Animals of the world's deepest depression. Depth of the Mariana Trench. Conquest of the Mariana Trench by James Cameron

The Mariana Trench is one of the least explored places on our planet. Although the deepest ocean trench still hides a lot of secrets, man managed to learn several interesting facts about its structure and parameters.

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Some of the data about the Mariana Trench is known to a fairly wide circle.

1. Thus, the pressure in the Mariana Trench is 1100 times greater than at sea level. For this reason, immersing a living creature without special equipment in a chute is an effective way to commit suicide.

2. Maximum depth Mariana Trench 10,994 meters ± 40 meters (according to data from 2011). For comparison, the highest peak on Earth, Everest, reaches a height of 8,848 meters, and therefore, if it were in the Mariana Trench, it would be completely covered with water.

3. The deep-sea trench got its name from Mariana Islands, located approximately 200 km to the west.

Research missions that dared to descend into the deep-sea trench discovered its more amazing facts.

4. The water in the Mariana Trench is relatively warm, ranging from 1 to 4 degrees Celsius. The reason for such a high temperature of deep-sea water is hydrothermal springs, the water around which heats up to 450 degrees Celsius.

5. Huge poisonous xenophyophores live in the gutter. Single-celled organisms reach 10 centimeters (!) in diameter.

6. The Mariana Trench is home to shellfish. Invertebrates are found in the vicinity of serpentine hydrothermal vents, which emit hydrogen and methane necessary for the life of mollusks.

7. The Champagne hydrothermal vent in the basin produces liquid carbon dioxide.

8. The bottom of the depression is covered with viscous mucus, which is crushed shells and plankton remains, turned into sticky mud by incredible water pressure.

9. At a depth of about 414 meters in the Mariana Trench there is active volcano Daikoku. The volcanic eruptions formed a lake of liquid sulfur, the temperature of which reaches 187 degrees Celsius.

10. In 2011, 4 stone “bridges” were discovered in the Mariana Trench, each 69 kilometers long. Scientists suggest that they were formed at the junction of the Pacific and Philippine tectonic plates.

11. Famous director James Cameron became one of three daredevils who descended into the Mariana Trench. The creator of Avatar began his journey in 2012.

12. Mariana Trench national monument USA and the largest marine reserve in the world.

13. The Mariana Trench is by no means a strictly vertical depression in seabed. The shape of the Mariana Trench resembles a crescent, about 2,550 kilometers long and an average width of 69 kilometers.

The most mysterious and inaccessible point on our planet, the Mariana Trench, is called the “fourth pole of the Earth.” It is located in the western part Pacific Ocean and extends 2926 km in length and 80 km in width. At a distance of 320 km south of the island of Guam there is the deepest point of the Mariana Trench and the entire planet - 11022 meters. In these little-explored depths hide living creatures whose appearance is as monstrous as their living conditions.

The Mariana Trench is called the "fourth pole of the Earth"

The Mariana Trench, or Mariana Trench, is an oceanic trench in the western Pacific Ocean, which is the deepest known on Earth geographical objects. Research of the Mariana Trench was initiated by the expedition ( December 1872 - May 1876) English ship "Challenger" ( HMS Challenger), which carried out the first systematic measurements of the depths of the Pacific Ocean. This military three-masted corvette with sail rig was rebuilt as an oceanographic vessel for hydrological, geological, chemical, biological and meteorological work in 1872.

In 1960, a great event took place in the history of the conquest of the world's oceans

The bathyscaphe Trieste, piloted by French explorer Jacques Piccard and US Navy Lieutenant Don Walsh, reached the deepest point of the ocean floor - the Challenger Deep, located in the Mariana Trench and named after the English ship Challenger, from which the first data were obtained in 1951 about her.

Bathyscaphe "Trieste" before diving, January 23, 1960

The dive lasted 4 hours 48 minutes and ended at 10911 m relative to sea level. On this terrible depths, where the monstrous pressure is 108.6 MPa ( which is more than 1100 times more than normal atmospheric) flattens all living things, the researchers made a major oceanological discovery: they saw two 30-centimeter flounder-like fish swimming past the porthole. Before this, it was believed that no life existed at depths exceeding 6000 m.

Thus, an absolute record for diving depth was set, which cannot be surpassed even theoretically. Picard and Walsh were the only people to reach the bottom of the Challenger Deep. All subsequent dives to the deepest point of the world's oceans, for research purposes, were made by unmanned robotic bathyscaphes. But there were not so many of them, since “visiting” the Challenger Abyss is both labor-intensive and expensive.

