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Concept
Challenger Deep
Summary
The Challenger Deep is the deepest known point of the seabed of Earth. Its depth is measured at by direct measurement from deep-diving submersibles, remotely operated underwater vehicles and benthic landers, and (sometimes) slightly more by sonar bathymetry.
The Challenger Deep is located in the western Pacific Ocean, at the southern end of the Mariana Trench, near the Mariana Islands. According to the August 2011 version of the GEBCO Gazetteer of Undersea Feature Names, the Challenger Deep is deep at . This location is in the ocean territory of the Federated States of Micronesia.
The depression is named after the British Royal Navy survey ship , whose expedition of 1872–1876 made the first recordings of its depth. The high water pressure at this depth makes designing and operating exploratory craft difficult. The first descent by any vehicle was by Jacques Piccard and Don Walsh in the bathyscaphe Trieste in January 1960. During the next 50 years, 3 unpiloted visits were launched in 1996, 1998 and 2009. In March 2012, a solo descent was made by film director James Cameron in the deep-submergence vehicle Deepsea Challenger. Between 28 April and 4 May 2019, the DSV Limiting Factor led by Victor Vescovo completed four crewed dives to the bottom of Challenger Deep. Between 6 June and 26 June 2020, the DSV Limiting Factor added six completed dives during the first Ring of Fire Expedition. The deep-sea submersible Fendouzhe (奋斗者, Striver) completed a crewed dive to the bottom of the Challenger Deep on 10 November 2020 with three scientists onboard whilst livestreaming the descent. Between 1 March and 13 April 2021, the DSV Limiting Factor's second Ring of Fire Expedition added five completed dives. During the third Ring of Fire Expedition in the summer of 2022, the DSV Limiting Factor made an additional nine descents to the Challenger Deep. As of July 2022, twenty-seven people have descended to Challenger Deep.
The Challenger Deep is a relatively small slot-shaped depression in the bottom of a considerably larger crescent-shaped oceanic trench, which itself is an unusually deep feature in the ocean floor.
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