The deepest section of the world ocean - the Mariana Trench is in no hurry to reveal its secrets to humanity. Research here is fraught with great risk, but what we have learned is changing many of the ideas of scientists about the structure of the world. Animals are especially impressive. Mariana Trench, which have adapted to conditions that theoretically deny any earth forms existence.

The sight of these creatures causes fear, but most of them are absolutely harmless. The strange shape of the bodies, luminous organs, the absence of eyes or, conversely, their incredible size- just the result of biological adaptation to a very unfriendly environment.

Life at great depths

The Mariana Trench (trench) was formed about 100,000,000 years ago, as a result of the deformation of the Pacific and Philippine lithospheric plates when descending. Its length is over 1500 km, and the bottom width varies from 1 to 5 km. But the most amazing parameter can be called the depth of formation, reaching at the peak point - the "Challenger Abyss" 10,994 m. This is 2 km higher than Mount Everest, if it is overturned by the top.

"Bottom of the Earth"

For a long time it was believed that life in the Mariana Trench was impossible, and there was every reason for such assumptions. The mysterious chute was called the "bottom of the Earth" both in the direct and in the figurative, not entirely flattering sense of the word. Conditions here are indeed far from ideal:

  1. The pressure at the bottom is 108.6 MPa, which is 1000 times higher than the norm. This explains the problematic diving into the deepest underwater canyon in the world - even with modern technologies it is difficult to create a bathyscaphe that can withstand such a colossal load.

For comparison: normal Atmosphere pressure on the surface of the earth is 0.1 MPa.

  1. At a depth of more than 1.2 km, absolute darkness reigns, sunlight does not penetrate here. There is no photosynthesis, therefore, there are no algae and phytoplankton, without which, as previously thought, the formation of food chains is impossible.
  1. The water temperature is very low. Theoretically, it should drop to minus values, but it stays at around 1 - 4ºС, thanks to hydrothermal vents known as "black smokers". Located at a depth of 1.6 km, geysers throw out jets of mineralized water heated to 450ºС, but not boiling due to high pressure. It is it that raises the temperature of the adjacent layers, simultaneously enriching them with useful substances.

"Black smokers" are dangerous because they actively emit hydrogen sulfide - very toxic to most organisms.

  1. The water in the deep layers is more salty and saturated with carbon dioxide, which prevents breathing. At the bottom of the depression is a unique Champagne geyser that emits liquid carbon. The water also contains impurities of mercury, uranium and lead, which, according to scientists, accumulate at great depths.
  1. The bottom is covered with viscous mucus, which is organic remains that have descended from the upper layers.

Existence beyond

Despite the full confidence in his absence, animal world The Mariana Trench is real and varied. Fish living at a depth of 6,000 m or more, as well as other representatives of the marine fauna, do not feel pressure, since the cells of their body are permeable and saturated with water. That is, the load from the outside and from the inside is the same.

After all, a person also does not feel the pressure of the “air column”, thanks to the oxygen dissolved in the blood, although on average, each inhabitant of the planet has a load of 2 tons.

This is interesting: when trying to rise to the surface, animals adapted to high pressure are dying. So far, at least one inhabitant of the Mariana Trench has not been delivered unharmed to ground laboratories.

Instead of a swim bladder, some deep-sea fish are equipped with fat pads to help redistribute the load in the body, their bones are replaced by light cartilage, and their muscles are practically absent. Therefore, the inhabitants of the mysterious abyss move in a peculiar way and unlike their relatives living closer to the surface of the sea.

In the deepest oceanic trench, its own unique food chain has developed. Most of the local inhabitants are fed by chemosynthetic bacteria that form colonies near "black" and "white" smokers. Other simple organisms - unicellular foramanifers that live at the very bottom of the gutter, process silt, creating nutrient medium for mollusks and crustaceans.

