Who lives at the bottom of the Mariana Trench? (7 photos). Mariana Trench and its mysterious inhabitants What creatures live at the bottom of the Mariana Trench

The Mariana Trench (or Mariana Trench) is the deepest place earth's surface. It is located on the western outskirts Pacific Ocean 200 kilometers east of the Mariana Archipelago.

It’s paradoxical, but humanity knows much more about the secrets of space or mountain peaks than about the depths of the ocean. And one of the most mysterious and unexplored places on our planet is the Mariana Trench. So what do we know about him?

Mariana Trench - the bottom of the world

In 1875, the crew of the British corvette Challenger discovered a place in the Pacific Ocean where there was no bottom. Kilometer after kilometer the line of the lot went overboard, but there was no bottom! And only at a depth of 8184 meters the descent of the rope stopped. This is how the deepest underwater crack on Earth was discovered. It was called the Mariana Trench, named after the nearby islands. Its shape (in the form of a crescent) and the location of the deepest section, called the “Challenger Deep,” were determined. It is located 340 km south of the island Guam and has coordinates 11°22′ N. latitude, 142°35′ e. d.

Since then this deep-sea depression has been called the “fourth pole”, “the womb of Gaia”, “the bottom of the world”. Oceanographers for a long time tried to find out its true depth. Research different years gave different meanings. The fact is that at such a colossal depth, the density of water increases as it approaches the bottom, therefore the properties of the sound from the echo sounder in it also change. Using barometers and thermometers at different levels along with echo sounders, in 2011 the depth in the Challenger Deep was determined to be 10994 ± 40 meters. This is the height of Mount Everest plus another two kilometers above.

The pressure at the bottom of the underwater chasm is almost 1100 atmospheres, or 108.6 MPa. Most deep-sea vehicles are designed to maximum depth at 6-7 thousand meters. During the time that has passed since the discovery of the deepest canyon, it was possible to successfully reach its bottom only four times.

In 1960, the deep-sea bathyscaphe Trieste descended to the very bottom for the first time in the world. Mariana Trench in the area of ​​the Challenger Deep with two passengers on board: US Navy Lieutenant Don Walsh and Swiss oceanographer Jacques Piccard.

Their observations led to an important conclusion about the presence of life at the bottom of the canyon. The discovery of the upward flow of water was also important ecological significance: based on it, nuclear powers refused to bury radioactive waste at the bottom of the Mariana Trench.

In the 90s, the trench was explored by the Japanese unmanned probe "Kaiko", which brought samples of silt from the bottom in which bacteria, worms, shrimp were found, as well as pictures of a hitherto unknown world.

In 2009, the American robot Nereus conquered the abyss, picking up from the bottom samples of silt, minerals, samples of deep-sea fauna and photos of the inhabitants of unknown depths.

In 2012, James Cameron, the author of Titanic, Terminator and Avatar, dived alone into the abyss. He spent 6 hours at the bottom, collecting samples of soil, minerals, fauna, as well as taking photographs and 3D video filming. Based on this material, the film “Challenge the Abyss” was created.

Amazing discoveries

In the trench, at a depth of about 4 kilometers, there is an active Daikoku volcano, spewing liquid sulfur that boils at 187 ° C in a small depression. The only lake of liquid sulfur was discovered only on Jupiter’s moon, Io.

“Black smokers” swirl 2 kilometers from the surface - sources of geothermal water with hydrogen sulfide and other substances that, upon contact with cold water transform into black sulfides. The movement of sulfide water resembles clouds of black smoke. The water temperature at the point of release reaches 450° C. The surrounding sea does not boil only because of the density of the water (150 times greater than at the surface).

In the north of the canyon there are “white smokers” - geysers spewing liquid carbon dioxide at a temperature of 70-80 ° C. Scientists suggest that it is in such geothermal “cauldrons” that one should look for the origins of life on Earth. Hot springs “heat” the icy waters, supporting life in the abyss - the temperature at the bottom of the Mariana Trench is between 1-3° C.

Life beyond life

It would seem that in an environment of complete darkness, silence, icy cold and unbearable pressure, life in the depression is simply unthinkable. But studies of the depression prove the opposite: there are living creatures almost 11 kilometers under water!