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

In the 90s, three dives were made by the Japanese Kaiko device, controlled remotely from the “mother” ship via a fiber-optic cable. However, in 2003, while exploring another part of the ocean, the towing steel cable broke during a storm and the robot was lost. The underwater catamaran Nereus became the third deep-sea vehicle to reach the bottom of the Mariana Trench.

In 2009, humanity again reached the deepest point of the world's oceans.

On May 31, 2009, humanity again reached the deepest point of the Pacific, and indeed the entire world ocean - the American deep-sea vehicle Nereus sank into the Challenger failure at the bottom of the Mariana Trench. The device took soil samples and took underwater photos and videos at maximum depth, illuminated only by its LED spotlight. During the current dive, Nereus' instruments recorded a depth of 10,902 meters. The indicator was 10,911 meters, and Picard and Walsh measured a value of 10,912 meters. On many Russian maps, the value of 11,022 meters obtained by the Soviet oceanographic vessel Vityaz during the 1957 expedition is still given. All this indicates the inaccuracy of the measurements, and not a real change in depth: no one carried out cross-calibration of the measuring equipment that gave the given values.

The Mariana Trench is formed by the boundaries of two tectonic plates: the colossal Pacific plate goes under the not so large Philippine plate. This is a zone of extremely high seismic activity, part of the so-called Pacific volcanic ring of fire, stretching for 40 thousand km, an area with the most frequent eruptions and earthquakes in the world. The deepest point of the trench is the Challenger Deep, named after the English ship.

The inexplicable and incomprehensible have always attracted people, which is why scientists around the world want to answer the question: “ What does the Mariana Trench hide in its depths??»

The inexplicable and incomprehensible have always attracted people

For a long time, oceanographers considered the hypothesis that life could exist at depths of more than 6,000 m in impenetrable darkness, under enormous pressure and at temperatures close to zero, to be crazy. However, the results of research by scientists in the Pacific Ocean have shown that even in these depths, much below the 6000-meter mark, there are huge colonies of living organisms, pogonophora, a type of marine invertebrate animals that live in long chitinous tubes open at both ends.

Recently, the veil of secrecy has been lifted by manned and automatic underwater vehicles made of heavy-duty materials, equipped with video cameras. The result was the discovery of a rich community of animals, consisting of both famous and less familiar maritime groups.

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

- barophilic bacteria (developing only at high pressure);

- from protozoa - foraminifera (an order of protozoa of the subclass of rhizomes with a cytoplasmic body covered with a shell) and xenophyophores (barophilic bacteria from protozoa);

- from multicellular organisms - polychaete worms, isopods, amphipods, sea cucumbers, bivalves and gastropods.

At the depths there is no sunlight, no algae, constant salinity, low temperatures, an abundance of carbon dioxide, enormous hydrostatic pressure (increases by 1 atmosphere for every 10 meters). What do the inhabitants of the abyss eat?

Research has shown that there is life at depths of over 6,000 meters

The food sources of deep animals are bacteria, as well as the rain of “corpses” and organic detritus coming from above; deep animals are either blind, or with very developed eyes, often telescopic; many fish and cephalopods with photofluoride; in other forms the surface of the body or parts of it glow. Therefore, the appearance of these animals is as terrible and incredible as the conditions in which they live. Among them are frightening-looking worms 1.5 meters long, without a mouth or anus, mutant octopuses, unusual starfish and some soft-bodied creatures two meters long, which have not yet been identified at all.

Despite the fact that scientists have made a huge step in researching the Mariana Trench, the questions have not decreased, and new mysteries have appeared that have yet to be solved. And the ocean abyss knows how to keep its secrets. Will people be able to reveal them in the near future? We will follow the news.

February 16th, 2010

The Mariana Trench, or Mariana Trench, is an oceanic trench in the western Pacific Ocean, which is the deepest geographical feature known on Earth.
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, the water pressure reaches 108.6 MPa, which is more than 1100 times the normal atmospheric pressure at the level of the World Ocean. 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.

