Who 1 plunged into the Mariana Trench. The history of the study of the phenomenon. Deep-sea vehicle "Nereus"

Mariana Trench, or Mariana Trench oceanic trench in the western Pacific Ocean, which is the deepest known on Earth geographical objects. The depression stretched along Mariana Islands for 1500 km; it has a V-shaped profile, steep (79) slopes, and a flat bottom 15 km wide, which is divided by rapids into several closed depressions. At the bottom, the water pressure reaches 108.6 MPa, which is more than 1100 times higher than the normal atmospheric pressure at the level of the World Ocean. The depression is located on the border of the junction of two tectonic plates,

in the fault movement zone where the Pacific Plate goes under the Philippine Plate.

The studies of the Mariana Trench were initiated by the British expedition of the Challenger ship, which carried out the first systematic measurements of the depths of the Pacific Ocean. This military three-masted corvette with sailing equipment was rebuilt into an oceanographic vessel for hydrological, geological, chemical, biological and meteorological work in 1872. Soviet researchers also made a significant contribution to the study of the Mariana Trench. In 1958, an expedition to the Vityaz established the presence of life at depths of more than 7000 m, thereby refuting the then prevailing idea that life was impossible at depths of more than 6000-7000 m. 10915 m. The sound-recording device began to transmit noises to the surface, reminiscent of the grinding of saw teeth on metal. At the same time, vague shadows appeared on the TV monitor, similar to giant fairy dragons. These creatures had several heads and tails. An hour later, scientists on the American research vessel Glomar Challenger became worried that the unique apparatus, made from ultra-strong titanium-cobalt steel beams in the NASA laboratory, having a spherical structure, the so-called hedgehog with a diameter of about 9 m, could remain in the abyss forever. It was decided to raise it immediately. The hedgehog was retrieved from the depths for more than eight hours. As soon as he appeared on the surface, he was immediately put on a special raft. The TV camera and echo sounder were lifted onto the deck of the Glomar Challenger. It turned out that the strongest steel beams of the structure were deformed, and the 20-centimeter steel cable on which it was lowered turned out to be half sawn. Who tried to leave the hedgehog at depth and why is an absolute mystery. The details of this most interesting experiment, conducted by American oceanologists in the Mariana Trench, were published in 1996 by the New York Times (USA).

This is not the only case of a collision with the inexplicable in the depths of the Mariana Trench. Something similar happened to the German research vehicle Heifisch with a crew on board. Once at a depth of 7 km, the device suddenly refused to float. Finding out the cause of the malfunction, 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, biting its teeth into a bathyscaphe, tried to crack it like a nut. Coming to their senses, the crew activated a device called an electric gun. The monster, struck by a powerful discharge, disappeared into the abyss.

The inexplicable and incomprehensible has always attracted people, so scientists all over the world are so eager to answer the question: What is the Mariana Trench hiding in its depths? Can living organisms live at such a great depth, and how should they look, given that huge masses press on them ocean waters, the pressure of which exceeds 1100 atmospheres? The difficulties associated with the study and comprehension of the creatures that live at these unimaginable depths are enough, but human ingenuity knows no bounds. For a long time, oceanologists considered the hypothesis that at depths of more than 6000 m in impenetrable darkness, under monstrous pressure and at temperatures close to zero, life could exist to be insane. However, the research results of scientists in pacific ocean showed that even in these depths, far 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 that live in long chitinous, open from both tube ends). IN Lately the veil of secrecy was opened by manned and automatic, made of heavy-duty materials, underwater vehicles equipped with video cameras. As a result, a rich animal community was discovered, consisting of both well-known and less familiar marine groups.

Thus, at depths of 6000-11000 km, the following were found: - barophilic bacteria (developing only at high pressure); - from multicellular - polychaete worms, isopods, amphipods, holothurians, bivalves and gastropods.

Not at depth sunlight, no algae, constant salinity, low temperatures, 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 or blind, or with very developed eyes, often telescopic; many fish and cephalopods with photofluores; 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 terrifying-looking worms 1.5 meters long, without a mouth and anus, mutant octopuses, unusual sea ​​stars and some soft-bodied creatures of two meters in length, which have not yet been identified at all.

