Into the Abyss
 

Excuse my indulgence with things marine but put in perspective this is an awesome location on our planet.

Powerpoint presentation link

Challenger Deep got its name from the British survey ship Challenger II, which pinpointed the deep water off the Marianas Islands in 1951. Then in 1960, the US Navy sent the Trieste (a submersible - a mini-submarine designed to go really deep) down into the depths of the Marianas trench to see just how far they would go.

http://web.clas.ufl.edu/users/mrosen...es/trieste.jpg

They touched bottom at 35,813 ft/10,915m. That means, while they were parked on the bottom in the bathyscaphe, they were almost seven miles/11km of water over their heads!

If you cut Mount Everest off at sea level and put it on the ocean bottom in the Challenger Deep, there would still be over a mile of water over the top of it!



http://www.extremescience.com/maps/MarianasMap.gif http://www.ocean98.org/img/mariana.gif


The trench is host to thousands of species of invertebrates and fish including such oddities as the Angler Fish.

http://www.marianatrench.com/pics/anglerfish.jpg

so called because it uses a bioluminescent (life light) protrusion to attract its prey.

The creatures which inhabit the Mariana Trench are all uniquely designed to survive in its extreme environment, but contrary to what one might readily assume, these life forms are not the result of evolution and adaptability - Quite the contrary, they are perhaps the most prehistoric life forms on the planet, some species, such as the Indians Ocean's deep-sea dweller the Coelacanth which has remained unchanged for millions of years.

The deepest dwelling fish known.

The "Viperfish".

http://www.amonline.net.au/fishes/fi...es/csloanh.jpghttp://www.amonline.net.au/fishes/fi...es/csloanf.jpg


What else may be down there is anyone's guess.

Wow neato info. Ive heard that in the Gulf of Mexico there is a "lake" underneath the gulf because there is a heavier than water brine solution.

That is cool stuff. What was that book about the massive sharks that came up from that trench?

Sweet....Keep the oceanic illumination coming.

That kicks so much ass, I love stuff like this.

The ocean is such an amazing place. All those creatures living together makes me wonder what it would be like if all land creatures could fly (truly use the 3rd dimension for movement).

The ocean scares me, but I get over this by scuba diving. There's so much to see! I'm not sure if I like it more than outer space though.

I find it interesting that not only do all of these really alien looking creatures live at the bottom of the ocean, but they've all managed to evolve the ability to create their own light. Bioluminescents is reall cool.

This guy's creepy as hell.
http://coexploration.org/bbsr/classr...s/headlite.gif

Here's another great pic from over in Paranoia. That's Mr. Megalodon to you.

http://www.einsamer-schuetze.com/kry...don/sharki.jpg

Is that shark directly under the boat? If so that is just hardcore, that thing is huge, I wish they really existed.

Not to sound cheesy, but our planet really is amazing.

I am not a big fan of the ocean, because there is so much going on underneath me that I cannot see coming. I am also a bit claustrophobic, and I know that the ocean is a big place, but it also feels as if it closes in on you.

Lets just say that when we went snorkeling, I was glad to be able to keep the boat and the sea floor in my view. I didn't get too far.