After one of the daring ocean expeditions in history, scientists have provided accurate data on the depth of every of the world’s five major oceans.
Data from the Five Deeps Expedition (FDE), which conducted dives in 2018–2019, reveal for the primary time the situation of the deepest points within the Indian and Southern Oceans.
According to the information, the deepest point within the Indian Ocean is at a depth of seven,187 meters within the Java Trench, just off the coast of Indonesia, while the deepest point within the Southern Ocean is at a depth of seven,432 meters within the South Sandwich Trench.
Before the FDE, the deepest regions of some oceans, resembling the bottom point on Earth – the Challenger Deep beneath the Mariana Trench within the Pacific Ocean – were quite well-known.
According to the expedition, the Challenger Deep still holds the record for the deepest point on Earth at 10,924 meters (6.8 miles).
Although the Brownson Deep within the Puerto Rico Trench is the deepest point within the Atlantic Ocean, it descends to an astonishing depth of 8,378 m.
The Five Deeps Expedition was a successful 10-month attempt to succeed in the deepest point in each of the world’s five major oceans: the Atlantic, Southern, Indian, Pacific and Arctic.
The expedition traveled 47,000 nautical miles and included 39 dives using Limiting Factor (LV), a two-person submarine built by Florida-based Triton Submarines.
The LV is supplied with a state-of-the-art multi-beam echosounder that sends a sequence of sound pulses to look at any area of the seabed.
A team of scientists, including scientists from the British Geological Survey, published a brand new study on the mission’s leads to the Geoscience Data Journal.
The investigation was conducted by Cassandra Bongiovanni, FDE’s chief hydrographic inspector.
“The Global Five Deeps Expedition gave us a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to accurately map some of the most remote and deepest places in the world and confirm those depths using measurements obtained by underwater and support landers,” she said.
“With access to cutting-edge technology covering the complete depth of the ocean, we were capable of map an area just like mainland France in only 10 months.
“About 61% of the places we visited have never been mapped using current technology.”
Before Five Deeps, there have been serious doubts in regards to the deepest places within the Indian and Southern Oceans.
For example, the Java Trench and the Diamantina Fracture Zone were previously considered two candidate sites for the deepest point of the Indian Ocean (DFZ).
According to FDE statistics, the Java Trench is currently the deepest point within the Indian Ocean and has a depth of seven,187 meters (4.4 miles), which exceeds the 7,019 meters of the DFZ.
Before the FDE, the South Sandwich Trench, which lies north of the Antarctic continent, had not been adequately explored.
The South Sandwich Trench is the world’s only sub-zero hadal zone (deeper than 6,000 meters or 20,000 feet).
The newly designated Faktorska Deep, positioned on the southern end of the ditch, is 7,432 meters deep.
The recent data also shows that although Meteor Deep is the deepest point of the South Sandwich Trench at 8,265 meters, it’s positioned throughout the waters of the Atlantic Ocean, which is why Factorian Deep receives the title.
This study also found that the horizon deep beneath the Tonga Trench is the second-deepest point within the Pacific Ocean (at a depth of 10,816 meters).
The discoveries required the $35 million Triton DSV limiting factor – the world’s only underwater vessel able to submerging to the bottom depths of the ocean – (11,000 meters).
The Limiting Factor is the primary vehicle in history to repeatedly reach the deepest point of the ocean.
Only specialized microorganisms can live at such depths, that are characterised by high pressures, great darkness and practically freezing temperatures.
The privately sponsored research vehicle is designed to explore the ocean’s deep hadal zone, which lies in V-shaped depressions at depths starting from 20,000 to 36,000 feet.
Victor Vescovo, an American former CIA officer turned wealthy investor who was on board LV on all five flights, launched FDE.
Victor Vescovo became the fourth person in history to succeed in Challenger Deep on a mission in May 2019.
Vescovo made five dives within the Mariana Trench in seven days.
Along with three recent species of marine life and the bottom piece of recovered mantle rock, Vescovo and his crew discovered a plastic bag and a candy wrapper, a sobering reminder of the extent of plastic pollution.
