The deepest point on earth. The deepest places in the world. The bottomless pit is fraught with a lot of unusual things.

Mariana Trench, or Mariana Trench - an oceanic trench in the western Pacific Ocean, which is the deepest known in the world geographical objects. Geographical coordinates object - 11°21′ N. w. 142°12′ E. d. (G). As you already know, this is the deepest part of the earth's oceans, and also the deepest place on the entire earth.

According to the results of measurements of the Soviet vessel "Vityaz", the maximum depth of the depression reaches 11022 m (although according to recent observations this value does not exceed 10911-10924 m). Thus, the deepest point of the depression is much further from sea level than Mount Everest is above it.

The depression stretches along the Mariana Islands for 1500 km; it has a V-shaped profile, steep (7-9) slopes, a flat bottom 1-5 km wide, which is divided by rapids into several closed depressions. At the bottom, water pressure reaches 108.6 MPa (15,750 ft per square inch), which is more than 1,000 times the normal atmospheric pressure at ocean level. The depression is located at the junction of two tectonic plates, in the zone of movement along faults, where the Pacific plate goes under the Philippine plate.

The first data on the depth were obtained by the English ship Challenger in 1951, which, according to the report, was 10863 m. According to the results of measurements carried out in 1957 during the 25th voyage of the Soviet research vessel Vityaz, the maximum depth of the depression was 11022 m (specified data, originally reported depth was 11,034 m).

The only human dive to the bottom of the Mariana Trench was made on January 23, 1960 by US Navy Lieutenant Don Walsh and explorer Jacques Piccard on the bathyscaphe Trieste. The instruments recorded a record depth of 11,521 meters (corrected figure - 10,918 m). At the bottom, the researchers unexpectedly encountered flat fish up to 30 cm in size, similar to flounder.
The Japanese Kaiko probe, which was lowered into the area of the maximum depth of the depression on March 24, 1997, recorded a depth of 10911.4 meters. On May 31, 2009, an automatic underwater vehicle Nereus. The device descended to a depth of 10,902 meters, where it filmed video, took several photographs, and also collected sediment samples at the bottom.

The waters of the Mariana Trench are home to many species of invertebrate fish, including such oddities as the monkfish, so called because it uses a glowing protrusion to attract prey.

An interesting feature of sea creatures is their longevity, with many of these animals having a "lifespan" of over 100 years, provided, of course, that they are not caught in fishing nets. Since these animals develop slowly, there is no concern about the threat of their extinction.

The bottom of the Mariana Trench consists of animal skeletons, decaying microorganisms and plants; as a rule, the bottom is yellow and viscous.

Extremely uneven in depth. It contains deep-sea depressions, also called trenches. The greatest depths are marked by the trenches belonging to the Quiet.

To date, they have been extremely poorly studied. Some scientists argue that we know less about the ocean floor than about the surface of the Moon. However, it is known for sure that there are amazing life forms there.

At the bottom of the deepest depressions, a huge pressure of a 10-kilometer column of water with a value of 108.6 MPa is created. This is 1000 times more than atmospheric pressure. Most bathyscaphes are not designed for such conditions. Only a few times have people dived to such depths. The water temperature in such gutters is 1-3°C.

Today it is difficult to even accurately measure the depth in these depressions, since the properties of the water change due to high pressure. Therefore, all obtained values have an error of the order of several tens of meters. What depressions are among the deepest places on Earth?

Map "The deepest points (depressions) of the World Ocean"

Aleutian Trench

Located south of the Aleutian Islands, which in turn are southern border Bering Sea. The trench stretches 3,400 km from the coast of Alaska to the Kamchatka Peninsula. Its depth is 7679 m. At this place, the North American lithospheric plate collides with the Pacific plate.

Java Basin

Also known as the Sunda Trench. The depression is the deepest point in everything Indian Ocean. It is located to the south of the islands Sunda Archipelago. The depth of the trench is 7729 m, and its length is 4.5 thousand km. It originates from the island of Myanmar, where its width is about 50 km. Further, when moving to the southeast, it narrows and at the same time deepens. In the area of the island of Java, the width of the trench is 10 km, and the depth becomes maximum. The depression is located at the point where the Sunda Plate meets the Australian lithospheric plate. As a result, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur frequently in the area.

