-1 was worn by ... Picard's stratostat. The scientist himself joked about this: “These devices are extremely similar to each other, although their purpose is opposite. Perhaps fate was pleased to create this similarity precisely in order to work on the creation of both devices could one scientist.

Creation of Trieste

The first test dive of the FNRS-2 took place in Dakar on October 25, 1948, and, of course, its creator himself was the pilot of the bathyscaphe. True, no records were set at that time - the device plunged only 25 meters.

Further work with the bathyscaphe was complicated by the fact that the Belgian foundation stopped funding. Auguste Piccard eventually sold the FNRS-2 to the French Navy, whose specialists invited a scientist to build a new model of a bathyscaphe, called the FNRS-3.

The ideas of bathyscaphes, meanwhile, took over the world, and new model intended to build in Italy. In 1952, Auguste Piccard, leaving the FNRS-3 to French engineers, went to Italy to develop and build a bathyscaphe, called Trieste.

Bathyscaphe Trieste. Photo: www.globallookpress.com

Trieste was launched in August 1953. Auguste Picard was assisted in the construction of the bathyscaphe by his son, Jacques Picard, who was to become the chief pilot of the new deep-sea vehicle.

In 1953-1957, the Trieste conducted a series of successful dives in the Mediterranean Sea, and even reached a depth of 3100 meters, which was fantastic at that time. In the first dives of the Trieste, along with Jacques Picard, the creator of the bathyscaphe, Auguste Picard, who was 69 years old by that time, also participates.

Project "Nekton"

Trieste's research work required serious investments. Each descent of the apparatus had to be supported by several escort vessels. Picard's bathyscaphe had to be towed to the dive site, since he did not have his own horizontal course.

In 1958, the Trieste was acquired by the US Navy, which showed an interest in exploring the depths of the sea. Together with the apparatus, Jacques Picard also went to America, who was to teach American specialists how to control the bathyscaphe.

The strength inherent in the design of the Trieste made it possible to dive to the maximum depths known in the oceans. At the same time, Jacques Picard himself noted that this is simply not required for most studies, since 99 percent of the ocean floor is located at depths of no more than 6,000 meters. Picard's correctness was confirmed by subsequent history - later deep-sea submersibles, including the well-known Russian "Mir-1" and "Mir-2", were built precisely with the expectation of a depth of about 6000 meters.

However, humanity likes to set maximum goals for itself, so it was decided to send Trieste to conquer the deepest point of the World Ocean - the Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean, the depth of which reaches 11 km.

Bathyscaphe "Trieste" before diving, January 23, 1960. Photo: Public Domain

This operation, which involved US Navy forces, was codenamed Project Nekton. For its implementation, serious improvements were made to the apparatus, in particular, in Germany, a new, more durable gondola was manufactured at the Krupp plant.

At the end of 1959, the Trieste was delivered to the US naval base on the Pacific island of Guam. During the Second World War, the island was the scene of bloody battles, and by the time the Nekton Project was carried out, at least those who did not consider the war over continued to hide in the jungle.

However, this did not affect the preparation of the historical dive. After several trial descents of 5 km and 7 km (which was already a record for that time), the go-ahead was given to the so-called "Big Dive".

"Big Dive"

Here, however, there was a misunderstanding between Picard and the American side. The Americans said that Picard would not take part in the Big Dive. Perhaps the US Navy felt that the historic achievement should be purely American, not US-Swiss.

Unable to convince his colleagues, Picard gave the last argument - he took out a contract and showed a clause stating that he had the right to participate in "special dives". The fact that a dive to 11 km is a special case, the American representatives did not dispute, and allowed Picard to dive.

Mariana Trench. Photo: wikipedia.org / wallace

Picard himself later recalled that he persisted not just out of a desire to set a record - he dived on the Trieste more than 60 times, while his colleagues from the USA had a minimum number of independent dives.

Trieste was towed to the descent point on the night of January 23, 1960. It was heavy, stormy weather, the bathyscaphe was battered due to rough seas, and Picard had to decide whether to go diving or not. The Swiss gave the go-ahead.

On the morning of January 23, 1960, Jacques Piccard and US Navy Lieutenant Don Walsh began the historical dive. Picard wrote that due to the characteristics of the upper layers of the waters in this place, they spent a lot of time diving to a depth of 300 meters. The speed with which they dived suggested that the dive would last 30 hours, which was absolutely unrealistic. Fortunately, then the speed reached the calculated indicators.

At 13:06 on January 23, 1960, after five hours of diving, Picard and Walsh reached the bottom of the Mariana Trench at around 10,919 meters. According to Picard, the measurement accuracy was plus or minus several tens of meters.

The historic descent of the Trieste solved the question that tormented ocean scientists: can complex organisms live at such a depth. As soon as the apparatus reached the bottom, Picard and Walsh were "greeted" by a fish that looked like a stingray, caught in the bathyscaphe's searchlight. Although Picard's statement was subsequently questioned due to the lack of documentary evidence.

The researchers stayed at the bottom for 20 minutes, after which the apparatus returned to the surface for three hours. There, Picard and Walsh fell into the arms of other participants in the historical project.

The third in the abyss was the creator of "Avatar"

Weather conditions and technical difficulties led to the fact that Picard and Walsh's dive to the bottom of the Mariana Trench was the only one in the framework of the Nekton Project. And for Jacques Picard himself, it turned out to be farewell - from that moment on, Trieste finally passed into the hands of US Navy specialists, and the Swiss no longer worked with him.

