The Mariana Trench

The Mariana Trench

By: Luke Yang

The Mariana Trench

By: Luke Yang

Table Of Contents

Title Page..................................................2 Table of Contents......................................3 Intro...........................................................4 Measurements...........................................5 Animals that live there..............................6 Geology.....................................................7 Descents to Challengers Deep..................8 Conclusion................................................9 Bibliography.............................................10 Glossary....................................................11 About the Author......................................12 The Mariana Islands

The Mariana Trench is the deepest place in the world. Even though it is the deepest place on earth, it is not the place closest to the earth’s core. That is because the earth is not a perfect sphere and it is 25 km less at the poles than the equator. As a result, some parts of the Arctic Ocean are closer to the core of the Earth than Challengers Deep (The deepest point of the Mariana Trench). Like other trenches, the Mariana Trench has been declared a nuclear waste disposal site. It is because people hope that the tectonic plate subduction will push it deeper into the earth’s mantle. However, nuclear waste disposal is prohibited there by the international law. At Challengers Deep, the water pressure is over 1086 bars. That is more than 1000 times the pressure of normal water. Therefore, not many animals live in the Mariana Trench. As you can see, the Mariana Trench holds many very interesting things.

Measurements The measurements of the Mariana Trench are probably one of the most superb in the world. The depth of the Mariana Trench is enough to fit Mt. Everest and three Burj Khalifas. It is 36,070 feet deep. Mt. Everest is 29,035 feet deep and Burj Khalifa is 2,723. The Mariana Trench also has a considerable width and length. It is 1580 miles long, but only 43 miles wide. The Mariana Trench is located in the Pacific Ocean .It is 200 miles southwest of Guam. It is also at the coordinates: 11.3500째 N, 142.2000째 E. You have to admit that the largest trench in the world, the Mariana Trench, is humongous.

Animals That Live There The Mariana Trench has more animals living there than you may think. There are only a few animals that live in the Mariana Trench. Some people were surprised to find any at all because of the pressure down there. The animals also have to be able to survive in 1 to 4째C to live at the Mariana Trench because of the temperature of the water. The animals that live in the Mariana Trench are very interesting. Some are larger, like the 1-foot long sole (or flounder) and the shrimp. Others can be much smaller, like the large amount of Xenophyophores in the water.

Apparently, the bottom of the ocean was light and clear. As a result, some scientists think they found other animals living at the bottom of the Mariana Trench. The animals they think they found were probably either a sea cucumber or a flatfish. The animals living in the Mariana Trench are undoubtedly more interesting then the ones living on the surface.

This is a shrimp found in challengers deep.

Geology The Mariana Trench has a very interesting geology. The Mariana Trench was made when the Pacific plate was drawn under the Mariana plate. The subduction also indirectly caused the creation of the Mariana Islands. At the western edge of the Pacific plate, there is some crucial material that had 170 million years to become dense and compact. The ocean floor is also very smooth. It is because of the volcanoes and earthquakes that keep the earth moving and it makes new layers of sediment that cover up all signs of living organisms. When something goes near it, a bunch of powder erupts. There are many pillow lavas in the Mariana Trench.

Pillow lavas are mounds of lava that were produced by underwater eruptions. Many people were surprised because pillow lavas aren't usually exposed like the ones in the Mariana Trench.As you can see, the Mariana Trench has many things that are special about its formation and things inside it.

The Deepsea Challenger”

Did you know that there is a website for the “Deepsea Challenger” called: http://deepseachallenge.com/

Descents to Challengers Deep So far, four descents to Challengers Deep have been made. The first descent was a manned sub called “The Bathyscaphe Trieste”. The design was Swiss, Italians built it, and the US Navy owns it. It reached the bottom at 1:06 PM on January 3rd, 1960 with US Navy lieutenant Don Walsh and Jacques Piccard on board. Later, in 1996 and 2009, the unmanned ROVs “Kaiko” and “Nereus” followed. These three expeditions all went down to depths from 10,902 m to 10,916 m. Canadian film director James Cameron made the last expedition on March 26, 2012.

He went down in the submarine called "The Deepsea Challenger". These expeditions all are very interesting and taught many scientists about the Mariana Trench.

The Mariana Trench is a tremendous place. It is the kind of place that is perfect for sci-fi movie scenes.