The bottom of the hole is covered with a thick layer of mucus from organic sediments descending from upper layers ocean for hundreds of thousands of years. Mucus is an excellent breeding ground for barrophilic bacteria, which form the basis of nutrition for protozoa and multicellular organisms. The bacteria, in turn, become food for more complex organisms.

The ecosystem of the underwater canyon is truly unique. Living beings have managed to adapt to an aggressive, destructive environment under normal conditions, with high pressure, lack of light, low amounts of oxygen and high concentrations of toxic substances. Life in such unbearable conditions gave many of the inhabitants of the abyss a frightening and unattractive appearance.

Deep-sea fish have incredibly large mouths lined with sharp, long teeth. High pressure made their bodies small (from 2 to 30 cm). However, there are also large specimens, such as the xenophyophora amoeba, reaching 10 cm in diameter. The frilled shark and goblin shark, which live at a depth of 2000 meters, generally reach 5-6 meters in length.

Representatives live at different depths different types living organisms. The deeper the inhabitants of the abyss, the better developed their organs of vision are, allowing them to catch the slightest reflection of light on the body of prey in complete darkness. Some individuals themselves are capable of producing directional light. Other creatures are completely devoid of organs of vision; they are replaced by organs of touch and radar. With increasing depth, underwater inhabitants increasingly lose their color; the bodies of many of them are almost transparent.

On the slopes where the “black smokers” are located, mollusks live that have learned to neutralize sulfides and hydrogen sulfide that are lethal to them. And, which still remains a mystery to scientists, under conditions of enormous pressure at the bottom, they somehow miraculously manage to keep their mineral shell intact. Other inhabitants of the Mariana Trench show similar abilities. The study of fauna samples showed many times higher levels of radiation and toxic substances.

Unfortunately, deep sea creatures die due to pressure changes during any attempt to raise them to the surface. Only thanks to modern deep-sea vehicles has it become possible to study the inhabitants of the depression in their natural environment. Representatives of fauna unknown to science have already been identified.

Secrets and riddles of the “womb of Gaia”

The mysterious abyss, like any unknown phenomenon, is shrouded in a mass of secrets and mysteries. What does she hide in her depths? Japanese scientists claimed that while feeding goblin sharks, they saw a shark 25 meters long devouring goblins. A monster of this size could only be a megalodon shark, which became extinct almost 2 million years ago! This is confirmed by the findings of megalodon teeth in the vicinity of the Mariana Trench, whose age dates back to only 11 thousand years. It can be assumed that specimens of these monsters still exist in the depths of the hole.

There are many stories about corpses washed ashore giant monsters. When descending into the abyss of the German bathyscaphe "Haifish", the dive stopped 7 km from the surface. To understand the reason, the passengers of the capsule turned on the lights and were horrified: their bathyscaphe, like a nut, was trying to chew some kind of prehistoric lizard! Only a pulse of electric current through the outer skin managed to scare away the monster.

Another time, when an American submersible was diving, the grinding of metal began to be heard from under the water. The descent was stopped. Upon inspection of the raised equipment, it turned out that the titanium alloy metal cable was half sawed (or chewed), and the beams of the underwater vehicle were bent.

In 2012, a video camera unmanned vehicle"Titan" from a depth of 10 kilometers transmitted a picture of metal objects, presumably a UFO. Soon the connection with the device was interrupted.

Unfortunately, there is no documentary evidence of these interesting facts none, they are all based only on eyewitness accounts. Each story has its fans and skeptics, its arguments for and against.

Before the risky dive into the trench, James Cameron said that he wanted to see with his own eyes at least part of the secrets of the Mariana Trench, about which there are so many rumors and legends. But he did not see anything that went beyond the knowable.

So what do we know about her?

To understand how the Mariana underwater gap was formed, it should be remembered that such gaps (trenches) are usually formed along the edges of the oceans under the influence of moving lithospheric plates. Oceanic plates, being older and heavier, “crawl” under continental plates, forming deep gaps at the junctions. The deepest is the junction of the Pacific and Philippine tectonic plates near the Mariana Islands (Mariana Trench). The Pacific plate is moving at a rate of 3-4 centimeters per year, resulting in increased volcanic activity along both its edges.

