The Mariana Trench in the Philippines Sea, the second largest sea in the western part of the Pacific Ocean, is the deepest trench in the world known to date. The Mariana Trench, 340 km southeast from Guam Island, the largest island of the Mariana Islands, is a crescent-shaped trough. As the name implies, it is named because it is located near the Mariana Islands.
What is the deepest point of the Mariana Trench?
The deepest point of the Mariana Trench is called Challenger Deep. It is located in the southwestern part of the trench, 10,994 meters below sea level, according to the latest data. Who discovered the Mariana trench? Mariana Trench was first founded by the British research vessel Challenger, which found it in 1875. This is where the name of the deepest point in the world comes from.
The interesting fact is that researchers of the Soviet scientific research vessel "Vityaz" reported the deepest point in the world at 11,022 meters in 1957. This figure is included in the Soviet scientific literature, and even today, you can only find this figure in many Russian-language new scientific literature.
Why is the Mariana Trench so deep?
The depth of the Mariana Trench is controversial; however, the question of its deepness causes many interests. Answering this, why is the Mariana Trench so deep? question is as difficult as diving into the Mariana Trench. However, according to the researchers, the trench was formed millions of years ago due to sliding tectonic plates.
Mariana Trench facts
Let's take a brief look at some of the most interesting Mariana Trench facts:
1. If Mount Everest were placed into the Mariana Trench at this point, its peak would still be underwater. If you compare Mount Everest, which is at 8,848m above sea level and Mariana Trench 10,994m below sea level, you can be sure that this is true.
2. All of us know about the two poles of the Earth. However, scientists call the Mariana Trench the fourth pole of the Earth. Thus, the North and South are the geographical poles; Everest and Mariana Trench - are geomorphic poles.
3. The water pressure here is 1100 times higher than the normal atmospheric pressure.
4. It seems that diving into the trench is not as easy as climbing up. Despite the ever-increasing number of people climbing the Everest Summit, those who dived into the Mariana Trench can be counted with fingers. So far, only three people have dived into the deepest trench in the world. The first diving into Mariana Trench was made on January 23, 1960, by US Navy Lt. Don Walsh and researcher Jacques Piccard. Author of the Avatar, Titanic and the first two episodes of Terminator, the filmmaker James Cameron became the third person to reach the deepest point in the world on March 26, 2012, and he was the first person to solo dive the Mariana Trench. Unlike the first two people who reached the deepest point, Cameron stayed 3 hours in the Mariana trench. A documentary was shown on the National Geographic Channel based on the filmmaker's shot.
5. The Mariana Trench is the largest marine reserve in the world. There is life at the incredible depths of the trench. Researchers have discovered a giant amoeba about 10 centimetres in diameter. Although new species as old as the dinosaurs are observed in Mariana Trench, some of them have not been identified to date. Most of the creatures that live in the depths of the Mariana Trench are fed by one another or by the "dead rain". Thus, the remains of various dead sea creatures are slowly descending from the surface waters as feed for animals living in the depths of the Mariana trench. Because of the status of nature reserves, fishing and mining within the boundaries are prohibited.
6. Although Mariana is known as the trench, there are real mountains here. Scientists have discovered 4 mountain peaks, each with a height of more than 2.5 kilometres.