Mariana Trench and descent to Challenger Deep
Fosa de las Marianas y descenso al Challenger Deep
- Date
- 1951 / 1960 · confidence high
- Place
- Challenger Deep, Mariana Trench
- Credited to
- HMS Challenger II (10,900 m sounding, 1951); Jacques Piccard and Don Walsh in the bathyscaphe Trieste (1960)
- People
- 👤 Jacques Piccard1922–2008
- Field
- Cosmos & Earth
What was discovered
The Challenger Deep, at about 10,935 m, is the deepest point in the oceans. Piccard and Walsh reached it in 1960 in the bathyscaphe Trieste and observed life on the seafloor, showing that extreme pressure does not preclude life.
Coordinates of the Challenger Deep. James Cameron made a solo descent in 2012 and Victor Vescovo repeated it in 2019.
What it led to
- Crewed and robotic abyssal exploration (Kaikō, Nereus, Limiting Factor)
- Trench (hadal) biology
- Discovery of microplastics in the deep sea
Built on
- Challenger expedition: birth of oceanography1872-1876
- Auguste Piccard's bathyscaphe
Made possible
- Bathyscaphe
- Deep-diving submersibles