Research into the Mariana Trench began with the British expedition of the Challenger, which carried out the first systematic measurements of the depths of the Pacific Ocean. This military three-masted corvette with sail equipment was rebuilt into an oceanographic vessel for hydrological, geological, chemical, biological and meteorological work in 1872. Also, significant contributions to the study of the Marianas deep-sea trench were made by Soviet researchers. In 1958, an expedition on the Vityaz established the presence of life at depths of more than 7000 m, thereby refuting the prevailing idea at that time about the impossibility of life at depths of more than 6000-7000 m. In 1960, the bathyscaphe Trieste was sank to the bottom Mariana Trench to a depth of 10915 m.

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

This is not the only case of a collision with the inexplicable in the depths of the Mariana Trench. Something similar happened to the German research vehicle Haifish with a crew on board. Once at a depth of 7 km, the device suddenly refused to float. Finding out the cause of the problem, the hydronauts turned on the infrared camera. What they saw in the next few seconds seemed to them a collective hallucination: a huge prehistoric lizard, sinking its teeth into the bathyscaphe, tried to chew it like a nut. Having come to their senses, the crew activated a device called an “electric gun”. The monster, struck by a powerful discharge, disappeared into the abyss.

The inexplicable and incomprehensible have always attracted people, which is why scientists around the world want to answer the question: “What does the Mariana Trench hide in its depths?”

Can living organisms live at such great depths, and what should they look like, given the fact that they are pressed by huge masses of ocean waters, the pressure of which exceeds 1100 atmospheres? The challenges associated with exploring and understanding the creatures that live at these unimaginable depths are numerous, but human ingenuity knows no bounds. For a long time, oceanographers considered the hypothesis that life could exist at depths of more than 6,000 m in impenetrable darkness, under enormous pressure and at temperatures close to zero, to be crazy. However, the results of research by scientists in the Pacific Ocean have shown that even in these depths, much below the 6000-meter mark, there are huge colonies of living organisms, pogonophora ((pogonophora; from the Greek pogon - beard and phoros - bearing), a type of marine invertebrate animals living in long chitinous tubes open at both ends). Recently, the veil of secrecy has been lifted by manned and automatic underwater vehicles made of heavy-duty materials, equipped with video cameras. The result was the discovery of a rich animal community consisting of both familiar and less familiar marine groups.

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

Barophilic bacteria (developing only at high pressure),

Of the protozoa - foraminifera (an order of protozoa of the subclass of rhizomes with a cytoplasmic body covered with a shell) and xenophyophores (barophilic bacteria from protozoa);

Multicellular organisms include polychaete worms, isopods, amphipods, sea cucumbers, bivalves and gastropods.

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

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

The dimensions of the capsule that housed the researchers inside the submersible are small in relation to the size of the submarine as a whole. In particular, it is noticeably superior to tanks with metal ballast, one of which is visible at the top left.

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

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

In order to rise to the surface, the submersible is provided with metal ballast, which can be shot, plates or blanks. Gradually freeing itself from “excess weight”, the apparatus rises. The metal ballast is held by electromagnets, so if something happens to the power supply system, the bathyscaphe immediately “soars” upward, like a balloon taking off into the sky.

Comparison with Everest

Despite the fact that the oceans are closer to us than the distant planets of the 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 others interesting facts about what can be found 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 temperatures, high pressure and lack of sunlight likely contributed to these amoebas have acquired enormous dimensions.

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

3. 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 small mountain. In the most high 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.

The Mariana Trench is one of the most famous places on the planet. But this does not prevent him from being the keeper of secrets and mysteries. What is at the bottom of the Mariana Trench and which living beings are able to withstand these incredible conditions?

Unique depth of the planet

The bottom of the Earth, the Challenger Deep, the most deep place on the planet... What titles have not been assigned to the little-studied Mariana Trench. It represents a V-shaped bowl with a diameter of about 5 km with steep slopes located at an angle of only 7-9° and a flat bottom. According to measurements in 2011, the depth of the trench is 10,994 km below sea level. It’s hard to imagine, but Everest can easily fit in its depths - the most high mountain planets.

The deep-sea trench is located in the western Pacific Ocean. The unique geographical point received its name in honor of the Mariana Islands located in close proximity. Along them it stretches for 1.5 km.

This amazing place on the planet formed as a result of a tectonic fault, where the Pacific plate partially overlaps the Philippine plate.

Secrets and riddles of “The Womb of Gaia”

There are many secrets and legends around the little-studied Mariana Trench. What is hiding in the depths of the trench?

