[release][b]As a new wave of explorers race to reach the deepest part of the ocean, researchers too are realising the scientific potential that lies at the bottom of the sea, writes science reporter Rebecca Morelle.[/b]
Stretching for more than 2,500km (1,500 miles), the Mariana Trench is a very narrow, very deep crack in the ocean floor.
[b]At its deepest, it reaches nearly 11km (seven miles) down - making it the lowest point in our oceans.[/b]
Once, its record-breaking depth was thought to be the only interesting thing about the trench, but now scientists are beginning to think otherwise.
Jim Gardner, from the US Centre for Coastal and Ocean Mapping (CCOM), says: "Trenches are becoming much more focused in the scientific community."
The geologist has spent the past five years creating the most detailed survey of the Mariana Trench to date.
And he says that finding out more about the inner workings of these deep-sea spots is vital.
[b]There are more than 20 trenches like the Mariana around the world, but most are in the Pacific Ocean.[/b]
They are formed at the boundary of two tectonic plates, where very heavy oceanic crust (in the case of the Mariana Trench, the Pacific Plate) dives underneath lighter continental plate - a process called subduction.
But geologists now think these seismically active zones could play a central role in some earthquakes.
Dr Gardner explains: "It's where the two tectonic plates are grinding together.
"So seamounts (underwater mountains) that rest passively on the top of the Pacific Plate get jammed underneath in the trench or scraped up on the inner wall.
[b]"And if they get jammed underneath, some theories suggest that they cause the big major earthquakes, like the recent ones in Japan or Indonesia."[/b]
[b]Gelatinous creatures[/b]
Biologists are also shedding light on the deep ocean.
Dr Alan Jamieson, from Oceanlab at the University of Aberdeen, has been using simple contraptions to explore the bottoms of trenches.
He uses steel, tripod-shaped landers that are kitted out with cameras and then loads them up with some bait.
They then drop to to the bottom of the ocean, where they sit for hours recording any creatures tempted by an easy meal.
[b]"When we started this, we thought that anything we did find would be in relatively low numbers, probably pale in colour and just trying to eke out an existence in the deep," says Dr Jamieson.
"But we have found lots of activity even at the very deepest sites."[/b]
[b]With this set up, he has been able to record a remarkable array of life, from amphipods - prawn-like creatures that can reach more than 30cm (12in) long - to bright pink, gelatinous fish.[/b]
He is now studying the physiology of these creatures to find out how they can survive in a place where the pressure is 1,000 times greater than at sea level, the temperature is just above 0C, and they are shrouded in total darkness.
[i][b]Carbon sink[/b][/i]
But if the life that is found in the deep is of interest, so is what happens as it dies. As the organic matter from dead marine flora and fauna sinks to the bottom of the sea, it is hemmed in by the steep walls of the trench.
A study published last year found that because of this, more carbon accumulates at the bottom of trenches than in other parts of the ocean.
[b]And this suggests that the deep sea might play a bigger role in the carbon cycle, and therefore in regulating the Earth's climate, than was previously thought.[/b]
Researchers are now trying to find out how much carbon is sinking - or being "subducted" - beneath the sediment and how much is being recycled by bacteria to assess how much carbon is being taken out of the atmosphere.
But although scientists are starting to unlock the secrets of the deep, oceanographer Sylvia Earle says there is still much work to do.
[b]"I'm sad to say that here we are at the beginning of the 21st Century, and we know more about other parts of the Solar System than we do our own ocean.
"We have better maps of the Moon, Mars and Jupiter than we do about our own ocean floor," she says.[/b]
[i][b]Man or machine?[/b][/i]
She believes the very deepest parts of the ocean have been the most neglected.
[b]Most of the sea floor lies between 4,000m and 6,000m (13,000-20,000ft) below sea level: a layer known as the abyssal zone. But trenches, although few in number, are twice as deep, and they occupy an area called the Hadal Zone.[/b]
She says: [b]"That last little bit only accounts for maybe 3% of the ocean. Well think about it - [i]that's an area the size of Australia, North America, or China[/i] - and we're ignoring it?"[/b]
Dr Earle is the former science chief for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration - or Noaa - the ocean's equivalent of the US space agency, Nasa.
But she is frustrated that the seas have always been the poor relation to space.
She explains: [b]"A fraction of what we invest in going skyward would answer some major questions about this part of the Solar System."[/b]
There is currently some debate within the scientific community over the best way to explore the deepest parts of the ocean.
[b]Some researchers, such as Dr Earle, believe that manned missions like the ones that are about to dive down to the Mariana Trench are the only way to really get a grasp of what lies in this underwater world.[/b]
Others though say that landers and a new breed of autonomous underwater robots, such as Nereus at the Woods Hole Institute for Oceanography in Massachusetts, can bring back much more data.