So, a person could never resist the desire to explore the unknown, but the rapidly developing world technical progress allows deeper penetration into secret world the most inhospitable and recalcitrant environment in the world - the oceans. There will be enough objects for research in the Mariana Trench for many years to come, given that the most inaccessible and mysterious point of our planet, unlike Everest (altitude 8848 m), was conquered only once. So, on January 23, 1960, US Navy officer Don Walsh and Swiss explorer Jacques Picard, protected by armored, 12-centimeter-thick walls of a bathyscaphe called Trieste, managed to descend to a depth of 10,915 meters. Despite the fact that scientists have made a huge step in the research of the Mariana Trench, the questions have not decreased, 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 reveal them in the near future?

There are deepest faults in the earth's crust - sea depressions at the bottom of the oceans, where impenetrable darkness and the highest pressure reign. We offer a selection of the deepest sea ​​trenches, which the lack of technology does not yet allow to study well.

1. Mariana Trench

The Mariana Trench is the deepest oceanic trench on our planet, which is located in the Pacific Ocean not far from the Mariana Islands that gave it its name. The depth of the trench is 10994 ± 40 m below sea level.

Paradoxically, the Mariana Trench is more or less explored - three people have already managed to descend here.

The first time this happened on January 23, 1960, when the bathyscaphe, on board of which were US Navy Lieutenant Don Walsh and researcher Jacques Picard, managed to sink to a depth of 10,918 m. Then there was no such technology as now, and two people were connected with the world only by a strong cable. After a successful return, the researchers said that they saw flat, flounder-like fish at the very bottom, but, unfortunately, there are no photographs.

Just a year ago, director James Cameron descended to the bottom of the Mariana Trench. It was easier for him, even though he was alone: ​​in 50 years, technology had gone far ahead. Moreover, his bathyscaphe Deepsea Challenger”was equipped with everything necessary for photo and video shooting, and there were also 3D cameras on board. Based on the material received, the National Geographic channel is preparing a film.

And recently, information was received that there are real mountains at the bottom of the Mariana Trench: with the help of echolocation, it was possible to “see” four ridges 2.5 km high.

2. Tonga Trench

The Tonga Trench is the deepest trench in the Southern Hemisphere and the second deepest on Earth. Maximum known depth- 10,882 m. It is unusual primarily in that the speed of movement of lithospheric plates in the Tonga region is much greater than in all other parts of the planet where there are gaps in the earth's crust. Here, the plates move at a speed of 25.4 cm per year against the usual 2 cm. This was established by observing the tiny island of Nyautoputana, which annually shifts by an average of just 25 cm.

Somewhere in the middle of Tonga, the Apollo 13 lunar landing stage was stuck, falling there during the return of the lunar module to Earth. It is located approximately at a depth of 6,000 m, and no attempts have been made to extract it from there. Together with it, a plutonium energy source containing plutonium-238 fell into the waters of the Pacific Ocean. It seems that this did not cause much harm to the environment, although given that the half-life of plutonium-238 is slightly less than 88 years, and the module fell there in 1970, very interesting discoveries can await the pioneers who decided to go down to the bottom of Tonga.

3 Philippine Trench

The Philippine Trench is also located in the Pacific Ocean near Philippine Islands. Max Depth- 10,540 m. Little is known about the trench - only that it was formed as a result of subduction. No one tried to go down to its bottom, since the Mariana Trench, of course, is more interesting.

4. Kermadec chute

Kermadec connects to the north with the Tonga Trench. The maximum depth is 10,047 m. During an expedition in 2008, a strange pink creature of the species Notoliparis kermadecensis was photographed here at a depth of 7,560 m. Other inhabitants were also found there - huge crustaceans 34 cm in length.

5. Izu-Bonin Trench

The maximum depth of the Izu-Bonin Trench, also known as Izu-Ogasawara, is 9,810 m. It was discovered at the end of the 19th century during the expedition, when the decision was made to lay telephone cable along the ocean floor. Of course, first it was necessary to make measurements, and in one place, not far from the Izu Islands, the lot of the Tuscarora did not reach the bottom, recording a depth of more than 8500 m.