Japanese scientists who have been studying goblin sharks for a long time claim that while feeding predators they saw a creature of gigantic size. It was a 25-meter shark that came to feed on goblin sharks. It is assumed that they had the good fortune to see a direct descendant of the megalodon shark, which, according to the official version, became extinct 2 million years ago. To confirm that these monsters could well have been preserved in the depths of the trench, scientists provided giant teeth found at the bottom.

The world knows many stories about how corpses of unknown giant monsters were found washed up on the shores of nearby islands.

An interesting case is described by the participants in the descent of the German bathyscaphe “Haifish”. At a depth of 7 km, the self-propelled vehicle suddenly stopped. To find out the reason for the stop, the researchers turned on the spotlights and were horrified by what they saw. In front of them was a prehistoric deep-sea lizard that was trying to chew through an underwater vessel. The monster was scared away only by a noticeable electrical impulse from the outer skin of the self-propelled vehicle.

Another inexplicable incident occurred during the dive of an American deep-sea vessel. As the device was lowered on titanium cables, the researchers heard the grinding of metal. To find out the reason, they brought the device back to the surface. As it turned out, the beams of the ship were bent, and the titanium cables were almost sawed through. Which of the inhabitants of the Mariana Trench tested their teeth remains a mystery.

Amazing inhabitants of the gutter

The pressure at the bottom of the Mariana Trench reaches 108.6 MPa. This parameter is more than 1100 times higher than normal atmospheric pressure. It is not surprising that people for a long time believed that there was no life at the bottom of the gutter, with icy cold and unbearable pressure.

But despite everything, at a depth of 11 kilometers there are deep-sea monsters that have managed to adapt to these terrible conditions. So who are these representatives of the animal world who have successfully mastered the deepest place on the planet and feel comfortable within the walls of the Mariana Trench?

sea slug

These amazing creatures, living at a depth of 7-8 km, in appearance are more reminiscent not of the “surface” fish we are used to, but rather of tadpoles.

The body of these amazing fish is a jelly-like substance, the density of which is slightly higher than water. This feature of the device allows sea slugs to swim with minimal energy expenditure.

The body of these deep-sea inhabitants is predominantly dark in color from pink-brown to black. Although there are also colorless species, through the transparent skin of which the muscles are visible.

The size of an adult sea slug is only 25-30 cm. The head is pronounced and strongly flattened. A well-developed tail makes up more than half the body length. The fish uses its powerful tail and well-developed fins for movement.

Jellyfish traditionally live in the upper layers of water. But bentocodon feels comfortable at a depth of about 750 meters. Outwardly, the amazing inhabitant of the Mariana Trench resembles a red flying saucer, D 2-3 cm. The edges of the “plate” are framed by 1.5 thousand thin tentacles, which help the jellyfish navigate in space and move quickly, overcoming the water column.

Bentocodon feeds on unicellular and crustaceans, which sea depths exhibit bioluminescent properties. According to marine biologists, the red color was given by nature to these jellyfish for the purpose of camouflage. If they had a transparent color, like their amphibians, then when swallowing glow-in-the-dark crustaceans, they would immediately become noticeable to larger predators.

Macropina barrel eye

Among the amazing inhabitants of the Mariana Trench, an unusual fish called smallmouth macropine is of genuine interest. She was awarded by nature with a transparent head. The fish's eyes, located deep inside the transparent dome, can rotate in different directions. This allows the barrel eye to search in all directions without moving, even in dim and diffused light. Located at the front of the head, the false eyes are actually olfactory organs.

The laterally compressed body of the fish is shaped like a torpedo. Thanks to this structure, it is able to “hang” in one place for several hours. To accelerate the body, the macropin simply presses its fins to the body and begins to actively work with its tail.

This cute animal, living at a depth of 7 thousand meters, is the deepest-sea octopus known to science. Due to its wide bell-shaped head and sweeping elephant ears, it is often called the Dumbo octopus.

The deep-sea creature has a soft semi-gelatinous body and two fins located on the mantle, connected by wide membranes. The octopus carries out hovering movements above the bottom surface due to the operation of a siphon funnel.

Hovering along the seabed, it looks out for prey - bivalves, worm-like animals and crustaceans. Unlike most cephalopods, Dumbo does not peck its prey with beak-like jaws, but swallows it whole.

Small fish with bulging telescopic eyes and huge open mouths live at a depth of 200-600 meters. They got their name from their characteristic body shape, which resembles a chopping tool equipped with a short handle.

