Top 10 Facts about Mariana Trench

Location of the Mariana Trench

The Mariana Trench or Marianas Trench is located in the western Pacific Ocean about 200 kilometres east of the Mariana Islands, and has the deepest natural trench in the world. It is a crescent-shaped trough in the Earth's crust averaging about 2,550 km long and 69 km wide. The maximum known depth is 10,994 metres at the southern end of a small slot-shaped valley in its floor known as the Challenger Deep.

#10 Who has explored it?

       

The HMS Challenger expedition (1873 to 1876) was the first to sample hadal depths – having collected sediment from about 8 km – although it could not confirm whether or not the sediment was merely the remnants of shallower animals. The 1901 Princess Alice expedition successfully trawled specimens from over 6 km.

However, it was a 1948 Swedish expedition, which successfully trawled a variety of species from 7 km to 8 km in the Puerto Rico Trench, that finally proved that life existed at depths greater than 6 km. In 1956, the first photographs of the hadal zone were taken by none other than Jacques Cousteau in the Romanche Trough in the Atlantic.

#09 When was it discovered?

  In 1875 during the undertaking of a global circumnavigation. It was found by utilizing sounding equipment on the HMS Challenger. It was named for the nearby Mariana Islands.

This undertaking expedition during 1872-1875 was a huge revolution under the world of oceanography. During that time the ship went 70,000 nautical miles exploring the ocean waters, Shockingly, 4700 new species were discovered during the search.

#08 The Challenger Deep is the Deepest

    Some points of the trench are deeper than others, with the deepest section being called the Challenger Deep. It was named for two ships that have explored its depths with sounding equipment – the HMS Challenger and the HMS Challenger II.

The HMS Challenger II sounded the trench 76 years after the HMS Challenger first did in 1875.

#07 Its Deeper than the Highest Mountain

           

        Everyone knows that Mount Everest is a massive challenge for mountain climbers everywhere because of its insane height and the weather conditions associated with it. But if Mount Everest were ever placed in the Mariana Trench, the peak of the mountain would still be more than one mile underwater.

#06  The Extraordinary Depths are Measured using TNT.

        To measure the very deepest parts of the ocean, scientists use bomb sounding, a technique where TNT is thrown into the trenches and the echo is recorded from a boat, allowing scientists to estimate the depth. While scientists question the sensitivity of the method, even the rough results are impressive: So far, in addition to the Mariana Trench, four other trenches—the Kermadec, Kuril-Kamchatka, Philippine, and Tonga, all in the Western Pacific Ocean—have been identified as deeper than 10,000 meters (32,808 feet).

#05  It’s Hot and It’s Cold

        

        You might expect the waters of the Mariana Trench to be frigid since no sunlight can reach it. And you’d be right. The water there tends to range between 34 to 39 degrees Fahrenheit.

        But what’s surprising is how hot the water can get, too. There are hydrothermal vents throughout the trench. The water that comes out of those vents would be enough to scald anyone at 700 degrees Fahrenheit – but don’t worry, anyone not in a hardy vessel would be instantaneously crushed by the tremendous pressure first.

       

        The water that comes out also is responsible for releasing a lot of minerals that sustain the lifeforms that are located down there.

#04 Hollywood Director Fascination

    James Cameron, the famed director, manned an expedition to the bottom of the Mariana Trench in 2012. While there, he took pictures – the first snapshots ever in the Challenger Deep.

To reach his goal, Cameron had a 24 foot submersible designed that had a window which was 9 and a half inches thick to withstand the enormous pressure of the deep.

#03 It is believed that many ancient and unseen living creatures are still inside.

Despite the lack of light and the hostile, numerous number of organisms live inside Mariana Trench. There are more than 200 micro-organisms and other living creatures active inside in Mariana Trench. 

Some of them also believes the existence of Megalodon - an extinct species of shark that lived approximately 23 to 3.6 million years ago, but no physical sightings has been captured of that monster till date.

#02 First Person to travel to the bottom of Mariana Trench.

Scientist Jacques Piccard  and US Navy Lieutenant Don Walsh earned the place of travelling and exploring the bottom of the Mariana Trench for the first time ever. This incident took place in 1960 and was a successful mission.

#01 Its was named as a US National Movement.

The Mariana Trench was named as a US National Movement under the Presidential Rule of George W Bush who signed the act in 2009.