In the north, Izu-Ogasawara connects with the Japan Trench, and in the south with the Volkano Trench. In this region of the ocean there is a whole chain deep sea trenches, and Izu-Bonin is just a part of it.

6. Kuril-Kamchatsky Trench

This depression was discovered shortly after Izu-Bonin during the same expedition. The maximum depth is 9,783 m. This trough is quite narrow compared to all the others, its width is only 59 m. The slopes of this trough are known to contain ledges, terraces, canyons and valleys that appear up to the maximum depth. The bottom of the Kuril-Kamchatka Trench is uneven, divided by rapids into separate depressions. To the best of our knowledge, detailed studies have not been carried out.

7 Puerto Rico Trench

The Puerto Rico Trench is located on the border of the Atlantic Ocean and caribbean. The maximum depth is 8385 m and it is the deepest place in Atlantic Ocean. The area where the trench is located is a zone of high seismic activity. The last disaster happened here in 2004, when eruptions underwater volcanoes caused a tsunami that hit the countries indian ocean. Recent studies have shown that it is possible that the depth of the trough is gradually increasing due to the fact that the North American tectonic plate - the southern "wall" of the trough - is gradually lowering.

An active mud volcano was discovered at a depth of 7,900 m in the Puerto Rican Trench, which erupted rock 10 km high in 2004. A column of hot mud and water was clearly visible above the surface of the ocean.

8. Japanese chute

The Japanese Trench is also located in the Pacific Ocean, as the name suggests, is located near Japanese islands. The depth of the Japan Trench, according to the latest data, is about 8,400 m, and the length is more than 1,000 km.

So far, no one has yet reached its bottom, but in 1989, the Shinkai 6500 bathyscaphe with three researchers on board sank to a mark of 6,526 m. Later, in 2008, a group of Japanese and British researchers managed to photograph large groups fish 30 cm long at a depth of 7,700 m.

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 Pacific Ocean to the 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.

The coordinates of the Mariana Trench are 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. The cold temperature, high pressure and lack of sunlight most likely contributed to the fact that these amoeba acquired huge sizes.

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

3. Clams

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

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

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

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 amoebas are xenophyophores, which under normal, terrestrial conditions can only be seen with a microscope, amazing two-meter worms, no less huge starfish, 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 plunged into deep place oceans, an unmanned platform equipped with searchlights, sensitive video systems and microphones.

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.

For the first time, people descended to the bottom of the Mariana Trench (depth - 11.5 km), the deepest ocean trench known on Earth, using the Trieste bathyscaphe on January 23, 1960. They were US Navy Lieutenant Don Walsh (Don Walsh) and engineer Jacques Piccard (Jacques Piccard). Since then and until recently, man has not descended to this depth.

Hollywood director James Cameron in a bathyscaphedeep seaChallenger

After 52 years, he repeated this path to the very deep point Ocean director "Avatar" and "Titanic" James Cameron, who on March 25 successfully sank to the bottom of the Mariana Trench and returned to the surface. On a special vertical bathyscaphe Deepsea Challenger, two hours after the start of the dive, he reached the bottom by 7:52 am local time. He stayed there for three hours, surveying and collecting samples, after which he successfully returned to the surface.

Bathyscaphedeep seaChallenge with James Cameron descends into the depths of the Pacific Ocean

The first people who plunged to the bottom of the Mariana Trench stayed there for only 20 minutes, doing the minimum amount of work and seeing almost nothing but the mud and silt that had risen from the sinking. The past decades have not been in vain. Mr. Cameron's bathyscaphe was well equipped, as one would expect from a man who has made one of the most impressive stereoscopic feature films and many documentaries about the underwater world.

The Deepsea Challenger was equipped with multiple stereoscopic cameras, an LED tower, a sampling bathometer, a robotic arm, and a special device capable of capturing small underwater organisms by suction. The deep-sea vehicle itself was created in Australia and has a length of 7 meters and a weight of 11 tons. The compartment in which James Cameron huddled is a sphere with an inner diameter of just more than a meter and assumes only a sitting position.

