An attempt to measure the infinite

Ever wondered why the unending blue attracts us, even scares us sometimes? Is it not just what we see but also an anticipation of what we cannot, that makes the dark blue veils mysterious to us; and one question that stands above all- how deep is the ocean precisely?

Courtesy : Pixabay How deep to dive?

We are part of an era where no realm of nature has been left untouched. Be it our adventurous will or a sense of superiority over all other living beings, the word 'unexplored' in its technical meaning has almost ceased to exist. The mystery that kisses the land, and floats away each second, has had our most sincere attention since forever.

We may have to plunge at a depth to the extent of 2.3 miles (more than 12000 feet) before we hit the ocean bed. However, that is merely the average value. It is important to mention in this context that recreational scuba divers only dive up to a depth of around 130 feet.

Courtesy: DoN CIO A diver in the depths

The deepest point in the Earth's oceans is the Challenger Deep lying under the western Pacific Ocean in the southern end of the Mariana Trench. Geographically this is located far southwest of the US territory of Guam. Interesting to know, the Mariana Trench could have engulfed the entire Mt.Everest and more.

The first attempt at assessing the ocean's depth was made by the British survey ship HMS Challenger (as a venture of the Royal Navy) in 1875. The maximum recorded depth was 8184 m (26,850 feet). In 1951, a namesake of the same discovered a deeper point. This time 10,900 m (35,760 feet).

Courtesy: Wikimedia commons An aerial view of Guam, the land closest to the Mariana Trench

Another Royal Navy vessel also called the HMS Challenger returned here in 1951 to take further measurements.They used echo sounding to discover an even deeper location at 10,900 meters (35,760 feet). The Challenger Deep got its named after the Royal Navy vessel that made these measurements. The depth was determined to be 10,971 meters (35,994 feet) with a potential ± 22-meter error in 2009 using sonar mapping by some researchers at University of Hawaii operated-RV Kilo Moana. The most recent measurement, done by the United States Center for Coastal & Ocean Mapping in 2010, determined the depth at 10,994 meters (± 40-meter accuracy). (Reference: Deep Ocean Surveys)