Fish pick up pieces of food, which, as if into a funnel, are pulled from the upper layers. To do this, they are equipped with a huge mouth, which makes up more than half of the body, with articulated jaws and sharp, curved teeth. Smaller fish serve as food for large predators and so on.

TO total absence daylight, the inhabitants of the depths adapt in different ways. Some of them are equipped with photophores - special organs that emit light. In this way, you can defend yourself from predators, lure prey and distinguish between members of your species in the dark.

Other fish respond to pressure, electrical impulses emitted by other organisms, smells. Their body is dotted with thin processes with nerve endings that record the slightest changes in the environment.

And now more about the deep-sea inhabitants of the Mariana Trench.

Beauties and the Beasts

In 1960, US military officer Don Walsh and oceanographer Jacques Piccard from Switzerland became the first explorers to reach "the bottom of the Earth". In the Trieste armored bathyscaphe, they stayed in the Challenger Abyss for no more than 20 minutes, but managed to notice a school of flat fish, about 30 cm long. The Trieste find became an important scientific confirmation of the habitability of great depths.

To date, it is known that in the near-bottom part live:

  • gigantic tube worms, up to 1.5 m long, without a mouth and anus;
  • mutated starfish, including brittle stars or serpenttails;
  • crabs;
  • octopuses;
  • sea ​​cucumbers;
  • giant poisonous amoeba, about 10 cm in size, while usually these creatures do not exceed 5 mm;
  • mollusks that have managed to adapt to water saturated with hydrogen sulfide and high pressure;
  • jellyfish;
  • fish, including sharks.

With some of these incredible creatures worth a closer look.

This beautiful jellyfish class Hydroids (order Trachimedusa) lives only at great depths - at least 700 m, and belongs to the nekton marine fauna. She spends her whole life in active movement, overcoming long distances in search of zooplankton, which she mainly feeds on.

Bentocodon is small, about 2 - 3 cm in diameter, but it has a record number of the thinnest tentacles - up to 1500, which allow you to move very quickly in the water column. Its umbrella, unlike other types of jellyfish, is opaque and has a reddish color. Scientists suggest that, in this way, bentocodon "hides" the bioluminescent glow of planktonic crustaceans eaten by it, so as not to attract the attention of predators.

Small - only 9 cm long, a transparent octopus, resembling an alien angel, has telescopic vision. A unique feature allows him to see in almost impenetrable darkness, noticing prey in time and moving away from danger.

This is interesting: no other species of octopus has a telescopic eye shape..

From the name it is clear that Amphitretus prefers the pelagic zone of the ocean - that is, unlike other species of octopuses, it rarely swims to the bottom territories. However, he is able to descend to a depth of 2000 m, moving not in a horizontal, but in a vertical direction.

The tentacles of the fragile handsome man are connected not by a solid membrane, like those of other mollusks of his order, but by thin transparent threads resembling a cobweb.

The deepest-sea octopus - some individuals of this species fall below the mark of 7000 m. The mantle of grimpovtetis is decorated with two processes resembling elephant ears, for which he received the nickname Dumbo, named after the hero of the Disney cartoon of the same name.

The average size of a mollusk is 20 - 30 cm, however, an individual is known that has reached a length of 180 cm and weighed about 6 kg.

Despite the vast habitat, Grimpoteuthis is considered one of the rarest and least studied varieties of octopuses. Watch him in vivo didn't have to. It is only known that this baby swallows prey whole, while others cephalopods pre-tear it with a beak.

Grimpoteutis looks very unusual, especially when, with its “ears” apart, it soars in the ocean depths, looking out for snails, worms and small crustaceans. Despite the "cosmic" appearance, the Dumbo octopus cannot be called in any way terrible monster from the Mariana Trench - it is charming in its own way.

