Monday, December 18, 2017

Mariana Trench - The Deepest Part Of The Ocean


Post scrutinizing facts we humans have finally come to a conclusion that in all these years we could only explore nothing more than 5% of the ocean. The most deep-seating point in the ocean might be thousands of miles below; however, parts of the ocean which has been already discovered labels it's deepest point as the Mariana Trench. Located in the Pacific and approximately 124 miles east to the Mariana Islands, this sickle-shaped trench is 1580 miles in length with a width of 43 miles. The Mariana Trench has been explored by as few as two mortals till date while scaling the highest point of the world has been a common odyssey for a lot of explorers.

The maximal depth recorded of the Mariana Trench is 10,994 metres which stands its ground on a channel-shaped valley named the Challenger Deep. The base of the trench wields a pressure of 1086 Bars boosting the density of water by 4.96% and maintaining a temperature of 1-4 degrees celsius throughout. Explorers have discovered Xenophyopores which are colossal deep-sea unicellular organisms with multiple nucleus residing at a depth of 10.6 kilometers from sea-level. Named after the Spanish Queen Mariana of Austria this trench is part of the Izu-Bonin-Mariana diminution system which forms the perimeter between two tectonic plates. The oceanic crust at the western edge of the trench is believed to be as old as 170 million years.


The Mariana Trench has also aided explorers and researchers in the analysis of the seismic plates and structures even at a depth of 97 Kilometers. Trieste, a bathyscaphe owned by the US navy was the first to explore the site in the year 1960 with Don Walsh and Jacques Piccard as pioneers. Later on remotely operated underwater vehicles such as Kaiko, Nereus and also James Cameron's Deepsea Challenger followed the footsteps of Trieste. A new species of Snailfish had been ascertained in the year 2014 which has been recorded as the deepest living creature ever caught on tape.

A proposed site for the demolition of nuclear waste, a dumping ground is what exactly the Mariana Trench is turning out to be. Triggered hopes among individuals persists; strongly pertaining to the fact that the subduction of the tectonic plates might thrust the nuclear waste into the mantle. But we often overlook the adverse effects of tectonic plate movements leading to Earthquakes and causing a catastrophe in the ecosystem. High time we realize that 71% of our planet is made of water.

No comments:

Post a Comment