1. What Lies Beneath?

2. It has been said that the deep oceans are the last unexplored region of Earth. So, there are probably a lot of organisms living there yet to be discovered, and some that we have lived so far only in our imaginations.

3. The deepest place in the ocean is the Marianas Trench. Located in the Pacific almost 7 miles below the ocean’s surface, it has only been visited once by humans. Why?

4. What are some of the challenges to life in the deep ocean? 1. Pressure 2. Temperature 3. Darkness

5. Let’s start with pressure. We use the word a lot, but what does it mean here? In the deep ocean, pressure is being exerted by the weight of the water. The deeper you go, the more water there is above you, therefore more pressure there is.

6. The pressure exerted at the deepest part of the ocean would be the same as if an elephant were standing on a baby block…. With two other elephants standing on its shoulders! (Can you imagine what would happen to the block? Or the elephant, for that matter!)

7. So how do deep-sea creatures deal with this environmental extreme? The balance the ocean’s pressure by having equal pressure inside of them. What would happen to a deep -sea creature that is brought to the surface?

8. The next challenge to consider is temperature. For the most part, the ocean floor is very cold. But we already know that there are organisms that deal with extreme cold very well. The big surprise might be that not ALL deep-ocean locations are cold. Some have their own heating system: hydrothermal vents.

9. Hydrothermal vents, also known as “black smokers”, is like an underwater geyser of superheated water - with water being released at 570 degrees Fahrenheit!

10. The water remains a liquid due to the high pressure. It does cool when it mixes with the surrounding cold water, and it then provides a nice home for a variety of very unusual organisms, such as tube worms or “Pompeii worms.”

11. These tube worms live right on the chimneys of the vents. The feed on bacteria that also live at the vent. They experience about a 100 degree Fahrenheit temperature difference between their head and tail!

12. As the water leaves the vents and cools, the minerals in the water cools and solidifies. They pile up to form the spouts of the chimneys. The tallest one on record, known as Godzilla, has been measured at 150 feet.

13. These deep-sea communities hold many mysteries. They were only recently discovered. At these locations, organisms which were never thought possible thrive in great numbers. What else could the unexplored depths of the oceans hold?