Dr Jamieson thinks unmanned exploration is the way forward for science. But he does hope that the publicity surrounding the forthcoming dives might generate some excitement and interest in the oceans.
He says: "Any kind of high-profile event would be fantastic, we hope this will raise the profile of the trenches.
"The trenches have always suffered from this kind of anthropocentric opinion: that the further away it is from human activity it is the less important it is, that it's just some kind of deep, dark realm that could be ignored.
He adds: "But the fact is, the more we look at it, the more we find the trenches are just as relevant as anywhere else in the ocean.
"And ultimately, ocean conservation is everything, from the surface to the very deepest point."[/release]
[url]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17041438[/url]
It's a very cool and interactive article. Click it or you're only going to see 1/7th of it being the thing I posted here.
That was an order.
Click it.
We all say NASA doesn't get enough money, but never stop to think about NOAA. I can't even figure out how much we put into NOAA on a quick google search. Private research and companies have long been the front runners in ocean science. Fuck, even [i]oil companies[/i] amount for a large sum of the ocean geography and topography research. They even run ROV's on a near daily basis. And after the tightened regulations, they're starting to put marine biologists on the rigs to keep the water around the area in check.
Anyway, before I kickoff into a rant, this article is about rich people competing to be the [i]third[/i] person to touch the true bottom of the ocean.
[i](Friendly reminder: 12 people have walked on the moon. 2 have seen the bottom of the ocean with their own eyes. That's a difference of 238,850 miles give or take, when the moon is at it's closest to the earth)[/i]
[i]Not to sound like I'm hating on space. Space is cool too, and equally as important and is equally in need of funding[/i]
[i]I'm just saying... 12 people vs 2 people...[/i]
It's probably pretty fucking dark down there, there is no way you'd get me down there
[editline]26th February 2012[/editline]
I mean, you likely don't have more than 5-10 feet of visibility and you're surrounded by open water. Who knows what's lurking there
[QUOTE=Glitch360;34890452]It's probably pretty fucking dark down there, there is no way you'd get me down there
[editline]26th February 2012[/editline]
I mean, you likely don't have more than 5-10 feet of visibility and you're surrounded by open water. Who knows what's lurking there[/QUOTE]
If I was a billionaire I would've joined this race from the get-go.
What I expect or want to be found down there: Cthulhu, massive and prehistoric beasts, otherworldly beings, alien technology, hidden civilizations, etc, etc
What I [i]know[/i] will be found: Plankton, seaweed, darkness, volcanic vents, darkness, shrimp made of jelly, ugly fish, more darkness.
If I had the money, I'd have dozens of unmanned subs go down there, scout through the trenches while taking hundreds or thousands of photos, and take samples of whatever's found down there.
no matter how cool the sea is, space will always win
I didn't think anyone has ever seen the true bottom of the ocean until now. When did it happen?
The deep sea is fucking scary and cool at the same time. Wouldn't want to be down there though.
[video=youtube;mrSu65Bb9X4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrSu65Bb9X4[/video]
[QUOTE=Lord of Ears;34890582]no matter how cool the sea is, space will always win[/QUOTE]
Unless there's a portal to space in the ocean.
[QUOTE=Lord of Ears;34890582]no matter how cool the sea is, space will always win[/QUOTE]
Space is the future, no one can argue that. But there is no excuse as to why something that is right in our backyard, and so linked to life and our future on this planet, is so unknown and neglected.
My automerge!
[editline]27th February 2012[/editline]
Fuck! Again!
[QUOTE=OvB;34890603]Space is the future, no one can argue that. But there is no excuse as to why something that is right in our backyard, and so linked to life and our future on this planet, is so unknown and neglected.[/QUOTE]
pressure's a bitch
[QUOTE=Lord of Ears;34890692]pressure's a bitch[/QUOTE]
If there are sea-creatures that can survive under incredible amount of pressure in the sea, we can probably find some of them and learn from them and maybe use the same design on the ships?
It like in that one spongebob episode
[QUOTE=Rammaster;34890599]The deep sea is fucking scary and cool at the same time. Wouldn't want to be down there though.
[video=youtube;mrSu65Bb9X4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrSu65Bb9X4[/video][/QUOTE]
Boggles the mind how such fragile creatures can survive the ridiculous amounts of pressure at that depth. We're talking pressure that would compress a steel submarine into a pancake, and yet we've got jellyfish with skin a millimeter thick.
2 people have seen the bottom? What's the lowest one can go without the pressure killing them?
[QUOTE=JeanLuc761;34890836]Boggles the mind how such fragile creatures can survive the ridiculous amounts of pressure at that depth. We're talking pressure that would compress a steel submarine into a pancake, and yet we've got jellyfish with skin a millimeter thick.[/QUOTE]
You're forgetting there's air inside a submarine, when there's probably water or something inside the jellyfish.