Apparatusdeep seaChallenge sank to the bottom at a speed3-4 nodes

The director told the BBC before the dive that it was his dream: “I grew up with sci-fi at a time when people lived in sci-fi reality. People went to the moon, Cousteau studied the ocean. This is the environment in which I grew up, this is what I appreciate since childhood.

James Cameron greets ocean explorer US Navy Captain Don Walsh immediately after diving

James Cameron in the sunroofdeep seaChallenge prepares to dive

Another shot of filmmaker and ocean explorer Don Walsh (far right), who, along with Jacques Picart, was the first person to reach the bottom of the Mariana Trench 52 years ago

The journey of James Cameron as a one-minute animation

February 16th, 2010

The Mariana Trench, or the Mariana Trench, is an oceanic trench in the western Pacific Ocean, which is the deepest geographic feature known on Earth.
The depression stretches along the Mariana Islands for 1500 km; it has a V-shaped profile, steep (7–9°) slopes, and a flat bottom 1–5 km wide, which is divided by rapids into several closed depressions. At the bottom, the water pressure reaches 108.6 MPa, which is more than 1100 times higher than the normal atmospheric pressure at the level of the World Ocean. The depression is located at the border of the docking of two tectonic plates, in the zone of movement along faults, where the Pacific plate goes under the Philippine plate.

The study of the Mariana Trench was initiated by the British expedition of the Challenger vessel, which carried out the first systematic measurements of the depths of the Pacific Ocean. This military three-masted corvette with sailing equipment was rebuilt into an oceanographic vessel for hydrological, geological, chemical, biological and meteorological work in 1872. Soviet researchers also made a significant contribution to the study of the Mariana Trench. In 1958, an expedition on the Vityaz established the existence of life at depths of more than 7000 m, thereby refuting the then prevailing idea that life was impossible at depths of more than 6000-7000 m. In 1960, the Trieste bathyscaphe was immersed to the bottom Mariana Trench to a depth of 10915 m.

The device recording sounds began to transmit noises to the surface, reminiscent of the grinding of saw teeth on metal. At the same time, vague shadows appeared on the TV monitor, similar to giant fairy dragons. These creatures had several heads and tails. An hour later, scientists on the American research vessel Glomar Challenger became worried that the unique apparatus, made from beams of ultra-strong titanium-cobalt steel in the NASA laboratory, having a spherical structure, the so-called "hedgehog" with a diameter of about 9 m, could remain in the abyss forever. It was decided to raise it immediately. "Hedgehog" was removed from the depths for more than eight hours. As soon as he appeared on the surface, he was immediately put on a special raft. The TV camera and echo sounder were lifted onto the deck of the Glomar Challenger. It turned out that the strongest steel beams of the structure were deformed, and the 20-centimeter steel cable on which it was lowered turned out to be half sawn. Who tried to leave the “hedgehog” at depth and why is an absolute mystery. The details of this most interesting experiment, conducted by American oceanologists in the Mariana Trench, were published in 1996 by the New York Times (USA).

This is not the only case of a collision with the inexplicable in the depths of the Mariana Trench. Something similar happened to the German research vehicle "Hyfish" with a crew on board. Once at a depth of 7 km, the device suddenly refused to float. Finding out the cause of the malfunction, 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, biting its teeth into a bathyscaphe, tried to crack it like a nut. Having come to their senses, the crew activated a device called an "electric gun". The monster, struck by a powerful discharge, disappeared into the abyss.

The inexplicable and incomprehensible has always attracted people, so scientists around the world are so eager to answer the question: “What is the Mariana Trench hiding in its depths?”

