Mariana Trench: monsters, facts, mysteries, riddles and legends

In this article we want to talk about the mysterious Mariana Trench. This is the deepest point on the surface of the Earth. By and large, our knowledge of this place ends here. But the Mariana Trench, the monsters that live in it, is an eternal theme for disputes and assumptions. Her secrets are as deep as she is.

The first mystery of the Mariana Trench

One of the riddles of the hollow is its depth. Until recently, it was believed that the Mariana Trench, it is more correct to call this place from a scientific point of view, has a depth of more than eleven kilometers. However, the latest modern technical measurements give a value of 10,994 kilometers. Although, it is worth noting that this value is also relatively relative, since dipping to the bottom of the Mariana Trench is a technically very complex exercise, which is influenced by so many factors. Scientists speak of a possible error of forty meters.

Where is the Mariana Trench?

The Marian Trench is located in the western part of the Pacific Ocean, near the coasts of Guam and Micronesia. Its deepest point is called the Challenger Abyss and is 340 kilometers from Guam.

Answering the question, where the Mariana Trench is located, you can give its exact geographical coordinates - 11 ° 21 's. W. 142 ° 12 'in. Etc. This place was named because of the proximity of the Mariana Islands, which are part of a state such as Guam.

What is the Mariana Trench?

What is the Mariana Trench? The ocean carefully conceals its true dimensions. They can only be guessed. This is not just a "very deep pit". The trough itself stretched along the seabed for fifteen hundred kilometers. The depression has a V-shaped form, that is, it is much wider from the top, and the wall narrows downwards.

The bottom of the Mariana Trench is characterized by a flat relief, and the width varies from 1 to 5 kilometers. The upper part of it stretches for eighty kilometers.

This place is one of the most inaccessible on our land.

Is it necessary to explore the hollow?

It seems that life at such depths is simply impossible. Therefore, it makes no sense to study such an abyss. However, the mysteries of the Mariana Trench have always interested and attracted researchers. It is difficult to believe, but it is easier to explore outer space in our time than such depths. Outside the Earth, many people have visited, and only three brave men have sank to the bottom of the trough.

Studying the chute

The British began to investigate the Mariana Trench first. In 1872 the ship "Challenger" with scientists entered the waters of the Pacific Ocean to study the gutter. It was found that this point is the deepest on the globe. Since then, people have not given rest to the mystery and creatures of the Mariana Trench.

Time passed, investigations were conducted, a new depth value of 10863 meters was set.

Research is carried out by lowering deep-water vehicles. Most often these are automatic unmanned vehicles. And in 1960 on the bathyscaphe "Trieste" Jacques Picard and Don Walsh descended to the very bottom. In 2012, he ventured into the deep-water dive of Jays Cameron on the Deepsea Challenger.

Russian researchers also studied the Mariana Trench. In 1957, the Vityaz ship went to the gutter area. Scientists not only measured the depth of the gutter (11022 meters), but also found the existence of a life at a depth of more than seven kilometers. This event has made a kind of revolution in the world of science in the mid-twentieth century. At that time it was believed that there could be no living beings at such depths. This is where the fun begins. How many stories and legends exist about this place - just do not find it. So what exactly is the Mariana Trench? Do monsters really live here or is it just a fairy tale? Let's try to figure it out.

Mariana Trench: monsters, riddles, secrets

As we mentioned earlier, the first courageous daredevils who descended to the bottom of the hollow were Jacques Picard and Don Walsh. They descended on a heavy bathyscaphe called "Trieste". The thickness of the walls of the structure was thirteen centimeters. She was immersed in the bottom for five hours. Having reached the deepest point, the researchers managed to stay there for only twelve minutes. Then the ascent of the bathyscaphe immediately took three hours. Whatever it seemed is an amazing phenomenon, but at the bottom were found living organisms. The fish of the Mariana Trench are flat creatures similar to flounder, no more than thirty centimeters long.