Deep sea anglerfish (sea devil)

The fish, as if emerging from a nightmare, are actually just well adapted to life in a 3-kilometer water column with a pressure of up to 30 MPa. "Sea Devil" is distinguished by pronounced sexual dimorphism. Females are much larger than males: from 5 to 100 cm versus 4 cm, respectively. Representatives of both sexes are painted in camouflage dark brown shades and are covered not with scales, but with growths in the form of plaques and spikes.

eel-like or sea ​​snake the predator belongs to relict breeds. Its length rarely exceeds 2 m, the body is elongated, and the movements are wriggling, like those of reptiles.

The shark feeds on squid and fish, sometimes “diluting” the diet with stingrays and smaller relatives. Hunts all day long, hiding at the bottom and, like a snake, guarding prey. Due to the fact that the "living fossil" rarely rises to the surface, preferring to stay at marks of 1500 km, the species managed to survive.

In its sector, where other sharks rarely swim, the "frilled man" is considered a formidable predator, however, rising to the surface, the fish weakens and often dies from pressure drops.

Even among the bizarre animals that live in the Mariana Trench, this fish has an amazing structure. Her head is completely transparent, and telescopic eyes see through the skin. The elastic membrane covering the upper part of the body is filled with a liquid in which the organs of vision "float", and between them there is a bone membrane where the brain is placed.

Small - up to 15 cm in length, the fish feeds mainly on settling zooplankton. This is probably why her green, phosphorescent eyes are directed upwards. Some prey, such as the poisonous stinging cells of jellyfish - cnidocytes or siphonophores can deprive the macropin of vision, it is not surprising that the fish in the process of evolution developed such original way protection.

The fish resembles in shape the simplest carpentry tool, from which it got its name. Unlike other deep-sea inhabitants, it has a beautiful silver-blue color, which allows it to seem to dissolve in the light when the hatchet rises closer to the surface of the ocean.

Photophores are located in the lower part of the abdomen, giving a greenish glow. However, the most notable part of the animal is its huge telescopic eyes, which give it an intimidating and "otherworldly" appearance.

invisible giants

It seems that creatures of gigantic size must live in a mysterious 11-kilometer abyss in order to withstand incredible pressure from outside. Hence the periodically emerging information about giant lizards allegedly preserved at the bottom of the Mariana Trench 20-meter prehistoric sharks megalodons, no less terrible octopuses and so on.

While the deepest (lives at 8000 m below sea level) fish - bassogigas does not reach even 1 m in length.

None of the expeditions that visited the Pacific Trench presented indisputable evidence that monsters unknown to science live at its bottom. Although the German researchers who launched the Hayfish bathyscaphe claim that a huge lizard attacked the device. And even earlier, in 1996, an American deep-sea robot belonging to the Glomar Challenger tried to explore the cavity and was half destroyed by an unknown creature. The monster gnawed through the steel ropes and damaged the solid structures of the platform, while making unimaginable sounds recorded by the instruments.

What secrets does the Mariana Trench keep and who lives there can be seen in the video:

5 / 5 ( 2 votes)

All of us in childhood read many legends about incredible sea monsters that inhabit the ocean floor, always knowing that these are just fairy tales. But we were wrong! These incredible creatures can be found even today if you dive to the bottom of the Mariana Trench, the deepest place on Earth. What hides the Mariana Trench and who are its mysterious inhabitants - read in our article.

The deepest place on the planet is the Mariana Trench or Mariana Trench- located in the western part Pacific Ocean near Guam, east of the Mariana Islands, from which its name came. In its shape, the trench resembles a crescent moon, about 2550 km long and 69 km wide on average.

According to the latest data, the depth Mariana Trench is 10,994 meters ± 40 meters, which even exceeds the highest point on the planet - Everest (8,848 meters). So this mountain could well be placed at the bottom of the depression, moreover, about 2,000 meters of water would still remain above the top of the mountain. The pressure at the bottom of the Mariana Trench reaches 108.6 MPa - more than 1,100 times the normal atmospheric pressure.