Along the entire length of this deepest failure, four so-called bridges—transverse mountain ridges—were discovered. The ridges were presumably formed due to the movement of the lithosphere and volcanic activity.

The gutter is V-shaped in cross-section, greatly expanding at the top and narrowing downwards. The average width of the canyon in the upper part is 69 kilometers, in the widest part - up to 80 kilometers. The average width of the bottom between the walls is 5 kilometers. The slope of the walls is almost vertical and is only 7-8°. The depression stretches from north to south for 2,500 kilometers. The trench has an average depth of about 10,000 meters.

Only three people to date have visited the very bottom of the Mariana Trench. In 2018, another manned dive to the “bottom of the world” in its deepest section is planned. This time, the famous Russian traveler Fyodor Konyukhov and polar explorer Artur Chilingarov will try to conquer the depression and find out what it hides in its depths. Currently, a deep-sea bathyscaphe is being manufactured and a research program is being drawn up.

Many people know that the most high point– this is (8848 m). If you are asked where the deepest point of the ocean is, what will you answer? Mariana Trench– this is the very place we want to tell you about.

But first I would like to note that they never cease to amaze us with their mysteries. The described place has also not yet been properly studied for completely objective reasons.

So, we offer you 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 known to date.

Having a V-shape, the depression runs along the Mariana Islands for 1,500 km.

Mariana Trench on the map

An interesting fact is that the Mariana Trench is located at the junction of the Pacific and Philippine.

The pressure at the bottom of the trench reaches 108.6 MPa, which is almost 1072 times higher than normal pressure.

You probably now understand that due to such conditions, exploring the mysterious bottom of the world, as this place is also called, is extremely difficult. However, the scientific community, since the end of the 19th century, has not stopped studying this mystery of nature step by step.

Mariana Trench Research

In 1875, the first attempt was made to explore the Mariana Trench globally. The British expedition "Challenger" carried out measurements and analysis of the trench. 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 significantly more modest than today's measuring systems.

Soviet scientists also made enormous contributions to research. An expedition led by the research vessel Vityaz began its own studies in 1957 and discovered that there was life at a depth of more than 7,000 meters.

Until this time, there was a strong belief that life at such depths was simply impossible.

We invite you to look at an interesting scale image of the Mariana Trench:

Diving to the bottom of the Mariana Trench

1960 was one of the most fruitful years in terms of research into the Mariana Trench. The research bathyscaphe Trieste made a record dive to a depth of 10,915 meters.

This is where something mysterious and inexplicable began. Special devices, recording underwater sound, began to transmit eerie noises to the surface, reminiscent of the grinding of a saw on metal.

The monitors registered mystical shadows that were shaped like fairy-tale dragons with several heads. For an hour, scientists tried to record 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, as there were reasonable fears that if we waited a little longer, the bathyscaphe would forever remain in the mysterious abyss of the Mariana Trench.

For more than 8 hours, specialists recovered from the bottom unique equipment made of heavy-duty materials.

Of course, all the instruments, and the bathyscaphe itself, were carefully placed on a special platform to study the surface.

Imagine the surprise of the scientists when it turned out that almost all the elements of the unique apparatus, made of the most durable materials at that time, were severely deformed and distorted.

The cable, 20 cm in diameter, lowering the bathyscaphe to the bottom of the Mariana Trench was half sawn through. Who tried to cut it and why remains a mystery to this day.

An interesting fact is that only in 1996 American newspaper The New York Times published details of this unique study.

Lizard from the Mariana Trench

The German Haifish expedition also encountered the inexplicable mysteries of the Mariana Trench. Immersing research apparatus to the bottom, unexpected difficulties arose before the scientists.

Being at a depth of 7 kilometers under water, they decided to lift 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.

A fantastic giant-sized lizard was clearly visible on the screen, which was trying to chew the bathyscaphe like a squirrel nut.

Being in a state of shock, the hydronauts activated the so-called electric gun. Having received a powerful electric shock, the lizard disappeared into the abyss.

What was it, a fantasy of the obsessed research work scientists, mass hypnosis, 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 sank a unique robot to the bottom of the trench under study.

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

Inhabitants of the Mariana Trench

Of course, after these inexplicable and even mystical secrets, natural 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.

