It’s no lie that there are countless oceans out there that are insanely deep! But compared to the Mariana Trench, these oceans might seem like a shallow baby pool.
The Mariana trench is located in the Western Pacific Ocean. It is known to be the deepest part located in any other ocean in the world. But the truly impressive part of the Mariana Trench doesn’t have anything to do with its length and everything to do with its depth. Although it hasn’t been well explored because of the challenges associated with going that deep, the trench goes at least 36,070 feet deep.
More than 80% of our ocean is unmapped, unobserved, and unexplored. There is still so much more that is undiscovered about our ocean!
Here are 5 facts you didn’t know about the Mariana Trench:
1. There is life under there
Yup! For those of you wondering if there is life all the way down below the deepest parts of the oceans. There is indeed life. Despite having absolutely no light and bad acidic conditions in the trench, there are still organisms that live there. For now, there are only 200 discovered species down in the trench, but there will definitely be more species to be discovered in the future!
2. It’s both hot and cold
You might obviously think that due to the lack of exposure to sunlight that the Mariana Trench gets, it might be relatively cold down there. You’re Not wrong. The temperature down there is about 34 to 39 degrees Fahrenheit. But what you might not know is that the water there can be extremely hot there too! It can go up to 700-degree Fahrenheit (371 celsius). Crazy isn’t it?
3. The deepest section is the challenger deep
There are many points down in the trench. Some deeper than others. But none beats the lowest point of the trench which is called Challenger Deep, at 11,035 m below sea level. The Challenger Deep was named after HMS Challenger II, a vessel used to explore and measure the Mariana Trench.
4. It’s deeper than Mount Everest.
You’ve probably heard of Mount Everest at least once in your life before. But if you have not, Mount Everest is the highest mountain in the world. Let’s say if the Mount Everest was placed in the Mariana Trench, the peak of the mountain would only still be a mile underwater.
5. The pressure is 1000 times that of the sea level’s atmosphere
The pressure all the way at the lowest point of the Mariana Trench is 108.6 Megapascal. This is about 1000 times greater than the surface. There are 1.7 tonnes of pressure per square centimeter. There are fish such as the snailfish that is able to withstand the pressure at the bottom of the Mariana Trench.
Let us know your favorite fun fact about the Mariana Trench that you did not know about in the comments below!
Header Image Source: YouTube
