Deep into that darkness, peering...
It's pretty likely that if you know me, you've heard me mention the Mariana Trench. You haven't? Oh boy. You have now.
The sea in all of its glories is classified as being several layers. The top of the ocean where the sun shines brightly down on the billowing waves and the dolphins leap out to screech at the sun and attack baby porpoises is known as the Epipelagic zone. This counts for the top 200 meters or so of the ocean. This is the only known area of the sea that can support plant life and is the kindest to sea creatures. The Epipelagic zone is the one most people know best; the sea filled with jellyfish, sharks, tuna and seals. It is the most beautiful thing on this planet - at least in my eyes.
At about 200 meters we enter the Mesopelagic zone. This roughly translates to either "middle zone" or "twilight zone", which makes me giggle a little. It ends about 1,000 meters into the ocean. The temperature in the Mesopelagic zone goes from around 70 fahrenheit at the top to only 39 at the bottom. Not too much of a jump for 800 meters further away from the sun. There is still some sunlight here and creatures such as the cuttlefish and squid live here. However, that sunlight fades rapidly the deeper you go. Here, as is understandable, the pressure continues to grow more difficult to resist.
The midnight, or Bathypelagic zone comes next. It goes down to around 4,000 meters and has an average temperature of 39 degrees (still). In here, and the two zones below, the temperature remains almost unchanging. There is no sunlight and many creatures here are born blind. While this place is home to many species such as larger whales and octopus, few of the smaller fish can sustain life here. Because of the lack of nutrients, sealife here is generally very good at conserving energy. Predators here are incapable of seeing their prey, and the prey have adapted accordingly, developing weaker. Many of the largest whales live here.
The Abyssopelagic and Hadopelagic zones are often grouped together. Abyssopelagic extends to the sea bed, encompassing a massive territory of pure blackness. The pressure here is generally around 11,000 psi. To compare, the average air cylinder for a diver is rated to between 2,000 and 4,000 psi. An unshielded human can handle around 50 psi if it is applied suddenly and 400 if it is applied gradually. Imagine the sheer pressure at those depths. There is a lack of nutrients and light. The average temperature is around 36 degrees fahrenheit. This remains constant except where natural heated water vents occur. Despite this, life is still sustained here. The giant squid, the deep-sea anglerfish and the dragonfish all live here.
The Hadopelagic zone encompasses life in the deep-sea trenches. Generally, living creatures here cannot withstand the lesser pressure of higher areas - the pressure here is around 16,000 psi. There is no light other than bioluminescent light and most creatures are born entirely colourless. Their eyes are adapted to only catch bioluminescent light; they are otherwise blind. During the 1960s expedition to the Mariana Trench, the deepest part of the ocean - although not the part closest to the earth's core due to the earth not being a perfect sphere - Jacques Piccard and Don Walsh managed the only manned trip down to these phenomenal depths. It lasted only 15 minutes and took almost five hours to reach the floor. The windscreen cracked under the pressure and it became a race to return to the surface before it could break fully and kill them both. During those fifteen minute, however, they noticed that the creatures down there scurried away from the light - but very slowly, indicating that either the immense pressure or simply their evolution had caused them to move far slower than their higher counterparts. The Trieste never made it back down to the bottom of the ocean again and remains the only manned trip to the Mariana Trench so far.
There have only been two unmanned vehicles to make it to that depth in the past - the Kaiko and the Nereus, in 1996 and 2009 respectively. The Mariana Trench is carpetted with a "light and clear" "waste of firm diatomaceou ooze", in the words of Jacques Piccard (boldly going where no man has gone before!)
Of course, the Mariana isn't the only trench. There is also the Izu-Ogasawara Trench, the Yap Trench, the Kuril-Kamchatka Trench and many others. Do look them up, if this has caught your interest. It is a fascinating subject.
The sea in all of its glories is classified as being several layers. The top of the ocean where the sun shines brightly down on the billowing waves and the dolphins leap out to screech at the sun and attack baby porpoises is known as the Epipelagic zone. This counts for the top 200 meters or so of the ocean. This is the only known area of the sea that can support plant life and is the kindest to sea creatures. The Epipelagic zone is the one most people know best; the sea filled with jellyfish, sharks, tuna and seals. It is the most beautiful thing on this planet - at least in my eyes.
At about 200 meters we enter the Mesopelagic zone. This roughly translates to either "middle zone" or "twilight zone", which makes me giggle a little. It ends about 1,000 meters into the ocean. The temperature in the Mesopelagic zone goes from around 70 fahrenheit at the top to only 39 at the bottom. Not too much of a jump for 800 meters further away from the sun. There is still some sunlight here and creatures such as the cuttlefish and squid live here. However, that sunlight fades rapidly the deeper you go. Here, as is understandable, the pressure continues to grow more difficult to resist.
The midnight, or Bathypelagic zone comes next. It goes down to around 4,000 meters and has an average temperature of 39 degrees (still). In here, and the two zones below, the temperature remains almost unchanging. There is no sunlight and many creatures here are born blind. While this place is home to many species such as larger whales and octopus, few of the smaller fish can sustain life here. Because of the lack of nutrients, sealife here is generally very good at conserving energy. Predators here are incapable of seeing their prey, and the prey have adapted accordingly, developing weaker. Many of the largest whales live here.
The Abyssopelagic and Hadopelagic zones are often grouped together. Abyssopelagic extends to the sea bed, encompassing a massive territory of pure blackness. The pressure here is generally around 11,000 psi. To compare, the average air cylinder for a diver is rated to between 2,000 and 4,000 psi. An unshielded human can handle around 50 psi if it is applied suddenly and 400 if it is applied gradually. Imagine the sheer pressure at those depths. There is a lack of nutrients and light. The average temperature is around 36 degrees fahrenheit. This remains constant except where natural heated water vents occur. Despite this, life is still sustained here. The giant squid, the deep-sea anglerfish and the dragonfish all live here.
The Hadopelagic zone encompasses life in the deep-sea trenches. Generally, living creatures here cannot withstand the lesser pressure of higher areas - the pressure here is around 16,000 psi. There is no light other than bioluminescent light and most creatures are born entirely colourless. Their eyes are adapted to only catch bioluminescent light; they are otherwise blind. During the 1960s expedition to the Mariana Trench, the deepest part of the ocean - although not the part closest to the earth's core due to the earth not being a perfect sphere - Jacques Piccard and Don Walsh managed the only manned trip down to these phenomenal depths. It lasted only 15 minutes and took almost five hours to reach the floor. The windscreen cracked under the pressure and it became a race to return to the surface before it could break fully and kill them both. During those fifteen minute, however, they noticed that the creatures down there scurried away from the light - but very slowly, indicating that either the immense pressure or simply their evolution had caused them to move far slower than their higher counterparts. The Trieste never made it back down to the bottom of the ocean again and remains the only manned trip to the Mariana Trench so far.
There have only been two unmanned vehicles to make it to that depth in the past - the Kaiko and the Nereus, in 1996 and 2009 respectively. The Mariana Trench is carpetted with a "light and clear" "waste of firm diatomaceou ooze", in the words of Jacques Piccard (boldly going where no man has gone before!)
Of course, the Mariana isn't the only trench. There is also the Izu-Ogasawara Trench, the Yap Trench, the Kuril-Kamchatka Trench and many others. Do look them up, if this has caught your interest. It is a fascinating subject.