The Mariana Trench, east of the Philippines, is the deepest place on the planet. At 10,994 meters deep, Mount Everest, the highest point on the planet, could be there and still have more than 2,000 meters available. Despite being an inhospitable place on the ocean floor, there is life there, the vast majority of which is unicellular.
One of these life forms is the foraminifera, which resembles a giant amoeba. This type of being usually produces shells of calcium carbonate, but at the bottom of the Mariana Trench, where the pressure is a thousand times greater than that of the surface, this material dissolves. So they end up using proteins, organic polymers, and sand to create their shells.
But what really dominates the deepest place on Earth are bacteria, which feed on the methane and sulfur emitted by the Earth’s crust. Some of them are also able to feed on the hydrocarbons present in oil and natural gas.
Larger animals in the Mariana Trench
In addition to single-celled beings, larger animals also live in the Mariana Trench – no, we’re not talking about the Megalodon. Many of them are completely bizarre and look like something out of an alien movie.
The vast majority of animals that live there have adapted to that environment, some have developed their own luminosity to attract prey and mates and others have developed enormous eyes to be able to capture any trace of light that reaches so deeply. There are still those that have developed to try to blend in with the environment, becoming translucent or red, managing to absorb any blue light and remaining completely hidden.
Sharing the depth of the Mariana Trench, there are:
These animals feed mainly on the bacteria that exist there, but for the most part they eat small debris that falls from the surface. When the carcasses of larger animals, such as whales, fall into the Mariana Trench, these bizarre creatures have a real feast.
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Source: Olhar Digital
Emma Smith is a thought-provoker and a writer at Run Down Bulletin. With a talent for crafting compelling arguments, she provides insightful and thought-provoking coverage of the most pressing opinion