Puerto Rico Trench

Located north of the island of the same name, on the border between the Atlantic Ocean and its constituent Caribbean Sea. The Caribbean and North American lithospheric plates border here. There are no volcanoes near the depression, but the risk of earthquakes and tsunamis exists. The 97 km wide trench stretches for 1754 km. Its depth at its deepest point is 8742 m. This is the deepest point Atlantic Ocean. Deeper depressions are found only in the Pacific Ocean

Izu-Bonin Basin

Also known as the Izu-Ogasawara Trench. Located to the east of the Bonin Islands group, which belong to Japan. The maximum depth of the depression is estimated at 9810 m, and the length of the trench is 1030 km. In the north it connects with the Japan Trench. Its depth was determined by Soviet scientists from the Vityaz ship in 1955.

Kuril-Kamchatka Trench

The depression is located east of the coast Kuril Islands and reaches in the north to the Kamchatka Peninsula. Further it connects with the Aleutian Trench, while in the south it turns into the Japan Trench. Previously the name Tuscarora was used. The trench is 59 km wide and its length is estimated at 2170 km. At the deepest point with coordinates 44°00′46″ N. w. and 150°19′13″ E. The depth of the depression is 9917 m. The trench begins at a level that corresponds to 6000 m below the surface of the water, and then its walls close at an angle of 7°. There is high seismic activity here.

Kermadec

Located at east coast the island of the same name, just north of New Zealand. The depression stretches from south to north, its length exceeds 1200 km. The maximum depth of the trench reaches 10047 m. Its name geographical feature received in honor of the French navigator Jean-Michel Huon de Kermadec. The depression was discovered in 1889 by the British from the Penguin ship, and its depth was determined during the next scientific expedition of the Soviet ship Vityaz in 1958. In the north it connects with the Tonga Trench.

Japanese gutter

Located along eastern shore Japanese Islands. The depression has a length of approximately 1000 km, and its maximum depth reaches 10504 m. In the north it connects with the Kuril-Kamchatka depression. The Trench is an area of high seismic activity, with frequent earthquakes causing powerful tsunamis to hit the Japanese coast. In 2008, scientists were able to photograph sea slugs here, which are considered the deepest-sea fish on Earth.

Philippine Trench

Named after the Philippine Islands, to the east of which it is located. It starts near the island of Luzon, and then stretches to the Molluc Islands. In the place furthest from the surface of the water, the depth is 10,540 m. The length of the depression is estimated at 1,320 km. Previously, another name was used - the Mindanao Trench. The first explorations of this place were carried out in 1912 by the team of the German ship Planet.

Tonga

Located near the eastern coast of Samoa. The length of the depression is 860 km, and its depth reaches 10882 m. The trench begins at a depth of 6000 m, where its width is 80 km, and then it gradually narrows. In the south it connects with the Kermadec Trench. It is the deepest point of all located to the south.

Mariana Trench

The deepest trench on the planet is located near the Mariana Islands. Its length is 1500 km. The slopes of the depression have a slope of approximately 9°, and the bottom represents a strip with a width of 1 to 5 km. The deepest point of the trench is called the Challenger Deep (11°22.40′N and 142°35.50′E) and is located 10,994 m below sea level. Measurement accuracy ±40 meters. The depression was formed at the junction of two lithospheric plates - the Pacific and Philippine.

The depression was discovered in 1875 by the crew of the English corvette Challenger. They measured its depth and received a value of 8367 m. Already in 1951, the British on another ship (but with the same name) received a figure of 10863 m. In 1957, Soviet scientists explored the trench on the ship “Vityaz” and received a value of 11022 m. The latter measurements were carried out in 2011, during which a value of 10994 ± 40 m was obtained.