A man only twice sank to the bottom Mariana Trench. The first dive was made on January 23, 1960 by US Navy Lieutenant Don Walsh and explorer Jacques Picard in the Trieste submersible. They stayed at the bottom for only 12 minutes, but even during this time they managed to meet flat fish, although according to all possible assumptions, life at such a depth should have been absent.

The second human dive was made on March 26, 2012. The third person who touched the mysteries Mariana Trench, became a filmmaker James Cameron. He dived on the single-seat Deepsea Challenger and spent enough time there to take samples, take pictures and film in 3D. Later, the footage he shot formed the basis documentary film for channel " national geographic Channel".

Due to the strong pressure, the bottom of the depression is covered not with ordinary sand, but with viscous mucus. For many years, the remains of plankton and crushed shells accumulated there, which formed the bottom. And again, due to pressure, almost everything is at the bottom Mariana Trench turns into fine greyish-yellow thick mud.

Sunlight has never reached the bottom of the depression, and we expect the water there to be icy. But its temperature varies from 1 to 4 degrees Celsius. IN Mariana Trench at a depth of about 1.6 km are the so-called "black smokers", hydrothermal vents that shoot water up to 450 degrees Celsius.

Thanks to this water Mariana Trench life is sustained as it is rich in minerals. By the way, despite the fact that the temperature is much higher than the boiling point, water does not boil due to very strong pressure.

Approximately at a depth of 414 meters is the Daikoku volcano, which is the source of one of the rarest phenomena on the planet - a lake of pure molten sulfur. IN solar system this phenomenon can only be found on Io, a moon of Jupiter. So, in this "cauldron" the seething black emulsion boils at 187 degrees Celsius. So far, scientists have not been able to study it in detail, but if in the future they can advance in their research, they may be able to explain how life appeared on Earth.

But the most interesting thing in Mariana Trench are its inhabitants. After it was determined that there was life in the basin, many expected to find incredible sea monsters there. For the first time, the expedition of the research vessel "Glomar Challenger" encountered something unidentified. They lowered into the cavity a device, the so-called "hedgehog" with a diameter of about 9 m, made in the NASA laboratory from beams of ultra-strong titanium-cobalt steel.

Some time after the start of the descent of the apparatus, the sound-recording device began to transmit some kind of metallic rattle to the surface, reminiscent of the gnashing of saw teeth on metal. And vague shadows appeared on the monitors, resembling dragons with several heads and tails. Soon, scientists became worried that the valuable device could forever remain in the depths of the Mariana Trench and decided to take it aboard the ship. But when they pulled the hedgehog out of the water, their surprise only intensified: the strongest steel beams of the structure were deformed, and the 20-centimeter steel cable on which it was lowered into the water was half sawn.

However, perhaps this story was too embellished by the newspapermen, since later the researchers found there very unusual creatures but not dragons.

Xenophyophores - giant, 10-centimeter amoeba that live at the very bottom Mariana Trench. Most likely due to strong pressure, lack of light and relatively low temperatures these amoebas have acquired enormous dimensions for their species. But in addition to their impressive size, these creatures are also resistant to many chemical elements and substances, including uranium, mercury and lead, which are lethal to other living organisms.

Pressure in M Arian Trench turns glass and wood into powder, so only creatures without bones or shells can live here. But in 2012, scientists discovered a mollusk. How he retained his shell is still not known. In addition, hydrothermal springs emit hydrogen sulfide, which is deadly to shellfish. However, they learned to bind the sulfur compound into a safe protein, which allowed the population of these mollusks to survive.

And that is not all. Below you can see some of the inhabitants Mariana Trench, which scientists have been able to capture.

Mariana Trench and its inhabitants

While our eyes are directed to the sky to the unsolved mysteries of space, our planet remains unsolved mystery- ocean. To date, only 5% of the world's oceans and secrets have been studied Mariana Trench this is only a small part of the secrets that are hidden under the water column.