Without a doubt, without modern technology, made of the most durable materials and equipped with cameras unique in their properties, such research would be simply impossible.

As a general summary, we can confidently say that at the bottom of the Mariana Trench, between 6000 and 11000 meters under water, the following were reliably discovered: worms (up to 1.5 meters in size), crayfish, a variety of amphipods, gastropods, mutants, mysterious, not identified soft-bodied creatures 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 give up trying to explore this unique place on the planet.

Thus, the only people Those 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 bathyscaphe "Trieste" they reached the bottom on January 23, 1960, descending to a depth of 10915 meters.

However, on March 26, 2012, James Cameron, an American director, made a solo dive to the bottom of the deepest point of the World Ocean. The bathyscaphe collected all the necessary samples and took valuable photos and videos. Thus, we now know that only three people visited the Challenger Deep.

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 human world. Moreover, he assured that no monsters simply exist at the bottom of the Mariana Trench.

But here we can recall the primitive Soviet statement, after a flight into space: “Gagarin flew into space - he did not see God.” From this the conclusion was drawn that there is no God.

Likewise here, we cannot say unequivocally that the giant lizard and other creatures that scientists saw during previous research were the result of someone’s sick imagination.

It is important to understand that the subject being studied geographical feature has a length of more than 1000 kilometers. Therefore, potential monsters, inhabitants of the Mariana Trench, could well be located many hundreds of kilometers from the research site.

However, these are just hypotheses.

Panorama of the Mariana Trench on Yandex Map

Another interesting fact may intrigue you. On April 1, 2012, the Yandex company published a comic panorama of the Mariana Trench. On it you can see a sunken ship, water drains 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 “hack” natural mysteries. However, who knows, maybe one of the readers of this article in the future will become the genius who will be able to solve this problem?

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

Here are other interesting facts about what you can find along the way and at the very bottom of the Mariana Trench.

Temperature at the bottom of the Mariana Trench

1. Very hot water

Going down to such depths, we expect it to be very cold. The temperature here reaches just above zero, varying 1 to 4 degrees Celsius.

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

This water is rich in minerals that help support life in the area. Despite the water temperature being hundreds of degrees above boiling point, she doesn't boil here due to incredible pressure, 155 times higher than on the surface.

Inhabitants of the Mariana Trench

2. Giant toxic amoebas

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

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

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. Shellfish

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

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

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

At the bottom of the Mariana Trench

4. Pure liquid carbon dioxide

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

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

5. Slime

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

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

Mariana Trench

6. Liquid sulfur

Daikoku Volcano, which lies 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 the "cauldron", there is a bubbling black emulsion boils at 187 degrees Celsius. Although scientists have not been able to explore this site in detail, it is possible that even more liquid sulfur is contained deeper. It may reveal the secret of the origin of life on Earth.

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

7. Bridges

At the end of 2011, it was discovered in the Mariana Trench four stone bridge , which extended from one end to the other for 69 km. They appear to have formed at the junction of the Pacific and Philippine tectonic plates.

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

8. James Cameron's Dive into the Mariana Trench

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

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

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

The first mystery of the Mariana Trench

One of the mysteries of the depression is its depth. Until recently, it was believed that the Mariana Trench, it is more correct to call this place with scientific point view, has a depth of more than eleven kilometers. However, the latest modern technical measurements give a value of 10994 kilometers. Although, it is worth noting that this value is very relative, since diving to the bottom of the Mariana Trench is a technically very complex event, which is influenced by many factors. Scientists talk about a possible error of forty meters.

Where is the Mariana Trench?

The Mariana Trench is located in the western Pacific Ocean, off the coast of Guam and Micronesia. Its deepest point is called the Challenger Deep and is located 340 kilometers from

Answering the question of where the Mariana Trench is located, we can give its exact geographical coordinates - 11°21′ N. w. 142°12′ E. d. The place received this name due to the fact that it is located nearby and is part of a state such as Guam.

What is the Mariana Trench like?

What is the Mariana Trench? The ocean carefully hides its true size. One can only guess about them. This is not just a “very deep hole.” The trench itself stretches along the seabed for one and a half thousand kilometers. The depression is V-shaped, that is, it is much wider at the top, and the walls narrow downwards.