The first time a person dived to such a great depth was on January 23, 1960. The names of the two daredevils are Don Walsh and Jacques Picard. The dive took more than 4 hours, and the same amount of time was spent climbing. Only in 2012 did director James Cameron decide to repeat this achievement.

The nature of our planet is so amazing that when describing it, I want to use only bright epithets with superlatives. Once again, hearing about a new discovery by scientists, we are again and again convinced of how little we know about our world. One of these mysteries was and remains the Mariana Trench - the deepest place in the world.

Mariana Trench - the bottomless mystery of the planet

Depth of the Mariana Trench (or Mariana Trench) – more than 10 thousand meters. For decades now, this mysterious area has raised a lot of questions that the most eminent scientists cannot answer.

The water pressure here is 1000 times higher than at sea level. It would seem that no living creature could exist in such conditions. However, the depression is inhabited by many amazing inhabitants, which is just one of its mysteries.

Location

The bottomless abyss is located in the western Pacific Ocean, two hundred kilometers from the islands of the same name. Has the outline of a crescent. Takes approx. 2.5 thousand km in length and almost 70 km wide.

The Mariana Trench is a vast water sanctuary and national monument protected by the American government. Fishing and natural resource extraction are strictly prohibited here.

History of discovery

In 1875, the English ship Challenger discovered a mysterious, bottomless place in the ocean. Meter by meter, the sailors lowered the rope of the lot into the water, but the bottom still did not appear! The cable stopped only at a depth of 8184 m. The obtained value was only approximate, but it was enough to understand: the lowest section of the planet had been found.

It was called the Mariana Trench (from the name of the nearest islands). It was found that it has the shape of a crescent, and the lowest point - the Challenger Deep - is located at a level of 11035 meters.

Journeys into the Abyss

The pressure at the bottom of the trench reaches 1100 atmospheres. It must be said that most modern devices are designed for a maximum depth of 6-7 thousand meters. That is why the number of successful attempts to reach the bottom of the gutter is negligible - only 4 for the entire period from the day of opening.

The first human journey to the bottom of the canyon happened in 1960. The Trieste deep-sea submersible was launched into the Challenger Deep with two researchers on board:

Oceanographer from Switzerland J. Picard;
US Navy Lieutenant D. Walsh.

Their descent lasted for 5 hours. They stayed at the bottom for 12 minutes, after which a long, three-hour ascent began. Their report says that there is life at the bottom of the depression, and the upward water current has significant biological significance.

In 2012, J. Cameron, the author of legendary films, fell into the abyss. During the 6 hours that the famous director spent at the bottom, he was able to take unique photographs and videos, collect samples of soil, minerals, and living creatures. Based on them, the film “Challenge the Abyss” was made.

Bottom temperature

When descending to great depths, a person intuitively believes that it will be too cold there. Indeed, in the upper layers of the Mariana Trench the water warms up only to 4 0 C. However, a little lower, at a level of 1.6 km from the surface, the temperature rises to 450 0 C. The amazing phenomenon is explained by the presence of hot thermal springs, called “black smokers”.

At such a high temperature, the liquid must boil and seethe. However, this does not happen due to the massive pressure, 155 times higher than the surface pressure. In addition, the water here contains a lot of minerals that help support life.

Inhabitants of the Mariana Trench

With each dive to the bottom of the depression, humanity learns about new living beings. The first mysterious representatives of the animal world are found on the border of light and darkness. Local inhabitants, forced to live in complete darkness, learned to adapt and produce their own glow.

Giant poisonous amoebas

Not long ago, huge xenophyophores - amoebas 10 cm long - were discovered at the bottom of the depression. The non-standard size of these creatures is explained by the lack of sunlight, high pressure and cold that reign at a depth of more than 10 km.

Xenophyophores boast amazing abilities. They are not afraid of most chemical compounds that are harmful to other creatures.

The extreme pressure of the water mass does not give any living creature with shells or bones a chance to exist. But in 2012, a detachment of mollusks living near mineral hot springs was discovered here.