Our Earth is 70% water, and most of these vast water (including underwater) expanses remain poorly explored. Therefore, it is not at all surprising that the most amazing and strange representatives of the animal world live in the depths of the sea. Today in our article we will talk about the most incredible deep-sea fish of the Mariana Trench and others. ocean depths. Many of these fish were discovered relatively recently, and many of them amaze us, people, with their incredible and even fantastic appearance, structural features, habits and way of life.

Bassogigas - the deepest sea fish in the world

So, get acquainted, bassogigas - a fish that holds the absolute record for the deepest habitat. For the first time, bassogigas was caught at the bottom of a trough near Puerto Rico at a depth of 8 km (!) from the John Eliot research ship.

Bassogigas.

As you can see, by appearance our deep-sea record holder differs little from ordinary fish, although in fact, despite the relatively typical appearance, its habits and lifestyle are still little studied by zoologists, because it is a very difficult task to conduct research at such a great depth.

drop fish

But already our next hero can hardly be reproached for being “ordinary”, get acquainted - a drop fish, which, in our opinion, has the strangest and most fantastic appearance.

Like an alien from outer space, right? A drop fish lives on the deep ocean floor near Australia and Tasmania. The size of an adult representative of the species is no more than 30 cm. In front of it is a process resembling our nose, and on the sides, respectively, there are two eyes. A drop fish does not have developed muscles and resembles something in its way of life - it slowly swims with its mouth open in anticipation that the prey, and these are usually small invertebrates, will itself be nearby. After that, the drop fish swallows the prey. She herself is inedible and, moreover, is on the verge of extinction.

And here is our next hero - a sea bat, which in its appearance does not even look like a fish.

But, nevertheless, he is still a fish, although he cannot swim. The bat moves along the seabed, pushing off with its fins, so similar to legs. The bat lives in the warm deep waters of the oceans. The largest representatives of the species reach 50 cm in length. Bats are predators and feed on various small fish, but since they cannot swim, they lure their prey with a special bulb growing directly from their heads. This bulb has a specific smell that attracts fish, as well as worms and crustaceans (they are also eaten by our hero), while the bat itself patiently sits in ambush and, as soon as potential prey is nearby, it sharply grabs it.

Anglerfish - deep sea fish with a flashlight

The deep-sea anglerfish, which lives, including in the depths of the famous Mariana Trench, is especially remarkable for its appearance, due to the presence of a real flashlight rod on its head (hence its name).

The angler's flashlight rod is not only for beauty, but also serves the most practical purposes, with its help our hero also lures prey - various small fish, although due to his not small appetite and the presence of sharp teeth, the angler does not hesitate to attack and on larger representatives of the fish kingdom. Interesting fact: anglers themselves often become victims of their special gluttony, as they grab big fish due to the peculiarities of the structure of the teeth, he can no longer release prey, as a result of which he himself chokes and dies.

But back to his amazing biological flashlight, why does it glow? In fact, light is provided by special luminous bacteria that live in close symbiosis with the anglerfish.

Apart from its main name deep sea fish-angler has others: "sea devil", " angler”, because in its appearance, and habits, it can be safely attributed to deep-sea monster fish.

The barrel eye probably has the most unusual structure among deep-sea fishes: a transparent head through which he can see with his tubular eyes.

Although the fish was first discovered by scientists back in 1939, it still remains poorly understood. Lives in the Bering Sea west coast USA and Canada, as well as off the coast of northern Japan.

giant amoeba

American oceanologists 6 years ago discovered living creatures at a record depth of 10 km. - gigantic. True, they no longer belong to fish, so bassogigas still occupies the primacy among fish, but it is these giant amoeba that hold the absolute record among living creatures that live at the greatest depth - the bottom of the Mariana Trench, the deepest known on Earth. These amoebae were discovered with the help of a special deep-sea camera, and research on their life continues to this day.

Deep sea fish video

And in addition to our article, we invite you to watch an interesting video about 10 incredible creatures of the Mariana Trench.