Jacques Picard, in a book on historical immersion, wrote that with reaching the bottom of the Mariana Trench, a person will have nowhere else to set such records - all that remains is to go into space. The scientist was not mistaken: a little more than a year later, April 12, 1961.

The Picard family passion for inventions was passed on to the son of Jacques, Bertrand Picard. In 1999, he became the first person to commit trip around the world at the airport.

Bathyscaphe "Trieste" until 1963 was part of the US Navy, and now is an exhibit of the naval historical center in Washington.

In 2012 on a single bathyscaphe Deepsea Challenger Director James Cameron reached the bottom of the Mariana Trench. Photo: www.globallookpress.com

From 1960 to 2012, no person, except Picard and Walsh, sank to the bottom of the Mariana Trench. In 2012, on the single-seat bathyscaphe Deepsea Challenger of the bottom of the Mariana Trench James Cameron, creator of "Titanic" and "Avatar". It was on the set of Titanic, diving on the Russian Mir submersibles to the wrecked ship, that the director got carried away deep sea diving. And in the preparation of Cameron's conquest of the bottom of the Mariana Trench, none other than Picard's partner in the historic dive, Don Walsh, participated.

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. The cold temperature, high pressure, and lack of sunlight most likely contributed to these amoeba got huge.

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

3. Clams

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

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.

5. Slime

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

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.

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 place in the Mariana Trench - "Challenger Deep" 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.

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

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

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

Mariana Trench on the map. Where is she?

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

Mariana Trench coordinates: 11°22′ north latitude and 142°35′ east longitude.

Depth of the Mariana Trench

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

Here are 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.

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.

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

3. Clams

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

At the bottom of the Mariana Trench

4. Pure liquid carbon dioxide

5. Slime

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

Mariana Trench

6. Liquid sulfur

7. Bridges

8James Cameron's dive into the Mariana Trench

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.

During James Cameron's 2012 dive to the Challenger Deep in a bathyscaphe Deep Sea Challenge, he tried to observe everything that happens in this place, until mechanical problems forced him to rise to the surface.

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

9. Mariana Trench (video)

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

The Mariana Trench is national monument USA and the largest marine reserve in the world.

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

The Mariana Trench is the deepest place on our planet. I think almost everyone 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 stretched 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, just Mariana Trench- this is the deepest place of this kind) Its slopes are steep, on average about 7-9 °, and the bottom is flat, from 1 to 5 kilometers wide, and divided by rapids into several closed sections. 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 military three-masted corvette "Challenger" with sailing equipment was rebuilt into an oceanographic vessel for hydrological, geological, chemical, biological and meteorological work 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 most deep point The Mariana Trench became known as the Challenger Deep. It is hard to imagine that in the depths of the Mariana Trench the most high mountain our planet - Everest, and above it there will still be more than a kilometer of water to the surface ... Of course, it will fit not in area, but only in height, but the numbers are still amazing ...

The next explorers of the Mariana Trench were already Soviet scientists - in 1957, during the 25th voyage of the Soviet research vessel Vityaz, they not only announced maximum depth depression equal to 11,022 meters, but also established the existence of life at depths of more than 7000 meters, thereby refuting the then prevailing idea of the impossibility of life at depths of more than 6000-7000 meters. In 1992, the Vityaz was handed over to the newly formed Museum of the World Ocean. For two years, the ship was being repaired at the plant, 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 was carried out. Thus, the only people who have been “at the bottom of the Earth” were US Navy Lieutenant Don Walsh and researcher Jacques Picard.

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

Bathyscaphe was named after Italian city Trieste, in which 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 this figure was later slightly corrected - 10,918 meters.

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

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

The Mariana Trench has repeatedly frightened researchers with 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 start of the descent of the apparatus, the sound-recording device began to transmit some kind of metallic rattle to the surface, reminiscent of the sound of sawn metal. At this time, some indistinct 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 the NASA laboratory from beams of ultra-strong titanium-cobalt steel, having a spherical structure, 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 retrieved from the depths for more than eight hours, and as soon as it appeared on the surface, they immediately put it on a special raft. The TV camera and echo sounder were raised on the deck of the Glomar Challenger. The researchers were horrified when they saw how deformed the strongest steel beams of the structure were, as for the 20-cm steel cable on which the “hedgehog” was lowered, the scientists were not mistaken in the nature of the sounds transmitted from the abyss of water - the cable was half sawn. Who tried to leave the device at a 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 occurred with the German research apparatus "Highfish" with a crew on board. At a depth of 7 km, the device suddenly stopped moving. To find out the cause of the malfunctions, 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 bathyscaphe, tried to crack it like a nut. Recovering 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 Nereus automatic underwater vehicle sank to the bottom of the Mariana Trench. According to measurements, he sank 10,902 meters below sea level.

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

Thanks to modern technology, the researchers managed to capture a few representatives Mariana Trench I invite you to get to know them :)

So, now we know that different octopuses live in the Marianas Depths

Scary and not so scary fish)

And various other obscure creatures :)

Perhaps not much time is left before the moment when technology will allow you to get to know the inhabitants in all their diversity. Mariana Trench and others ocean depths but so far we have what we have