Most likely, the formation of colonies was facilitated by the release of methane and hydrogen contained in serpentine. However, it is not known how their shells remain undeformed under such enormous pressure.

In addition, hydrothermal springs emit hydrogen sulfide, which is harmful to shellfish. But they learned to convert it into useful protein.

Amphitretus pelagicus

A transparent octopus with 8 tentacles held together by the finest threads. The elongated eyes move around their axis like small telescopes. An octopus can dive to a depth of 2000 meters. It moves along a trajectory unusual for its species - not horizontally, but vertically.

This 30 cm long umbrella cephalopod looks like the dome of an umbrella. He has a rather funny image: small “elephant” ears, a plump mouth, cunning eyes. But, despite its external harmlessness, grimpoteuthis is a formidable predator. It completely eats its prey (worms and crustaceans) and feels great at great depths.

A fish with a menacing appearance: huge teeth, a terrible muzzle, sticky scaleless skin. It lives at levels below 1800 meters. There is impenetrable darkness here, so the 15-centimeter predator has to “illuminate” itself on its own.

Its torso is equipped with bioluminescent organs necessary for protection, communication and attracting food. At the end of the antennae a luminous ball is formed, which attracts small fish. They mistake it for prey and swim into the predator's throat. Certain specimens of needlemouths emit a red light, which is quite unusual for deep-dwelling creatures.

A fish with a translucent head, inside of which barrel eyes move. Most often they look up, monitoring the movements of potential victims.

The first specimen of this unusual creature was raised from the depths in 1939. However, biologists were unable to observe the habits of the barrel-eye, since all the fish died during the rise due to a monstrous pressure surge.

Most known jellyfish live in the upper layers of the ocean, but Bentocodon prefers depths greater than 700 m. It looks like a red moving saucer with a diameter of up to 3 cm with many elongated thin tentacles.

It feeds on single-celled and miniature crustaceans. Some researchers believe that the red coating helps the jellyfish hide the bioluminescent glow of the victims it eats. If bentocodon were transparent, then after eating it would be easily detected by large predators.

Deep sea fishing rod

A predatory fish with a shapeless body, sharp teeth and a huge mouth. The length of its body depends on the sex: for females it is 20 cm, for males it is only 2.5 cm. The angler fish catches food using the same technology as the needlefish - it lures prey with a luminous ball located on its forehead.

The breeding process of the anglerfish is as unusual as its appearance. The male attaches himself to the female and literally disappears into her. Most external and internal organs disappear. Only the sperm repository remains intact, which the female uses for fertilization.

The animal resembles a mixture of an eel and a dinosaur. This is a terrible creature with six stripes of sinuous gills 1.8 meters long and 20 rows of sharp, jagged fangs.

Feeds various types fish and cephalopods. The hunting style is reminiscent of a snake: the frilled shark rises in a bend and sharply rushes forward.

The appearance of this stern creature truly resembles a cleaver or hatchet moving at a depth of one and a half thousand meters. There are 40 varieties of “hatchet”. They are all too flat and emit a silvery light.

They can change the level of radiation, focusing on the amount of light coming from the surface. This allows them to “dissolve” in the environment and better hide from enemies.

A muzzle with a gigantic, beak-shaped nose, huge, protruding jaws, pink skin - the entire appearance of the shark resembles a picture from a modern horror movie. Its length is 5.5 m. It is found at a level of 90 m, and the older the brownie, the lower it tries to swim.

Bottom of the Mariana Trench

Bottomless Trench contains a lot of unusual things:

The hydrothermal spring of Champagne is the only underwater area with liquid carbon dioxide that has been studied;
A layer of sticky mucus covering the bottom of the cavity. For many centuries, fragments of plankton and crushed shells collected here, which under extreme water pressure turned into viscous grayish-yellow mud;
A lake of purified molten sulfur formed by the underwater volcano Daikoku. The boiling point of the black gurgling emulsion is 187 0 C;
4 stone bridges covering 69 km in length. Located at the junction of 2 tectonic platforms. The height of the largest bridge reaches 2.5 km.