Close to east coast The Philippine Islands is an underwater canyon. It is so deep that you can place Mount Everest in it and still have about three kilometers left. There is impenetrable darkness and an incredible pressure force, so one can easily imagine the Mariana Trench as one of the most unfriendly places in the world. However, despite all this, life still somehow continues to exist there - and not just barely survive, but actually thrive, thanks to which a full-fledged ecosystem has appeared there.

How to survive at the bottom of the Mariana Trench?

Life at such a depth is extremely difficult - eternal cold, impenetrable darkness and enormous pressure will not let you exist in peace. Some creatures, such as the anglerfish, create their own light to attract prey or mates. Others, such as the hammerhead fish, have evolved huge eyes to capture as much light as possible reaching incredible depths. Other creatures are just trying to hide from everyone, and in order to achieve this, they turn translucent or red (red absorbs all the blue light that manages to make it to the bottom of the cavity).

Cold protection

It is also worth noting that all creatures that live at the bottom of the Mariana Trench need to cope with cold and pressure. Protection from the cold is provided by the fats that form the shell of the creature's body cells. If this process is not followed, the membranes can crack and stop protecting the body. To combat this, these creatures have acquired an impressive supply of unsaturated fats in their membranes. With the help of these fats, the membranes always remain in a liquid state and do not crack. But is it enough to survive in one of the deepest places on the planet?

What is the Mariana Trench?

The Mariana Trench has the shape of a horseshoe, and its length is 2550 kilometers. It is located in the east of the Pacific Ocean, and its width is about 69 kilometers. The deepest point of the depression was discovered near the southern tip of the canyon in 1875 - the depth there was 8184 meters. A lot of time has passed since then, and with the help of an echo sounder, more accurate data were obtained: it turns out that the deepest point has an even greater depth, 10994 meters. It was named "Challenger Depth" in honor of the vessel that made the very first measurement.

Human immersion

However, about 100 years have passed since that moment - and only then for the first time a person plunged to such a depth. In 1960, Jacques Picard and Don Walsh set off in the Trieste bathyscaphe to conquer the depths of the Mariana Trench. Trieste used gasoline as fuel and iron structures as ballast. Bathyscaphe took 4 hours and 47 minutes to reach a depth of 10916 meters. It was then that the fact that life still exists at such a depth was first confirmed. Picard reported that he saw "flat fish" then, although in fact it turned out that he saw only a sea cucumber.

Who lives at the bottom of the ocean?

However, not only sea cucumbers are at the bottom of the depression. Along with them live large single-celled organisms known as foraminifera - they are giant amoeba that can grow up to 10 centimeters in length. Under normal conditions, these organisms create shells of calcium carbonate, but at the bottom of the Mariana Trench, where the pressure is a thousand times greater than at the surface, the calcium carbonate dissolves. This means that these organisms have to use proteins, organic polymers and sand to build their shells. Shrimps and other crustaceans known as amphipods also live at the bottom of the Mariana Trench. The largest amphipods look like giant albino woodlice - they can be found at the depths of the Challenger.

Nutrition at the bottom

Given that sunlight does not reach the bottom of the Mariana Trench, another question arises: what do these organisms feed on? Bacteria manage to survive at this depth by feeding on the methane and sulfur that comes from earth's crust, and some organisms feed on these bacteria. But many rely on what's called "sea snow," tiny bits of detritus that reach the bottom from the surface. One of the most striking examples and richest sources of food are the carcasses of dead whales, which as a result end up on the ocean floor.

Fish in the hollow

But what about fish? The deepest-sea fish of the Mariana Trench was discovered only in 2014 at a depth of 8143 meters. An unknown ghostly white subspecies of Liparidae with broad pterygoid fins and an eel-like tail has been recorded several times by cameras that plunged into the depths of the depression. However, scientists believe that this depth is most likely the limit where the fish can survive. This means that there can be no fish at the bottom of the Mariana Trench, since the conditions there do not correspond to the structure of the body of vertebrate species.