Source: CCTV
The "Strivers" manned submersible has successfully divened to the 10,000-meter deep sea of the Mariana Trench three times, and the 4500-meter "Deep Sea Warrior" manned submersible has also undertaken a number of diving tasks, but its diving position is in the shallower part of the Mariana Trench.
Today (18th), the "Deep Sea Warrior" carried out the 297th dive, which is also the fourth dive of the "Deep Sea Warrior" in this manned deep diving expedition. Since arriving in the Pacific Ocean, the Deep Sea Warrior has undergone three dives, how complete is today's diving mission? Relying on the camera and video equipment it carried, the Deep Sea Warrior brought back a large number of precious photos and videos. What does a deep sea of more than 4,000 meters look like? What are the creatures?
White carbonate rocks were found at a depth of 4,000 meters in the pre-arc area of Magou
The footage shown at the scene today is brought back by the two previous dives of the Deep Sea Warrior. Du Mengran of the Institute of Deep Sea of the Chinese Academy of Sciences introduced that the "deep sea warrior" dived at a depth of 4,000 meters in the pre-arc area of the Mariana Trench, and most of the bottom of the area was black rock, but this time it was very unexpected, and a white carbonate rock was found at such a depth.
Leaking fluids from deep earth form white carbonate rocks on the ocean floor
Du Mengran, Institute of Deep Sea, Chinese Academy of Sciences: Carbonate rocks are very common in our lives, but the emergence and existence of carbonate rocks in the ocean require certain conditions. The tectonic activity in this area tore the earth apart one by one, and the sea water seeped into the deep part of the earth through the fissure, and reacted with the deep rock to release the gas methane, which needed to release pressure, and came up along the crack, and through a series of reactions, the very special white carbonate rock we saw was generated.
The seafloor structure forms a special ecological community
What key details does the carbonate rock reveal?
Du Mengran, Institute of Deep Sea, Chinese Academy of Sciences: If you zoom in on the picture, you will see very obvious tubular organisms, which are very typical marine organisms that feed on leaking fluids. In another sample photo taken, there are very regular pits on the carbonate rock, and such pits are very consistent with the traces of biological activity of some bifids.
Such a leakage process, the deep part of the earth's methane gas is released into this area, methane through oxidation and other processes, providing a very important carbon source for cold spring organisms, is a very important source of materials and energy in the cold spring ecosystem. The Deep Sea Warrior's dives today are also designed to look for the range of cold spring activity or the leakage of cold springs that are still active.
Sponges: The most primitive and the lowest multicellular marine organisms
The creature in the picture is called sponge, the most primitive and elementary multicellular creature on Earth, living in the ocean at least half a billion years ago.
The creature like a windmill in the picture is also an animal. It is stretched, but when it is full, it will close and go to sleep.
Shown in the picture is a deep-sea cold-water coral with trunk-like annual rings that can serve as a good paleogeological thermometer and tell us how the environment in which it grows has changed.
The researchers introduced that this fish is called rattail cod, which is a very lively fish and can often be seen during diving.
This very beautiful fish is called the fairy fish, and its habits are very different from that of the mouse-tailed cod, which likes to stay quietly on the bottom of the sea. Each dive encounters different creatures with different forms and habits.
The abyss hook shrimp is an expert hunter
Below the depth of the sea 6000 meters is called the abyss area, the Chinese Academy of Sciences Institute of Deep Sea Cai Shanya introduced one of the protagonists of the abyss area of the abyss hook shrimp. However, all the remains of organisms that fall in the abyss area can be located by the abyss hook shrimp. It is called a "shrimp" just because it looks like a shrimp, but it is not actually a shrimp. The shrimp we commonly see began to differentiate 400 to 500 million years ago, and after hundreds of millions of years of evolution, the differences have been very large.
Original title: Rattail Cod, Fairy Fish, Abyss Hook Shrimp ... "Deep Sea Warrior" brings a deep-sea 4,000-meter picture