The silent and mysterious Mariana Trench is an immense field for scientific research. And who knows, maybe someday it will be she who will reveal to us the secret of the origin of all life on Earth.

Video

The bottom of the world's oceans is uneven, cut through by gorges whose depth is tens of thousands of meters. The relief was formed millions of years ago due to the movement of tectonic plates - the “shell” earth's crust. Due to their continuous movement, the location and shape of the continents and the ocean floor changed. The deepest ocean on the planet is the Pacific Ocean, which at this stage of technological development cannot be fully explored.

The Pacific Ocean is the largest on the planet. In its western latitudes lie the continents of Australia and Eurasia, in the southern - Antarctica, in the eastern - South and North America. The length of the Pacific Ocean from south to north is almost 16 thousand kilometers, and from west to east - 19 thousand. The area of the ocean together with its seas is 178.684 million kilometers, and the average depth is about 4 kilometers. But there are amazing places in the Pacific Ocean that make it the deepest in the world.

The Mariana Trench is the deepest place in the ocean

This deepest chasm got its name in honor of the nearby Mariana Islands. The depth of the Pacific Ocean in this place is 10 kilometers 994 meters. The deepest point of the trench is called the Challenger Deep. Geographically, the “Abyss” is located 340 km from the southwestern tip of the island of Guam.

If we take Mount Everest for comparison, which, as is known, rises 8848 m above sea level, it can completely disappear under water and there will still be room.

In 2010, an oceanographic expedition from New Hampshire conducted research on the ocean floor in the Mariana Trench area. Scientists have discovered four seamounts, each at least 2.5 kilometers high, crossing the surface of the trench at the point of contact between the Philippine and Pacific lithospheric plates. According to scientists, these ridges were formed about 180 million years ago as a result of the movement of the above-mentioned plates and the gradual creep of the older and heavier Pacific Plate under the Philippine Plate. The maximum depth of the Pacific Ocean was recorded here.

Diving into the abyss

Deep-sea vehicles with three people descended into the depths of the Challenger Deep four times:

Brussels explorer Jacques Piccard, together with American Navy Lieutenant John Walsh, were the first to dare to look into the face of the abyss. This happened on January 23, 1960. The deepest dive in the world was made on the bathyscaphe Trieste, designed by Auguste Piccard, Jacques' father. This feat, without a doubt, set a record in the world of deep diving. The descent lasted 4 hours 48 minutes, and the ascent lasted 3 hours 15 minutes. The researchers found large flat fish at the bottom of the trench that looked like flounder. Was recorded nadir The world's oceans are 10,918 meters. Later, Picard wrote the book “11 thousand meters”, describing all the moments of the dive.
On May 31, 1995, a deep-sea Japanese probe was launched into the depression, which recorded a depth of 10,911 m and also discovered ocean inhabitants - microorganisms.
On May 31, 2009, the Nereus automatic apparatus went on reconnaissance and stopped at 10,902 m. It shot a video, took pictures of the bottom landscape and collected soil samples, in which microorganisms were also found.
Finally, on March 26, 2012, film director James Cameron accomplished the feat of diving solo into the Challenger Deep. Cameron became the third person on Earth to visit the bottom of the World Ocean in its deepest place. Single unit Deepsea Challenger was equipped with advanced deep-sea imaging equipment and powerful lighting equipment. Filming was carried out in 3G format. The Challenger Deep is featured in documentary film James Cameron for the National Geographic Channel.

This depression is located at the junction of the Indo-Australian plate and the Pacific plate. Extends from the Kermadec Trench towards the Tonga Islands. Its length is 860 km and its depth is 10,882 m, which is a record in the Southern Hemisphere and the second deepest on the planet. The Tonga region is notorious for being one of the most active seismic zones.

In 1970, on April 17, during Apollo 13's return to earth, the spent landing stage containing plutonium fell into the Tonga Trench to a depth of 6 km. No attempts were made to remove her from there.