The bottom of the Mariana Trench has a flat topography, and the width varies from 1 to 5 kilometers. Its upper part extends for eighty kilometers in width.

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

Is it necessary to explore the depression?

It seems that life at such depths is simply impossible. Therefore, it makes no sense to study such an abyss. However, the secrets of the Mariana Trench have always interested and attracted researchers. It's hard to believe, but space is easier to explore these days than such depths. Many people have been outside the Earth, but only three brave men dived to the bottom of the trench.

Study of the gutter

The British were the first to explore the Mariana Trench. In 1872, the Challenger ship with scientists entered the waters of the Pacific Ocean to study the trench. It was found that this point is the deepest on globe. Since then, people have been haunted by the secrets and creatures of the Mariana Trench.

As time passed, research was carried out, a new depth value was established - 10863 meters.

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

Russian researchers also studied the Mariana Trench. In 1957, the ship "Vityaz" headed to the trench area. Scientists not only measured the depth of the trench (11,022 meters), but also discovered the presence of life at a depth of more than seven kilometers. This event 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 creatures at such depths. This is where all the fun begins. There are simply too many stories and legends about this place to count. So what exactly is the Mariana Trench? Do monsters really live here or are they just fairy tales? Let's try to figure it out.

Mariana Trench: monsters, mysteries, secrets

As we mentioned earlier, the first brave daredevils to descend to the bottom of the depression were Jacques Picard and Don Walsh. They descended on a heavy submersible called "Trieste". The thickness of the walls of the structure was thirteen centimeters. She was sank to the bottom for five hours. Having reached the deepest point, the researchers managed to stay there for only twelve minutes. Then the rise of the bathyscaphe immediately began, which took three hours. Whatever it may seem amazing phenomenon, but living organisms were found at the bottom. The fish of the Mariana Trench are flat creatures similar to flounder, no more than thirty centimeters long.

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

In 1996, The New York Times published materials from the next dive of the apparatus from the Challenger research vessel. It turns out that when the equipment began to be lowered, after some time the instruments recorded a strong metallic grinding sound. This fact was the reason for the immediate rise of the equipment to the surface. What the researchers saw stunned them. The steel structure was fairly dented, and the thick, durable cable seemed to have been sawed. This is the unexpected surprise that the Mariana Trench presented. Were the monsters that crushed the equipment, or representatives of alien intelligence, or mutated octopuses... A variety of proposals were made, each of which was more incredible than the previous one. However, no one found the true reason, since there was no evidence for any of the theories. All assumptions were at the level of fantastic guesses. But the secrets of the Mariana Trench have still not been revealed.

Another mysterious story

Another incredibly mysterious incident occurred with a team of German researchers who lowered their apparatus called “Highfish” to the bottom. At some point, the device stopped diving, and the cameras installed on it gave an image huge size a lizard who was actively trying to chew on an unknown thing. The team drove the monster away from the device using an electrical discharge. The creature got scared and swam away and did not appear again. It is a pity that such events were not recorded by the apparatus so that there would be irrefutable evidence.

After this incident, the Mariana Trench began to acquire more and more new facts, legends and speculations. Ship crews kept reporting about a huge monster in these waters, which high speed tows ships. It has become difficult to discern what is truth and what is speculation. The Mariana Trench, whose monsters haunted many people, still remains the most mysterious point on the planet.

Undeniable facts

Along with the most incredible legends regarding the Mariana Trench, there are very specific, but incredible facts. There is no need to doubt them, since they are supported by evidence.

In 1948, lobster fishermen (Australian ones) reported a large transparent fish, which had a length of at least thirty meters. They saw her in the sea. Judging by their description, she looks like a very ancient shark(species Carcharodon megalodon), which lived several million years ago. Scientists were able to reconstruct the appearance of the shark using the remains. The monstrous creature was 25 meters long and weighed one hundred tons. Her mouth was two meters in size, and each tooth was at least ten centimeters. Just imagine this monster. It was the teeth of such a creature that were discovered by oceanographers at the bottom of the vast Pacific Ocean. The youngest of them is at least eleven thousand years old.

This unique find makes it possible to assume that not all such creatures became extinct a couple of million years ago. Perhaps at the very bottom of the cavity these incredible predators are hiding from human eyes. Research into the mysterious depths continues to this day, since the abyss conceals many secrets that people have not yet come close to revealing.

