The Mariana Trench: The Discovery Of The Mariana Island?

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The Mariana Trench By: McKenzie Williams 6th Period My topic is the Mariana Trench. The Mariana Trench is located in the Pacific Ocean, just east of the 14 Mariana Islands near Japan. We do not know exactly when the Mariana Trench was formed but we do know when it was discovered. The Mariana Trench was discovered on March 23, 1875. The first detected depths of the Mariana Trench were recorded by the British ship, the H.M.S Challenger. The Challenger scientists recorded the depth of the Mariana Trench to be 4,475 fathoms which is around 5 miles or 8 kilometers if you convert the units. In order to do this, the scientists used a weighted sounding rope. In 1951 a different British ship, the H.M.S Challenger II, came back to that spot with an echo-sounder and found a depth of about 7 miles which is around 11 kilometers. These two vessels played an important role in the discovery of the Mariana Trench so their names are still …show more content…

Technically, there is no end to the formation of the Mariana Trench. Over time, it could possibly get deeper. This is because lithospheric plates do not stop moving. It appears to us like nothing is happening, but truly the lithospheric plates are constantly moving very slowly right underneath our feet. We know this information based on the discoveries of Alfred Wegener, Harry Hess, and many others that contributed to the theory of plate tectonics. Alfred Wegener was the first person to provide evidence on plate tectonics and continential drift. His theory of the supercontinent Pangea has been a huge leep in the theory of plate tectonics. Harry Hess developed the theory of seafloor spreading. He figured out that the newer crust closer to the boundaries in plates were definitely a sign that the seafloor was spreading and that the plates in Earth's crust were moving and creating different

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