Philippine Trench

The second deepest place in the Pacific Ocean is in the area Philippine Islands. The recorded depth of the depression is 10,540 m. The depression was formed as a result of the collision of granite and basalt layers, the latter, being heavier, was undermined by the granite layer. The process of meeting two lithospheric plates is called subduction, and the place of “meeting” is the subduction zone. In such places, tsunamis are born and earthquakes occur.

The depression runs along the volcanic ridge of the Kuril Islands on the border between Japan and Russia. The length of the trench is 1300 km, and the maximum depth is 10500 m. The depression was formed more than 65 million years ago during the Cretaceous period as a result of the collision of two tectonic plates.

It is located near the Kermadec Islands, northeast of New Zealand and in the southwest Pacific Ocean. The trench was first discovered by the Galatea group from Denmark, and the Soviet research vessel Vityaz studied the bottom of the trench in 1958 and recorded a maximum depth of 10,047 m. In 2008, an unknown species of sea slugs was discovered at the bottom of the trench, as well as deep-seated crustaceans long up to 30 cm.

Video: inhabitants of the Mariana Trench

Our blue planet is full of secrets, and we humans strive to comprehend them. We are curious by nature, learning from the past and looking forward to the future. The ocean is the cradle of humanity. When will he reveal his secrets to us? The greatest depth of the Pacific Ocean that is known to scientists - are these figures true, or is there something incomprehensible hidden under the black water?

Now we approximately know the internal structure of our planet. The outer hard shell of the Earth is called the crust. It makes up less than 1% of the planet's mass and has a thickness of 5 to 70 kilometers. Next comes the mantle (outer and inner), and then the core (outer and inner).

How close to the core do you think a person can go? Theoretically, in the future we can make devices that can withstand colossal loads and temperatures in order to get as close to the core as possible, but in practice we have not yet gotten to the areas that are under the crust.

Let's see which ones are the best deep places on the planet we know.

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Lake Zakaton

Depth 319 meters

The lake is the world's largest natural well. It is located in Central Mexico. Its depth is 319 meters and its diameter is about 100 meters. At the same time, a hole was found on one of the “walls” of the well, which may be the entrance to another, deeper “well” or even to a system of deep-sea underground caves.

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Depth 370 meters

This is a coal mine located in Elsdorf in Germany. It is considered the deepest open pit mine in the world. Its depth is about 370 meters and its area is about 33.9 sq. km. Next to the quarry there is an artificial hill, which was formed from the material taken from the quarry.

The hill has its own name Sophienhöhe and is the largest artificial hill in the world. Its height is 301 meters.

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Woodingdean Well

Depth 392 meters

Let's start with a man-made feat that appeared in 1862 in the English town of Woodingdean. It all started with the fact that in 1858, during the construction of a new building, a source of water was required. It was decided to dig a well. To reduce costs, the well was dug by workers. It was planned to go 122 meters into the ground, lining the walls of the well with bricks.

The workers lowered themselves into the well, and lifted the excess earth in buckets to the surface. After 2 years of digging, the depth of the well exceeded the design depth by 12 meters, but there was still no water. Despite the fact that this depth was slightly below sea level.

Then it was decided to dig four horizontal shafts at this depth to get to the water. But this also did not give any results. Then the construction organizers decided not to give up and get to the water at any cost. At the end of one of the horizontal shafts they began to dig deeper again. After another 2 years, in March 1862, workers felt the ground in the mine begin to rise. People began to rush to the surface. After 45 minutes, water rushed out.

This well is the deepest well in the world that was dug by hand.

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Lake Baikal

Depth 1642 meters

Reaching a maximum depth of 1642 meters, Lake Baikal is the most... deep lake in the world. The lake is a treasure not only of Russia, but of the whole world; it is a natural reservoir for the purest fresh water. It is home to many plants and animals that are unique.

An interesting fact is that if all the water from Lake Baikal is divided equally among all Russian citizens, then for each resident there will be approximately 2,780 railway tanks of 60 tons each.

