The Mariana Trench is the deepest point on the Earth’s Surface, which lies in Pacific Ocean. It is located in the north of New Guinea (11°22’N, 142°25’E), about 250 miles (400 Km.) South West of Guam, which is a part of the beautiful Mariana Islands. The Mariana Islands are the closest Pacific Island chain to Japan (approximately 2,400 Km. from Tokyo). The Island chain is 750 Km. long and Guam (U.S. Territory) is the South most Island.
The Mariana Trench is 1,554 miles long and approximately 44 miles wide. The Trench contains several deep points-called deeps, and the deepest of them all is called the CHALLENGER DEEP. Located at about 11°22’N, 142°25’E, Challenger Deep got its name from the British Survey Ship Challenger II, which pinpointed the deep water of the Mariana Islands in 1951. Then in 1960, the US Navy sent the TRIESTE, which is a mini-submarine designed to go really deep and which could withstand 16000 pounds of pressure per square Inch. It was sent to go down into the depths of the Mariana Trench just to see how far they would go. They touched bottom at 35,838 ft. /10,923 m. That means they had almost 7 miles/11 Km. of water over their heads. That makes Mariana deeper than Mt. Everest is high. As we all know Mt. Everest is the highest peak (8850 m.) in the world. Mariana is 11000 m., so we can imagine how deep it is?
When you get into the ocean (or any water body) and you start diving from the surface, the deeper you dive, the greater the pressure is on your body, because of the weight of water on top of you. This pressure is called HYDROSTATIC PRESSURE. You can get a sense of hydrostatic pressure when you get into a swimming pool and dive all the way to the bottom of the deepest end. You will feel the hydrostatic pressure against your ear drums, like they are being squeezed or pushed in. Well, you can imagine how incredible the pressure would be at the Challenger Deep, with almost 7 miles of waters overhead- its 16000 pound per square inch.
So how come the Challenger Deep is so deep?
Well, the earth’s Crust (inner layer) is not a solid piece of rock; it is a pretty thin layer, like the shell of an egg. In fact, it is made up of huge plates of thin Crust that float on the molten rock of the earth’s Mantle (inner layer). The edges of these plates slide past each other, bump into each other, and sometimes even crash. The Oceanic Crust is much heavier than the Continental Crust so when the plates crash into each other, the Oceanic plate plunges downwards toward the molten Mantle, which the lighter. Hence, the continental plates ride up over the top. The forces driving the two plates together are really intense so the underlying Oceanic plate creates a trench where it drags the edge of the Continental Crust down as it descends underneath. This is what’s happening at the bottom of the Pacific ocean of the Mariana Island.
The Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench is very cold and highly pressurized (below a dept of 100 m. the temperature is roughly 2°or 3°C). In 1996, the remote operated Vehicle KAIKO, operated by the “Japan Marine Science and Technology Centre”, visited the Challenger Deep and recorded several marine Organisms and various Microbes. Kaiko was lost in sea in 2003, and till that date there is no surviving probe or submersible strong enough to withstand the immense pressure of Challenger Deep.
The Mariana Trench represents just one small part of the Earth’s last, great frontier. It is one of the least explored places on Earth. Less than 5% of the entire trench has been explored, yet scientists have found that the deep sea had great number of species-and the discoveries have only just begun.
The Mariana Trench is 1,554 miles long and approximately 44 miles wide. The Trench contains several deep points-called deeps, and the deepest of them all is called the CHALLENGER DEEP. Located at about 11°22’N, 142°25’E, Challenger Deep got its name from the British Survey Ship Challenger II, which pinpointed the deep water of the Mariana Islands in 1951. Then in 1960, the US Navy sent the TRIESTE, which is a mini-submarine designed to go really deep and which could withstand 16000 pounds of pressure per square Inch. It was sent to go down into the depths of the Mariana Trench just to see how far they would go. They touched bottom at 35,838 ft. /10,923 m. That means they had almost 7 miles/11 Km. of water over their heads. That makes Mariana deeper than Mt. Everest is high. As we all know Mt. Everest is the highest peak (8850 m.) in the world. Mariana is 11000 m., so we can imagine how deep it is?
When you get into the ocean (or any water body) and you start diving from the surface, the deeper you dive, the greater the pressure is on your body, because of the weight of water on top of you. This pressure is called HYDROSTATIC PRESSURE. You can get a sense of hydrostatic pressure when you get into a swimming pool and dive all the way to the bottom of the deepest end. You will feel the hydrostatic pressure against your ear drums, like they are being squeezed or pushed in. Well, you can imagine how incredible the pressure would be at the Challenger Deep, with almost 7 miles of waters overhead- its 16000 pound per square inch.
So how come the Challenger Deep is so deep?
Well, the earth’s Crust (inner layer) is not a solid piece of rock; it is a pretty thin layer, like the shell of an egg. In fact, it is made up of huge plates of thin Crust that float on the molten rock of the earth’s Mantle (inner layer). The edges of these plates slide past each other, bump into each other, and sometimes even crash. The Oceanic Crust is much heavier than the Continental Crust so when the plates crash into each other, the Oceanic plate plunges downwards toward the molten Mantle, which the lighter. Hence, the continental plates ride up over the top. The forces driving the two plates together are really intense so the underlying Oceanic plate creates a trench where it drags the edge of the Continental Crust down as it descends underneath. This is what’s happening at the bottom of the Pacific ocean of the Mariana Island.
The Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench is very cold and highly pressurized (below a dept of 100 m. the temperature is roughly 2°or 3°C). In 1996, the remote operated Vehicle KAIKO, operated by the “Japan Marine Science and Technology Centre”, visited the Challenger Deep and recorded several marine Organisms and various Microbes. Kaiko was lost in sea in 2003, and till that date there is no surviving probe or submersible strong enough to withstand the immense pressure of Challenger Deep.
The Mariana Trench represents just one small part of the Earth’s last, great frontier. It is one of the least explored places on Earth. Less than 5% of the entire trench has been explored, yet scientists have found that the deep sea had great number of species-and the discoveries have only just begun.