Hatchetfish living in the depths of the Mariana Trench have photophores. Special luminescent organs are located in the lower half of the body in small groups along the abdomen. By emitting diffused light, they create an anti-shadow effect. This makes hatchets less noticeable to bottom-dwelling predators.

Osedax Bone Eaters

Among those who live at the bottom of the Mariana Trench are polychaete worms. They reach a length of only 5-7 cm. Osedaxes use substances contained in the bones of dead sea inhabitants as food.

Secreting an acidic substance, they penetrate the skeleton, extracting from it all the microelements necessary for life. Tiny bone eaters breathe through fluffy appendages on their bodies that can extract oxygen from water.

The way these creatures adapt is no less interesting. Males, which are tens of times smaller in size than females, live on the bodies of their females. Up to a hundred males can coexist simultaneously inside the dense gelatinous cone framing the body. They leave their shelter only at moments when the female breadwinner finds a new source of food.

Active bacteria

During the latest expedition, Danish scientists discovered depressions and colonies of active bacteria at the bottom, which are of great importance in maintaining the ocean carbon cycle.

It is noteworthy that at a depth of 11 km, bacteria are 2 times more active than their counterparts, but living at a depth of 6 km. Scientists explain this by the need to process colossal volumes of organic material that fall here, falling from shallower depths, and as a result of earthquakes.

Underwater monsters

The huge thickness of the ocean in the Mariana Trench is filled not only with cute and harmless creatures. The deepest monsters leave the most indelible impression.

Unlike the above-mentioned inhabitants of the Mariana Trench, the eaglorot has a very menacing appearance. Its long body is covered with slippery, scaleless skin, and its terrible muzzle is “decorated” with huge teeth. The monster lives at a depth of 1800 m.

Since the sun's rays practically do not penetrate into the depths of the trench, many of its inhabitants have the ability to glow in the dark. Eggworm is no exception.

On the body of the fish there are photophores - luminescent glands. The deep-sea inhabitant uses them for three purposes at once: to protect himself from large predators, communicate with his own kind, and attract small fish. During the hunt, the needle mouth also uses a special whisker - a luminous thickening. The potential victim mistakes the luminous strip for a small fish and eventually falls for the bait.

The fish is amazing not only in appearance, but also in its way of life. She received the nickname “angler fish” for a remarkable appendage on her head filled with bioluminescent bacteria. Attracted by the glow of the “fishing rod”, the potential victim swims up to close distance. The angler can only open his mouth towards her.

These deep-sea predators are very voracious. To accept prey that exceeds the size of the predator itself, the fish is able to stretch the walls of its stomach. For this reason, if an anglerfish attacks a prey that is too large, both may die as a result.

The Predator has a very unusual appearance: a long body with short fins, a terrifying muzzle with a giant beak-like nose, huge jaws protruding forward and unexpectedly pink skin.

Biologists believe that a long beak-shaped outgrowth is necessary for the predator to find food in pitch darkness. For such an unusual and even scary appearance, the predator is often called the goblin shark.

It is noteworthy that goblin sharks do not have a swim bladder. This is partially compensated by an enlarged liver, the weight of which in relation to the body can be up to 25%.

You can meet a predator only at a depth of at least 900 m. It is noteworthy that the older the individual, the deeper it will live. But even adult goblin sharks cannot boast of impressive sizes: the body length is on average 3-3.5 m, and the weight is about 200 kg.

frilled shark

This dangerous creature, living in the depths of the Mariana Trench, is rightfully considered the king underwater world. The most ancient species of sharks has a serpentine-shaped body covered with folded skin. The gill membranes intersecting in the throat area form a wide bag from skin folds that looks like a wavy cloak 1.5-1.8 meters long.

The prehistoric monster has a primitive structure: the spine is not divided into vertebrae, all fins are concentrated in one area, the caudal fin consists of only one accessory. The main pride of the cape bearer is its mouth, studded with 3 hundred teeth arranged in several rows.

Frilled sharks live at a depth of more than 1.5 thousand meters. They feed on cephalopods, crustaceans and small fish. They attack by shooting out their entire body, like snakes. By closing the gill slits, they can create negative pressure in the mouth, literally sucking in their victims whole.

It is extremely rare for people to see cape-bearers when, due to a lack of food or changes in temperature, they rise closer to the surface.