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Depth 2199 meters

This deepest cave in the world is located in Abkhazia near the city of Gagra. The cave has several entrances located at an altitude of above 2000 meters above sea level. It is a system of several wells, which are interconnected by manholes and galleries. Inside there are several high plumbs, the deepest of which are 110, 115 and 152 meters.

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Depth 3048 meters

The Mponeng mine is considered to be the deepest mine in the world. South Africa. Its depth is 4000 meters. However, a mine called Kidd Mine in Ontario, Canada, which has a depth of 3048 meters, is closer to the Earth's core than the Mponeng mine. This is because our planet does not have an ideal spherical shape. Due to the rotation of the Earth, the diameter in the equatorial part is slightly larger than at the poles. The difference in size is about 140 kilometers. So a person standing at the equator is on average 70 kilometers further from the core than a person standing at the pole.

The Kidd Mine opened in 1964 as an open pit mine and has gradually expanded underground. It is now the largest copper mine in the world. It employs 2,200 workers and produces millions of tons of ore annually.

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Litke Gorge

Depth 5449 meters

Litke's Gorge (Litke's Trench) is an oceanic trench located northeast of Greenland, 350 km north of Spitsbergen, in the Eurasian Basin in the North Arctic Ocean. This is the deepest point in the Arctic Ocean, its depth is 5449 meters.

The gorge was found and explored by a Soviet expedition on the icebreaker Fedor Litke in 1955.

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Milwaukee Depression

Depth 8385 meters

The Milwaukee Trench is the deepest part of the Atlantic Ocean. Its maximum depth is 8385 meters. The place is named after the American cruiser that discovered it in 1939.

The Milwaukee Trench is located in the Puerto Rico Trench, which is located at the boundary of two lithospheric plates. The Caribbean Plate moves east and the North American Plate moves west.

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Challenger Deep

Depth 10994 meters

The top five deepest sea trenches in the world include depressions located in Pacific Ocean, and the most famous of them is the Mariana Trench, with maximum depth 10994 meters (Challenger Deep).

The name of the depression comes from Mariana Islands located nearby. The depression stretches for 1,500 kilometers and has a standard V-shaped profile. The bottom of the depression is flat, ranging from 1 to 5 km wide.

The water pressure at the bottom of the Challenger Deep is 108,600 Pa, which is 1,100 times higher than atmospheric pressure on the Earth's surface. People have dived to the bottom of the Mariana Trench twice. The first dive was made in 1960 by explorer Jacques Piccard and US Navy SEAL Don Walsh. Their bathyscaphe "Trieste" had walls 127 millimeters thick to resist the monstrous pressure. The second time the famous director James Cameron visited the bottom of the depression was in 2012. He plunged into the Challenger Deep in the single-seat deep-sea submersible Deepsea Challenger. During the dive, he filmed in 3D.

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Depth 12262 meters

This is the deepest man-made place on Earth. It is located in Murmansk region near the town of Zapolyarny.

Work to begin drilling the well was timed to coincide with the centenary of the birth of V.I. Lenin in 1970. Unlike others, this well was drilled specifically for the purpose of studying the structure of the planet. The location was chosen specifically where the thickness of the earth's crust is supposed to be thinnest.

Up to 7000 meters drilling proceeded normally. The drill passed through a uniform granite layer of the lithospheric plate. But lower down the rock was less dense and crumbled, jamming the equipment. I had to change the drilling angles a little.

Thirteen years later, in 1983, drillers reached a level of 12,066 meters and stopped. But after drilling resumed, the drill string broke. Drilling had to be started again from a depth of 7,000 meters. By 1990, the drill crossed the 12,262 meter mark and the accident repeated. Then, for financial reasons, the project had to be frozen, and in 2008, the Kola Superdeep Well project was finally abandoned.

I really want to believe that Russian science will turn its attention to this project. He has many prospects. The lion's share of the work has already been completed, and to revive the project, several million rubles are required, a significant amount for a country with high scientific ambitions.

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Conclusion

It was an article about the deepest places on Earth. We hope that you learned something new and interesting from us. Thank you for your attention!