Can living organisms live at such a great depth, and how should they look, given that they are pressed by huge masses of ocean water, the pressure of which exceeds 1100 atmospheres? The difficulties associated with the study and comprehension of the creatures that live at these unimaginable depths are enough, but human ingenuity knows no bounds. For a long time, oceanologists considered the hypothesis that at depths of more than 6000 m in impenetrable darkness, under monstrous pressure and at temperatures close to zero, life could exist to be insane. However, the results of research by scientists in the Pacific Ocean have shown that even at these depths, far 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 that live in long chitinous tubes open at both ends). Recently, the veil of secrecy has been opened by manned and automatic, made of heavy-duty materials, underwater vehicles equipped with video cameras. As a result, a rich animal community was discovered, consisting of both well-known and less familiar marine groups.

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

Barophilic bacteria (developing only at high pressure),

Of the protozoa, foraminifera (a detachment of the protozoan subclass of rhizopods with a cytoplasmic body dressed in a shell) and xenophyophores (barophilic bacteria from protozoa);

Of the multicellular - polychaete worms, isopods, amphipods, holothurians, bivalves and gastropods.

At depths there is no sunlight, no algae, salinity is constant, temperatures are low, 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 or blind, or with very developed eyes, often telescopic; many fish and cephalopods with photofluores; 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 - a frightening-looking worms 1.5 meters long, without a mouth and anus, mutant octopuses, unusual starfish and some soft-bodied creatures two meters long, which have not yet been identified at all.

So, a person could never resist the desire to explore the unknown, and the rapidly developing world of technological progress allows you to penetrate deeper and deeper into the secret world of the most inhospitable and recalcitrant environment in the world - the oceans. There will be enough objects for research in the Mariana Trench for many years to come, given that the most inaccessible and mysterious point of our planet, unlike Everest (altitude 8848 m), was conquered only once. So, on January 23, 1960, US Navy officer Don Walsh and Swiss explorer Jacques Picard, protected by armored, 12-centimeter-thick walls of a bathyscaphe called Trieste, managed to descend to a depth of 10,915 meters.

Despite the fact that scientists have made a huge step in the research of the Mariana Trench, the questions have not decreased, 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 reveal them in the near future?

On January 23, 1960, Jacques Piccard and US Navy Lieutenant Donald Walsh in the Trieste bathyscaphe at a depth of 10919 m reached the bottom of the Mariana Trench, the deepest place in the World Ocean. The water temperature at this depth was 2.4 ° C (the minimum temperature is 1.4 ° С, was observed at a depth of 3600 m). The Trieste bathyscaphe was designed and developed by Jacques' father, the famous Swiss stratospheric explorer Auguste Piccard.

The dimensions of the capsule, which housed the researchers inside the bathyscaphe, are small in relation to the size of the submarine as a whole. In particular, it is markedly outnumbered by metal-ballasted tanks, one of which is visible at the top left.

Trieste, like other bathyscaphes, was a pressurized spherical steel gondola for the crew, attached to a large float filled with gasoline to provide buoyancy. A model was fixed on the outer wall of the Trieste bathyscaphe. wrist watch deep sea. A high degree of water protection was provided not only by a sealed case, but also by a special liquid that filled the inner chamber of the watch instead of air.

Bathyscaphe floats on the principle of an iron. In the surface state, it is held by a huge float filled with gasoline located above the gondola with the crew. The float has another important function: in a submerged position, it stabilizes the bathyscaphe vertically, preventing swinging and overturning. When gasoline is slowly released from the float, which is replaced by water, the bathyscaphe begins to dive. From this moment on, the apparatus has only one way - down to the bottom. In this case, of course, it is also possible to move in a horizontal direction with the help of propellers driven by the engine.

In order to rise to the surface, a metal ballast is provided in the bathyscaphe, which can be shot, plates or blanks. Gradually freed from the "excess weight", the apparatus rises. The metal ballast is held by electromagnets, so if something happens to the power supply system, then the bathyscaphe immediately, like a balloon starting into the sky, “soars” up.

One of the achievements of this dive, which had a beneficial effect on the ecological future of the planet, was the refusal of nuclear powers from burial radioactive waste at the bottom of the Mariana Trench. The fact is that Jacques Picard experimentally refuted the opinion that prevailed at that time that at depths of more than 6000 m there is no upward movement of water masses.

Comparison with Everest