The mystery of the Mariana trench, which is the subject of legends

The deepest known point on Earth is considered to be the Mariana Trench. This trench is located in the Pacific Ocean between Japan and Indonesia, southwest of the Islands of Guam and Mariana.
The length of the Mariana Trench, which takes its name from the Mariana Islands, is 2,550 km and its width is around 69 km. The Challenger Deep, which is considered the deepest point of the Mariana Trench, is located at the southern end of the trench. The depth of this pit is 10,994 m. This depth is known as the deepest point on Earth ever measured. In order to explain it more concretely and to make it come alive before your eyes, let's explain it as follows; 10,000 m is almost the end of the troposphere and the altitude at which planes fly. Or let's put it like this; If the world's highest mountain, Mount Everest (8,848 m), had started from the bottom of this pit, there would be 2.1 km more water body above its summit! But let's give another interesting information: Challenger Deep is still not the closest point to the center of the Earth, because it is much closer to the equator.

In the news about this pit, it is also stated that a Turk fell into the Mariana Trench. There have been many reports about the Turk who fell into the Mariana Trench. While the ship was making its way through the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Japan on October 21, 26-year-old Cemil Cakir, who was a member of the crew, sank at 11 thousand meters in the region of the Mariana Trench, which is considered the deepest point in the world. However, it is among the records that no results could be obtained from the search and rescue efforts, which lasted approximately 9 hours. So where is the Mariana Trench? Has anyone been in the Mariana Trench? What creatures live in the Mariana Trench, the deepest place on Earth? How did the Mariana Trench get its name?

The Mariana Trench was discovered by chance in 1951 as a result of the investigations and researches carried out with a ship called Challenger 2. When researchers realized that a probe they dropped into the sea fell to a depth of 10,863 meters, they found the deepest pit in the world by chance. According to the detailed examinations made in the pit, this point is 10,994 meters deep, 2542 meters long and 69 meters wide. Moreover, it is considered the deepest point on earth. It is also known as the Challenger Pit. An iron with a mass of 1 kilogram thrown on the surface of the Mariana Trench takes approximately 1 hour to sink. Because the pit is so deep, there are many unknown details about the pit and it has always remained a mysterious place. The pressure at the bottom of the pit is almost 1000 times higher than the pressure on its surface. The Mariana Trench is located in the Pacific Ocean. Located in the southwest of Guam Island, between the lands of Japan and Indonesia, the pit is almost equidistant from both countries. Located at 11° 24 North latitude and 143° 16 South latitude, this mysterious pit is also of great interest to tourists.

How was it formed?

So how did this mysterious pit, which is considered the deepest point in the world, formed? The Mariana Trench, which is considered the deepest point in the world, was formed when the Pacific Plate entered under the Philippine Plate at the place where the Pacific and Philippine plates collided as a result of plate movements. Both of these plates are moving towards the northwest. However, because the Pacific Plate is moving faster than the Philippine Plate, it goes under the Philippine Plate, creating a constant pressure. This pressure causes frequent earthquakes in the region.

You may be wondering if there is life in this pit. Well, can you imagine the pressure at a depth of about 11 km in the Mariana Trench, which is the deepest place on Earth and in the ocean? 1,086 bars to be exact! Isn't it crazy! So, can life survive in a pit with such high pressure? This question, which has occupied scientists for years, is clarified when J. Piccard and D. Walsh, who descended to the Challenger Deep in 1960 with the Trieste submersible, announced that they had seen a flounder-like creature. Although no footage was obtained, it was now known to be alive in the Challenger Deep. But how was this possible at such a high pressure? Since calcium can only exist in dissolved form under a pressure of 1.086 bar, the bones of a vertebrate creature would literally collapse. For this reason, only non-vertebrate creatures that have adapted to this high pressure can survive in the Mariana Trench.

One of the deepest-dwelling fish is Pseudoliparis amblystomopsis, which is also a snailfish species. These fish, which live at 7,700 m and can be seen at 8,145 m, roam around in groups in the environment they live in. In addition, during the descents to the Mariana Trench, rat tail species living at 5,000 m, single-celled xenophyophores exceeding 10 cm in size, and giant amphipods about 20 cm in length at around 6,000 m were discovered. We would like to remind you that normally amphipods are about 2.5 cm in size. During James Cameron's exploration process and other landings in recent years, a new species of sea cucumber, most bacteria, and over 68 new species have been discovered. Since the pit is at the plate boundary, scientists estimate that these creatures may have adapted to life at that very point in the region, which is rich in minerals. At the same time, most fish species living here have life spans exceeding centuries. It is among the debates that these creatures have not evolved since the prehistoric period, but remained the same.

So how was this mysterious pit discovered? The Mariana Trench was discovered by the Challenger expedition between 1872-1876. The Challenger expedition has an important place in history because modern oceanic science begins with this expedition for the first time. This expedition is considered to be the first expedition to gather information on the characteristics of the oceans, the chemistry of the ocean water, currents, the creatures living in the ocean and ocean geology. Scientists travel 70,000 miles for 4 years with the British ship HMS Challenger, which also includes a laboratory and various scientific equipment. Researchers create the first ocean depth maps, current and temperature maps with this trip and discover about 4,000 new living species. One of the most important and resounding results of the Challenger expedition is; Discovery of the Mariana Trench, thought to be the deepest point on Earth.

After the discovery of the Mariana Trench, sonar (Sound NAvigation and Ranging) technology, which was used in the First World War to determine the location of submarines, is preferred to measure the depth of the trench in the early 1900s. With this method, sound waves are sent to the water. Sound waves hitting a certain surface are reflected and returned. Thus, by looking at the time elapsed between the sending and returning of sound waves, the depth of the surface where the sound is reflected can be calculated exactly. In 1951, Challenger Deep, the deepest point of the Mariana Trench, was discovered. The ship HMS Challenger II measured a depth of approximately 11 km in the Mariana Trench with an echo-sounder. In honor of the ship's name, this point was named Challenger Deep.