That is probably why James Cameron went down to film some scenes of “Avatar 2”.The Mariana Trench is probably the most interesting trench of all trenches. There is even a band named after it called the Marianas Trench. The Mariana Trench is also 120 times larger than the Grand Canyon. The Grand Canyon is 1902 square miles. This is just one of the many examples of how large the Mariana Trench is. As you can see, this is one of natures many wonders.

The “Deepsea Challenger”, about go down to the Mariana Trench

References 1music.ro. 2008. Regizorul James Cameron a ajuns în cel mai adânc loc de pe Terra. [online] Available at: http://1music.ro/news/regizorul-james-cameron-a-ajunsin-cel-mai-adanc-loc-de-pe-terra/ [Accessed: 22 Jan 2014].

Dailygalaxy.com. 1894. James Cameron --'Avatar' Director Explores Mariana Trench --Deepest Spot of the Planet. [online] Available at: http:// www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2012/03/james-cameron-avatar-director-explores-mariana-trench-deepest-spot-of-the-planet.html [Accessed: 22 Jan 2014].

DEEPSEA CHALLENGE. 1960. About the Mariana Trench - DEEPSEA CHALLENGE Expedition. [online] Available at: http://deepseachallenge.com/theexpedition/mariana-trench/ [Accessed: 22 Jan 2014].

DEEPSEA CHALLENGE. 1960. DEEPSEA CHALLENGE – National Geographic Explorer James Cameron’s Expedition. [online] Available at: http:// deepseachallenge.com/ [Accessed: 22 Jan 2014].

En.wikipedia.org. 2013. Mariana Trench - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. [online] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariana_Trench [Accessed: 22 Jan 2014].

Mail Online. 2012. 'To hell and back': James Cameron is first solo diver to reach deepest point on Earth - but has to race back to surface after hydraulic failure seven miles down. [online] Available at: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2120258/James-Cameron-Mariana-Trench-dive-Film-director-visitsoceans-deepest-point.html [Accessed: 24 Jan 2014].

Photolib.noaa.gov. 2004. NOAA Photo Library. [online] Available at: http://www.photolib.noaa.gov/htmls/expl0083.htm [Accessed: 22 Jan 2014].

Sketchup.google.com. 2008. marianas trench by elvenartist - 3D Warehouse. [online] Available at: x [Accessed: 24 Jan 2014].

Iexplore.com. 2014. Northern Mariana Islands Travel Guide | iExplore. [online] Available at: http://www.iexplore.com/travel-guides/australia-and-south-pacific/ northern-mariana-islands/overview [Accessed: 11 Feb 2014].

Glossary/Index: Avatar 2- A movie made by James Cameron- pg.9 Kaiko- An unmanned submarine sent to the bottom of the Mariana Trench- pg.8 Nereus- An unmanned submarine sent to the bottom of the Mariana Trench- pg.8 The Deepsea Challenger- A manned sub with James Cameron that went to the bottom of the Mariana Trench in 2012- pg.8 The Grand Canyon- A canyon located in Arizona/California-pg.5 The Mariana Trench- A trench located approx. 200mi. southeast from- pg.4, pg.5, pg.6, pg.7, pg.9 Subduction- Drawn below- pg.4, pg.7 Xenophyophores- A type of microbe- pg. 6

About the Author: Luke Yang is a 11 year old boy that goes to Shanghai American School PX ES. He was born in Michigan, USA and right now he lives in Shanghai, China. Currently, he is in 5th grade in Mr. Paci’s class. Luke just moved to Shanghai in the summer of 2013 from Michigan, USA and he still likes Michigan much more than Shanghai. His favorite hobbies are: Minecraft, Legos, and many other building things. His favorite food and favorite animal changes every day, and at about the start of 5 grade, his favorite food was ice cream and his favorite animal was the Komodo Dragon. Other things that he like are some sports and computers. He chose this topic for this book because he is very interested in things that are special in some sort of way. The Mariana Trench, as you can see, is also very special in many ways.

Researching for this book gave Luke lots of new information about things that include the oceans and other stuff that he didn’t know about the Mariana Trench. As you can see, Luke has an interesting life and an interesting reason for writing this book.

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Have you ever wondered what is at the bottom of the deepest place on Earth? Well, you are about to find out. The deepest place in the world is called Challengers Deep in the Mariana Trench. It is a very amazing place because of all the wonders in it. Even though it is so amazing, not many people have went there. That is because it is at the bottom of the largest ocean on earth - the Pacific Ocean. This book explains all about the deepest place on Earth, with many very interesting facts within the threads of it.