In 1995, the Japanese descended into the abyss. And in 2009, in the deepest point dropped a miracle device called Nereus. He not only made a series of photos, but also took soil samples.

In 1996, the New York Times published materials of the next dive of the device from the research vessel Challenger. It turns out that when the technique was started to lower, after a while the instruments were fixed with the strongest metal screech. This fact was the reason for the immediate lifting of the equipment to the surface. What the researchers saw, stunned them. The steel structure was badly rumpled, and the thick, strong cable was as if filed. Such an unexpected surprise was presented by the Mariana Trench. Whether monsters were so crushed by technology or representatives of extraterrestrial intelligence, or mutated octopuses ... Various proposals were made, each of which was more incredible than the previous one. However, no one really found the true reason, because there was no evidence of any of the theories. All the assumptions were at the level of fantastic guesses. But the secrets of the Mariana Trench have not been uncovered so far.

Another mysterious story

Another incredibly mysterious case occurred with a team of German researchers, which lowered to the bottom of its apparatus called "Haifish." At some point the device stopped immersion, and the cameras installed on it gave an image of a huge lizard that actively tried to gnaw an unknown thing. The team drove the monster away from the apparatus with an electric discharge. The creature was frightened and swam away and did not appear any more. It is unfortunate that such events were not fixed by the apparatus, so that there is irrefutable evidence.

After this incident, the Mariana Trench began to accumulate with new facts, legends and speculation. The ships' crews continually reported a huge monster in these waters, which tows ships at high speed. It became difficult to make out where the truth is, but where the conjectures are. The Mariana Trench, whose monsters have not given rest to many people, still remains the most mysterious point of the planet.

Indisputable facts

Along with the most incredible legends about the Mariana Trench, there are quite specific, but incredible facts. They do not have to be doubted, because they are confirmed by evidence.

In 1948, lobster catchers (Australian) told of a large transparent fish, which had a length of at least thirty meters. They saw it in the sea. Judging by their description, it looks like a very ancient shark (the species Carcharodon megalodon), which lived several million years ago. Scientists on the remains managed to restore the shape of the shark. The monstrous creation was 25 meters long and weighed a hundred tons. Her mouth was two meters in size, and each tooth was not less than ten centimeters. Just imagine this monster. It was the teeth of such a creature that were discovered by oceanologists at the bottom of the vast Pacific Ocean. The youngest of them has an age of not less than eleven thousand years.

This unique find makes it possible to assume that not all such creatures have died out a couple of million years ago. Perhaps, on the very bottom of the hollow from human eyes, these incredible predators hide. Studies of mysterious depths continue to this day, since the abyss is fraught with many secrets, to the disclosure of which people so far and not approached.

Interesting Facts

At the bottom of the hollow, living organisms experience colossal pressure. It would seem that in such conditions nothing living can exist. However, this opinion is erroneous. Mollusks live quietly here, their shells do not suffer from pressure at all. They are not affected even by hydrothermal sources that release methane and hydrogen. Incredible, but it's a fact!

Another mystery is the hydrothermal source called "Champagne". Bubbles of carbon dioxide are bubbling in its waters. This is the only such facility in the world and it is located in the hollow, which gave rise to scientists to talk about the possible origin of life in the water in this place.

There is a Daikoku volcano in the Mariana Trench. In its crater there is a lake of molten sulfur, which boils at a high temperature of 187 degrees. Nowhere else on earth can you find this. The only analog of this phenomenon is in space (on a satellite of Jupiter called Io).

Amazing place

In the Mariana Trench, giant unicellular amoebae live, the size of which reaches ten centimeters. They live next to destructive uranium, lead, mercury for living creatures. However, they not only do not perish from them, but also feel great.

The Mariana Trench is the greatest miracle on earth. It combines all the non-living and the living. All that kills life under ordinary conditions, on the bottom of the hollow, on the contrary, gives the forces for the survival of living organisms. Is this not a miracle? How much more is still unknown in this place!