The Mariana Trench: What’s Going on Down There??
When’s the last time you and your friends were out on the town and the subject of Earth’s deepest oceanic trenches came up? Half of you are probably out there are thinking “That’s happened to me within the last 12 hours.” If so, this is most certainly the blog for you. If not, buckle up because you’re in for an absolute spin around the block to see what’s going on at the bottom of the Mariana Trench.
Pictured above, straight off the press from google images, is an aerial view of the Mariana Trench, which is the deepest oceanic trench on Earth. It is also right next to Guam and Ulithi Atoll, everyone’s favorite Atoll. There’s lots of crazy stuff going on in the Pacific, but this arguably takes the cake as the craziest. Its main competitors are Hawaii, the Great Barrier Reef, and probably also the Pacific garbage patch. Additionally, it’s worth noting that we know more about space than the deepest depths of the ocean: therefore this blog is a brief overview of something we know nothing about. Let’s get into it.
There’s lots of diagrams to pick from, but I think this is the big one. It’s deeper than Mount Everest is tall. For all those at home who have never heard of Mount Everest, Mount Everest is tall. Glad we caught your attention with this one. For those of you who are fiending for the measurements in a more applicable form, it’s 6.825 miles deep. These are simply ridiculous statistics, not only for any oceanic trench but for Earth’s geographic features in general. Wrap your mind around that one.
Some of you less experienced naturalists may be wondering how something like this forms. Does it get dug out? Has it eroded? Is it some kind of hoax or conspiracy? What we’re looking at right here is actually a subduction zone between the Pacific Plate and the Mariana Plate. The western edge of the Pacific Plate has been around for about 170 million years and is therefore cool and dense. Overall very chill. The Mariana Plate is far less chill and therefore is scientifically “high-strung.” Due to this difference, the Pacific Plate gets subducted beneath the Mariana Plate, creating a huge height difference and Earth’s deepest trench. Enough geology. Let’s get to know some crazy characters from around the trench.
I am proud to present to you this Goblin Shark. These fellas grow to be about 10–13 feet long and are extremely rare. Factoring into that is the fact that there’s not much light down there so probably tough to see many. While Wikipedia wastes no time body shaming the Goblin Shark, pointing out its “flabby body” and “small fins,” I assure you that this is still not an animal you want to run into in the depths of the ocean. These creepy dudes have also been known to exists in areas besides the trench, but given their deep sea nature they had to be included here.
We also have Osedax, known affectionately as Zombie Worms. These worms are known to devour the bones of deceased sea creatures such as whales. While they don’t have mouthes, they secrete acid which dissolves the bones pre-ingestion. Neat! They also don’t have stomachs. I’m not going to get into how that works. Check this too — not only do they eat the bones of these whales, but they then hide inside the dissolved holes in the bone to hide from predators. Imagine eating the inside of your house to make space for you to crash. Equal parts ingenious and unfeasible (for humans.)
Third resident of the day is the Dumbo Octopus, named for a neighborhood in Brooklyn. These octopi prefer to live in cold, abyssal trenches, hence their inclusion in this article. Also a fun fact is that these octopi do not produce ink. Given that they live so deep in the ocean this probably makes sense as it would be mostly useless. They are the most cold-hearted octopus in the ocean.
The last trenchdweller I’m bringing you for now is the Black Seadevil Anglerfish, which very smartly has a light attached to its face to see things. While other deep ocean dwellers overcome light problems by eating their carrots (metaphorically) the Seadevil takes an old fashioned approach that your grandpa might’ve suggested and it works just fine. Heartening to see some old fashioned values at work even in abyssal depths. They are also characterised by “gelatinous, mostly scaleless, globose bodies” and as you see in the picture above are shaped almost like a football. The mouth also takes up most of the fish. Also, interestingly enough, they are found in tropical and temperate zones, despite spending much of their lives so deep in that it doesn’t matter. Not judging just observing.
As you are now able to tell, this is a very large trench with lots of interesting residents who just like hanging out down there. The high alpine reaches of Earth have mountain goats, and the lowest oceanic trenches have Goblin Sharks and Seadevils. Different strokes for different folks. There is much more info out there but if you really want it just google it. Besides that, check out the patreon or our website to support. ‘Till we run it back.
