Everything Everywhere Daily Challenger Deep and the Mariana Trench
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Oct 27, 2025 Dive into the Mariana Trench and its deepest point, Challenger Deep, where conditions are so extreme that few have ventured there. Explore the history of its mapping, including the challenges faced in measuring depths. Discover past missions, like the Trieste dive, and recent adventures by explorers like James Cameron. Uncover the surprising life forms that thrive in darkness, as well as unsettling findings of human pollution on the seafloor. This journey unveils both the mystery and fragility of our oceans.
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How The Trench Was Formed
- The Mariana Trench formed by subduction as the Pacific Plate is pushed beneath the Mariana Plate.
- This process created the deep crescent trench over tens of millions of years starting ~50–60 million years ago.
Precise Depth And Scale
- Challenger Deep contains multiple adjacent sub-basins with updated bathymetry placing the deepest point at ~10,935 meters ±6 meters.
- That depth is ~6,000 feet deeper than Mount Everest is tall above sea level.
Trieste's Historic 1960 Descent
- Jacques Piccard and Don Walsh reached the bottom in Trieste on January 23, 1960, using a steel sphere and gasoline float for buoyancy.
- The dive took 4 hours 48 minutes down, 20 minutes on the bottom, and 3 hours 15 minutes to ascend.