They'd probably swell up and maybe even explode if they swam to ground level.
[QUOTE=DrLuke;34890800]It like in that one spongebob episode[/QUOTE]
This isn't just your average everyday darkness, this is... [I]advanced darkness![/I]
I hope they send a postcard of R'yleh while they're down there.
deep sea creatures are mad crazy
I freaking love the deeps of the ocean, so much alien life, so many things to learn.
[QUOTE=theninfort;34890850]2 people have seen the bottom? What's the lowest one can go without the pressure killing them?[/QUOTE]
Diving without a submarine get's tricky very quickly. You have to use different breathing gasses depending on what depth you intend to go to, and then you have to time your dive so you have enough gas to go down then go back up. If you shoot straight back up from a very deep dive you probably won't be conscious by the time you surfaced. You must allow time for the gas in your lungs to equalize with the water pressure. As far as the pressure alone? I'm not quite sure how much the human body can take if all other physical harms of diving are taken out of the equation. The record scuba dive is 1,083 feet. Which is really fucking deep.
There just comes a point when diving in a suit that has normal atmospheric pressure(which for the trench, would have to be insanely strong) , or going down in a sub are more practical and safe than diving.
So in other words, ocean exploration just reached its lowest point in history? :v:
[QUOTE=GlebGuy;34890712]If there are sea-creatures that can survive under incredible amount of pressure in the sea, we can probably find some of them and learn from them and maybe use the same design on the ships?[/QUOTE]
Because submarines are at atmospheric pressure. The animals down there are at the ambient pressure and are therefore unharmed. It happens that humans don't do too good at 16,155 psi. And to pressurize to that pressure -if that's even possible in the first place- would take months if not years.
[editline]27th February 2012[/editline]
[QUOTE=Im Crimson;34891013]So in other words, ocean exploration just reached its lowest point in history? :v:[/QUOTE]
"Ocean exploration hit's rock bottom."
"Oceanographic research hit's new lows"
[editline]27th February 2012[/editline]
In related science news, space exploration is looking up.
The depths of the ocean scare me more than space. Space is vast and cold and shit, but there isn't any life to be seen. The fucking ocean is full of terror inducing creatures the farther down you go. It's like an alien world down there.
[QUOTE=T2L_Goose;34891043]The depths of the ocean scare me more than space. Space is vast and cold and shit, but there isn't any life to be seen. The fucking ocean is full of terror inducing creatures the farther down you go.[/QUOTE]
Like this dude here?
[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/PbFS0.jpg[/IMG]
[QUOTE=T2L_Goose;34891043]The depths of the ocean scare me more than space. Space is vast and cold and shit, but there isn't any life to be seen. The fucking ocean is full of terror inducing creatures the farther down you go. It's like an alien world down there.[/QUOTE]
It's like space except we definitely know there are aliens down there.
[QUOTE=GlebGuy;34890712]If there are sea-creatures that can survive under incredible amount of pressure in the sea, we can probably find some of them and learn from them and maybe use the same design on the ships?[/QUOTE]
Clearly you don't understand how they work.
They can survive down there because the pressure inside their body is the same as the outside, and since the pressure in our bodies is far far lower, we get crushed, meaning we have to be contained in a super strong vessel to survive.
Which is also why if you took one of these creatures to the surface they would basically explode because the pressure is to low to coup with the pressure inside them.
The more you know!
[QUOTE=Rastadogg5;34891117]Clearly you don't understand how they work.
They can survive down there because the pressure inside their body is the same as the outside, and since the pressure in our bodies is far far lower, we get crushed, meaning we have to be contained in a super strong vessel to survive.
Which is also why if you took one of these creatures to the surface they would [b]basically explode[/b] because the pressure is to low to coup with the pressure inside them.
The more you know![/QUOTE]
And they do on a regular basis. Sometimes trawlers catch things and they look nothing like what scientists see when they dive.
[editline]27th February 2012[/editline]
To be honest, I'm with the DOER team on this one. As much as I love Bransons and friends drive and adventurous spirit, I'd rather they work on making subs that can bring fourth progress rather than monetary gain. Though I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't [i]abso-fucking-lutely love[/i] to have that plane sub thing.
I want to be the 3rd person to hit rock bottom :(
[QUOTE=Glitch360;34890452]It's probably pretty fucking dark down there, there is no way you'd get me down there
[editline]26th February 2012[/editline]
I mean, you likely don't have more than 5-10 feet of visibility and you're surrounded by open water. Who knows what's lurking there[/QUOTE]
Dark indeed. Pitch black. You run out of light long before you reach the bottom.
What's even worse, is the submarines designed to dive that deep are small. Very small. There's no room to get up and walk around. So you're stuck for hours in a small cramped space, with limited light, surrounded by only darkness and the unknown.
Sounds fun, doesn't it?
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