When was marianas trench discovered

The depths of the Mariana Trench were first plumbed in by the British ship H. Challenger as part of the first global oceanographic cruise. The Challenger scientists recorded a depth of 4, fathoms about five miles, or eight kilometers using a weighted sounding rope.

In , the British vessel H. Challenger II returned to the spot with an echo-sounder and measured a depth of nearly 7 miles 11 kilometers. The majority of the Mariana Trench is now a U. Bush in Permits for research in the monument, including in the Sirena Deep, have been secured from the U.

Fish and Wildlife Service. The dive forms part of the Five Deeps expedition - an attempt to explore the deepest points in each of the world's five oceans. It has been funded by Mr Vescovo, a private equity investor, who before turning his attention to the ocean's extreme depths also climbed the highest peaks on the planet's seven continents. The final challenge will be to reach the bottom of the Molloy Deep in the Arctic Ocean, which is currently scheduled for August The 4.

At its core is a 9cm-thick titanium pressure hull that can fit two people, so dives can be performed solo or as a pair. It can withstand the crushing pressure found at the bottom of the ocean: 1, bars, which is the equivalent of 50 jumbo jets piled on top of a person. As well as working under pressure, the sub has to operate in the pitch black and near freezing temperatures. These conditions also made it challenging to capture footage - the Five Deeps expedition has been followed by Atlantic Productions for a documentary for the Discovery Channel.

Anthony Geffen, creative director of Atlantic Productions, said it was the most complicated filming he'd ever been involved with. After the Five Deeps expedition is complete later this year, the plan is to pass the submersible onto science institutions so researchers can continue to use it. The challenges of exploring the deep ocean - even with robotic vehicles - has made the ocean trenches one of the last frontiers on the planet.

Once thought to be remote, desolate areas, the deep sea teems with life. There is also growing evidence that they are carbon sinks, playing a role in regulating the Earth's chemistry and climate.

Some points of the trench are deeper than others, with the deepest section being called the Challenger Deep. The remotely operated vehicle Deep Discoverer exploring the Mariana Trench at a depth of meters in Scientist Jacques Piccard and U. Navy Lieutenant Don Walsh earned the distinction of being the first people to reach the Challenger Deep in a deep boat. It happened in You might expect the waters of the Mariana Trench to be frigid since no sunlight can reach it.

The water there tends to range between 34 to 39 degrees Fahrenheit. There are hydrothermal vents throughout the trench. The water that comes out also is responsible for releasing a lot of minerals that sustain the lifeforms that are located down there. James Cameron, the famed director, manned an expedition to the bottom of the Mariana Trench in At the Daikoku submarine volcano, scientists discovered a pool of molten sulfur 1, feet m below the ocean surface, something seen nowhere else on Earth.

Recent scientific expeditions have discovered surprisingly diverse life in these harsh conditions. Animals living in the deepest parts of the Mariana Trench survive in complete darkness and extreme pressure, said Natasha Gallo, a doctoral student at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography who has been studying the video footage from Cameron's expedition.

Food in the Mariana Trench is extremely limited , because the deep gorge is far from land. Leaves, coconuts and trees rarely find their way into the bottom of the trench, Gallo said, and dead plankton sinking from the surface must drop thousands of feet to reach Challenger Deep. Instead, some microbes rely on chemicals, such as methane or sulfur, while other creatures gobble marine life lower on the food chain.

The three most common organisms at the bottom of the Mariana Trench are xenophyophores, amphipods and small sea cucumbers holothurians , Gallo said. The single-celled xenophyophores resemble giant amoebas, and they eat by surrounding and absorbing their food. Amphipods are shiny, shrimplike scavengers commonly found in deep-sea trenches.

The holothurians may be a new species of bizarre, translucent sea cucumber. Scientists have also identified more than different microorganisms in mud collected from the Challenger Deep. The mud was brought back to labs on dry land in special canisters, and is painstakingly kept in conditions that mimic the crushing cold and pressure.

During Cameron's expedition, scientists also spotted microbial mats in the Sirena Deep, the zone east of the Challenger Deep. These clumps of microbes feed on hydrogen and methane released by chemical reactions between seawater and rocks.