Introduction
Deep-sea exploration is the investigation of the physical, chemical and biological conditions of ocean waters and the seabed for scientific or commercial purposes. Deep-sea exploration is a component of underwater exploration and is considered a relatively recent human activity compared to other fields of geophysical research, as the deep depths of the sea have only been investigated in recent years. The ocean depths still remain a largely unexplored part of the Earth.
Scientific deep-sea exploration can be said to have begun in the late 18th or early 19th century, when French scientist Pierre-Simon Laplace investigated the average depth of the Atlantic Ocean by observing tides registered off the coast of Brazil and Africa. However, the exact date of his test is not known. He calculated the depth to be 3,962 meters (12,999 feet), a figure later proved to be very accurate by echo-sounding methods. Later, due to the increasing demand for
With the installation of submarine cables, it was necessary to accurately measure the depth of the seabed, and the first tests were carried out on the seabed. The first deep-sea life forms were discovered in 1864 when Norwegian researchers Michael Sars and Georg Ossian Sars sampled a stalked crinoid at a depth of 3,109 meters (10,200 ft). British scientists conducted a unique ocean study aboard HMS Challenger. The Challenger probe covered 127,653 kilometers (68,927 nmi) and hundreds of samples were.
collected by onboard scientists. and hydrological measurements, discovering more than 4,700 new species of marine life, including deep-sea creatures. They are also credited with providing the first real view of major seafloor features, such as deep ocean basins. In 1960, Jack Picard and US Navy Lieutenant Donald Walsh descended into the Mariana Trench, the deepest part of the world’s oceans, in the Trieste Basin. In the 20th century, deep-sea exploration advanced significantly through a series of technological innovations, from the sonar system, which could detect the presence of underwater objects using sound, to manned submersibles.
Despite these advances in deep-sea exploration, the journey to the bottom of the ocean is still a challenging experience. Scientists are working to find ways to study this extreme environment from shipboard. With increasingly sophisticated use of fiber optics, satellites and remote-controlled robots, scientists hope to one day explore the deep sea from a computer screen on deck without leaving a ferry.
Deep sea community
Areas below the epicenter are further divided into zones, beginning with the bathyal zone (also considered the continental slope), which extends from 200 to 3000 m above sea level and is essentially transitional, with elements of the overlying shelf and abyss. contains Below this zone, the deep sea consists of the abyssal zone between 3000 and 6000 m of ocean depth and the Hadal zone (6000–11,000 m). Food consists of organic material known as ‘sea ice’ and carcasses from the above production zone, which is scarce in terms of spatial and temporal distribution. Instead of relying on gas for their buoyancy, many deep-sea species have jelly-like flesh composed mostly of glycosaminoglycans, which give them a very low density. It is common among deep-water squid to combine gelatinous tissue with a floating chamber filled with a coelomic fluid composed of ammonium chloride, a metabolic waste product that is lighter than the surrounding water.
Midwater fish have special adaptations to cope with these conditions; they are small, usually 25 cm (less than 10 inches). They have elongated bodies with lean, watery muscles and skeletal structures. They often have extendable, drooping jaws with recurved teeth. Because of the sparse distribution and lack of light, finding a partner for breeding is difficult, and most organisms are hermaphroditic. Because light is so scarce, fish have larger than normal, tubular eyes with only rod cells. Their upward field of vision allows them to seek out silhouettes of prey. However, prey fish also have adaptations to cope with predation. These adaptations are mainly concerned with reducing silhouette, a form of camouflage. The two main ways this is achieved are by lateral compression of the body to reduce their shadow area and fluorescence through bioluminescence. This is achieved by producing light from the ventral photophores, which create such a light intensity that the underside of the fish tends to appear similar to the background light. For more sensitive vision in low light, some fish have a reflector behind the retina. Flashlight fish have these plus photophores, a compound they use to detect eye flashes in other fish.
Deep-sea life is almost entirely dependent on sinking living and dead organic matter that falls to depths of up to 100 meters per day. Additionally, only 1% to 3% of surface production reaches the seafloor, mostly in the form of sea ice. Large food spills, such as whale carcasses, also occur, and studies have shown that these may occur more often than currently believed. There are many scavengers that feed mainly or entirely on large food falls, and distances between whale carcasses have been estimated at 8 km. Additionally, there are a number of filter feeders that feed on organic particles using tentacles, such as Freyella elegans.
Despite being so isolated, deep-sea life is still damaged by human interaction with the oceans. The London Convention aims to protect the marine environment from the disposal of waste such as sewage sludge and radioactive waste. Deep-sea trawling also damages biodiversity by destroying deep-sea habitats that can last for years. Another human activity that has changed the biology of the deep sea is mining. One study found that fish populations at one mining site declined at six months and three years, and after twenty-six years, the population had returned to pre-disturbance levels.
The challenges of exploring these depths.
The product’s record descent by a freediver is 253 meters (830 ft) as of 2012. The scuba record is 318 meters (1,043 ft) as of June 2005 and 534 meters (1,752 ft) on the Comex Hydra 8 experimental dive in 1988.
Atmospheric diving suits isolate the diver from ambient pressure and allow divers to ascend approximately 600 meters (1,969 ft) into the air. For more discovery, explorers of the finished sea must rely on this resistant chamber specially set up for protection and near-distance discovery. American explorer William Beebe, a naturalist at Columbia University in New York, and Harvard University engineer Otis Barton, working at the Institute, created the first propagating bathysphere for the Ocean Program of the Division of Undiversible Studies. In 1930, Beebe and Barton came close to distilling at 435 meters (1,427 ft) and in 1934 at 923 meters (3,028 ft). The potential danger is that showers could not return to the surface if the observation was broken. During the dive, BB pushed out of a pier and reported his observations by telephone to the bar on the surface among the browsers.
A number of crewed submersibles are now in service around the world. For example, the American-built DSV Alvin, operated by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, is a three-person submarine equipped with a mechanical handle to collect bottom samples during dives up to 3,600 meters (11,811 feet). Alvin was designed to carry a crew of 4,000 m (13,123 ft) people. The submarine is equipped with lights, cameras, computers, and highly maneuverable robotic arms to collect samples in the dark ocean. Alvin made his first test dive in 1964 and has made more than 3,000 dives to an average altitude of 1,829 meters (6,001 feet). Alvin has also been involved in various research projects, such as the discovery of giant tube worms on the Pacific Ocean floor near the Galapagos Islands.
Author: :Samindya Rathnaweera