A scientific expedition explored an abyssal area where it was not believed that they had large animals. They also saw rare rocks.
The Mariana Trench, located in the western Pacific Ocean near Guam, home to the deepest place on Earth, the Challenger Deep, mysterious as attractive, large expeditions have tried to conquer. The last to go to that area, the Schmidt Ocean Institute Falkor aboard a ship registered new fish species more than 8000 meters under water. So far, they had not seen fish below 7700 meters.
Instead of focusing on the deeper Mariana point, the expedition Hadal Ecoxystem Studies (Hades), was set at different depths, in order to improve understanding of the interaction between life and geological processes throughout the area. He left other research deepwater by sampling a wide range of environments using five special vehicles that can reach depths specifically directed from 5000 to 10,600 meters.
“Many studies have quick to travel to the bottom of the trench, but from an ecological point of view is very limited. It’s like trying to understand a mountain ecosystem just by looking at its summit, “said Jeff Drazen, scientific co-director of the expedition.
The expedition broke several records of live fish caught or seen on video at greater depth. A 8143 meters a completely unknown variety of snail fish was discovered, which surprised scientists when he met several times during the experiments seabed. The translucent white fish had shaped fins broad wings and a tail eel, and slowly slid over the bottom. So far, they had not seen fish below 7,700 meters deep.
In addition, the team won the deeper rock samples ever recovered from the inner side of the pit, which represent some of the earliest volcanic eruptions arc of the Mariana Islands. These rocks can provide important information on the geology of trench system.
The results of this research will help answer important questions about the largest and least explored habitat on Earth, including organisms live there and how life adapts to these extreme conditions and the amount of atmospheric carbon that reaches the deep sea and if it affects food chains.
The new species discovered in this expedition will provide an insight into the physiological adaptations of animals to this high pressure environment
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