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

Another mystery is a hydrothermal vent called “Champagne”. Bubbles bubble in its waters carbon dioxide. This is the only such object in the world and it is located precisely in the depression, which has given scientists reason to talk about the possible origin of life in water in this very place.

There is a volcano called Daikoku in the Mariana Trench. In its crater there is a lake of molten sulfur, which boils at a huge temperature of 187 degrees. You won't find anything like this anywhere else on earth. The only analogue of this phenomenon is in space (on a satellite of Jupiter called Io).

Amazing place

In the Mariana Trench live giant single-celled amoebas, the size of which reaches ten centimeters. They live next to uranium, lead, and mercury that are destructive to living beings. However, they not only do not die from them, but also feel great.

The Mariana Trench is the greatest miracle on earth. Everything inanimate and living are combined here. Everything that kills life under normal conditions, at the bottom of the depression, on the contrary, gives living organisms strength to survive. Isn't this a miracle? How much still unknown this place conceals!

Excellent students at school firmly learned: the highest point on earth is Mount Everest (8848 m), the deepest depression is Mariana. However, if we know a lot of interesting facts about Everest, then most people know nothing about the trench in the Pacific Ocean, in addition to the fact that it is the deepest.

FIVE HOURS DOWN, THREE HOURS UP

Despite the fact that the oceans are closer to us than the mountain peaks and even more so the distant planets of the solar system, people have explored only five percent of the seabed, which still remains one of the greatest mysteries of our planet.

With an average width of 69 km, the Mariana Trench was formed several million years ago due to shifts of tectonic plates and stretches in the shape of a crescent for two and a half thousand kilometers along the Mariana Islands.

Its depth, according to recent research, is 10,994 meters ± 40 meters (for comparison: the equatorial diameter of the Earth is 12,756 km), the water pressure at the bottom reaches 108.6 MPa - this is more than 1100 times more than normal atmospheric pressure!

The Mariana Trench, also called the Earth's fourth pole, was discovered in 1872 by the crew of the British research vessel Challenger. The crew took measurements of the bottom at various points in the Pacific Ocean.

Another measurement was made in the area of ​​​​the Mariana Islands, but the kilometer-long rope was not enough, and then the captain ordered two more kilometer sections to be added to it. Then again and again...

Almost a hundred years later, the echo sounder of another English, but under the same name, scientific vessel recorded a depth of 10,863 meters in the Mariana Trench area. After this, the deepest point of the ocean floor began to be called the “Challenger Deep”.

In 1957, Soviet researchers established the presence of life at depths of more than 7,000 meters, thereby refuting the prevailing opinion at that time about the impossibility of life at depths of more than 6,000-7,000 meters, and also clarified the British data, recording a depth of 11,023 meters in the Mariana Trench .

The first human dive to the bottom of the depression took place in 1960. It was carried out on the Trieste bathyscaphe by the American Don Walsh and the Swiss oceanographer Jacques Picard.

The descent into the abyss took them almost five hours, and the ascent took about three hours; the researchers spent only 20 minutes at the bottom. But even this time was enough for them to make a sensational discovery - in the bottom waters they discovered flat fish up to 30 cm in size, similar to flounder, unknown to science.

LIFE IN utter darkness

In the course of further research using 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 - xenophyophores, which under normal terrestrial conditions can only be seen with a microscope; amazing two-meter worms, no less huge sea ​​stars, mutant octopuses and, naturally, fish.

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

There are also unusual creatures, reaching a two-meter size with a soft jelly-like body, which has no analogues in nature.

It would seem that at such a depth the temperature should be at Antarctic levels. However, Challenger Deep contains hydrothermal vents called “black smokers.” They constantly heat the water and thereby maintain the overall temperature in the depression 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 that emit different colors.

There are fish in whose bodies a luminous liquid accumulates. When they sense danger, they splash this liquid towards the enemy and hide behind this “curtain of light.” Appearance Such animals are very unusual for our perception and can cause disgust and even inspire a feeling 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 size live in the depths!

THE LIZARD TRIED TO CHEAT THE BATHYSCAPH 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 discovered in those places. Scientists have proven that they belong to a multi-ton prehistoric megalodon shark, the span of which reached two meters.

These sharks were thought to have gone extinct about three million years ago, but the teeth found are much younger. So have the ancient monsters really disappeared?

In 2003, another sensational results of research into the Mariana Trench were published in the United States. Scientists have dived into deep place oceans, an unmanned platform equipped with searchlights, sensitive video systems and microphones.

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

When the platform was raised (without being lowered to the bottom due to incomprehensible obstacles that prevented the descent), it was discovered that the powerful steel structures were bent, and the steel cables seemed to have been sawed off. A little more - and the platform would forever remain the Challenger Deep.

Previously, something similar happened to the German device “Hayfish”. Having descended to a depth of 7 kilometers, he suddenly refused to emerge. To find out what was wrong, the researchers turned on an infrared camera.

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

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

Giant 10-centimeter amoeba - xenophyophora

WHO IS THE REAL “OWNER” OF PLANET EARTH

But it's not just fantastic monsters that are captured by deep-sea cameras. In the summer of 2012, the unmanned deep-sea vehicle Titan, launched from the research vessel Rick Mesenger, was in the Mariana Trench at a depth of 10,000 meters. His main goal was to film and photograph various underwater objects.

Suddenly the cameras recorded a strange multiple shine of a material very similar to metal. And then, several tens of meters from the device, several large objects appeared in the light of the spotlight.

Having approached these objects to the maximum allowable distance, the Titan displayed a very unusual picture on the monitors of the scientists on the Rick Mesenger. On an area of ​​approximately a square kilometer there were about 50 large cylindrical objects, very similar to... flying saucers!

A few minutes after the “UFO airfield” was recorded, the Titan stopped communicating and never surfaced.

There are a lot of well-known facts that, if they do not confirm the possibility of existence in sea ​​depths intelligent beings, then, in any case, they fully explain why modern science still knows nothing about them.

Firstly, man's native habitat - the earth's surface - occupies only a little more than a quarter of the land surface. So our planet could well be called the Ocean planet rather than the Earth.

Secondly, as everyone knows, life originated in water, so marine intelligence (if it exists) is about one and a half million years older than humans.

That is why, according to some experts, at the bottom of the Mariana Trench, thanks to the presence of active hydrothermal springs, not only entire colonies of prehistoric animals that have survived to this day can exist, but also an underwater civilization of intelligent creatures unknown to earthlings! The “fourth pole” of the Earth, in the opinion of scientists, is the most suitable place for them to live.

And in Once again The question arises: is man the only “master” of planet Earth?

FIELD RESEARCH IS PLANNED FOR SUMMER 2015

The third person in the entire history of exploration of the Mariana Trench to descend to its bottom was exactly three years ago. James Cameron.

“Almost everything on the earth’s land has been explored,” he explained his decision. — In space, bosses prefer to send people circling around the Earth, and send machine guns to other planets. For the joys of discovering the unknown, there is only one field of activity left - the ocean. Only about 3% of its water volume has been studied, and what’s next is unknown.”

On the DeepSes Challenge bathyscaphe, being in a half-bent state, since the internal diameter of the device did not exceed 109 cm, the famous film director observed everything that was happening in this place until mechanical problems forced him to rise from the surface.

Cameron managed to take samples of rocks and living organisms from the bottom, as well as film with 3D cameras. Subsequently, these shots formed the basis of a documentary film.

However, he never saw any of the terrible sea ​​monsters. According to him, the very bottom of the ocean was “lunar... empty... lonely,” and he felt “complete isolation from all humanity.”

Meanwhile, in the telecommunications laboratory of Tomsk Polytechnic University, together with the Institute of Marine Technology Problems of the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the development of a domestic device for deep-sea research, which can descend to a depth of 12 kilometers, is in full swing.

Specialists working on the bathyscaphe declare that there are no analogues to the equipment they are developing in the world, and “field” studies of the sample in the waters of the Pacific Ocean are planned for the summer of 2015.

The famous traveler Fyodor Konyukhov also began working on the project “Diving into the Mariana Trench in a Bathyscaphe.” According to him, his goal is not just to touch the bottom deepest depression the World Ocean, but also to spend two whole days there, conducting unique research.

The bathyscaphe is designed to accommodate two people and will be designed and built by an Australian company.