When Osvaldo Ulloa led an expedition 8,000 meters under the sea to an area where no human had ever been, his team found more questions than answers.
The meeting of two plates in the eastern Pacific Ocean created the Atacama Trench.
The director of the Millennium Institute of Oceanography at the University of Concepcion told Agence France-Presse that they pulled off the feat of taking humans into the trench.
This video shows a "pasture" of holothurians (sea cucumbers) grazing at the bottom of the Atacama Trench, near 8,060 meters. This is the most dense collection of holothurians I have ever seen in a Hadal Trench, showing the large volume of life in this deep ocean ecosystem. pic.twitter.com/fDHBC3IY0j
— Victor Vescovo (@VictorVescovo) January 22, 2022
He was joined by Victor Vescovo and Millennium assistant director Ruben Escribano on a 12-week journey through the 5,900-kilometer (3, 650-mile) long trench off the northern coast of Chile.
By the time the expedition reached a depth of 100 meters, it was already in darkness, with the crew only able to see what the submarine could illuminate.
Remarkable examples of deep-sea life were found further down.
Continued our dives in the Atacama Trench yesterday with Dr. Ruben Escribano of Chile. Dove to ~7,200 meters near the Richards Deep, witnessing growths of ultra-deep ocean coral, Elpidids Peniagone (the small animals), and unknown colors (bacterial matting?) on rock outcroppings. pic.twitter.com/ouM7PuCeEK
— Victor Vescovo (@VictorVescovo) January 24, 2022
We came across geological structures, and we saw a type of sea cucumbers that were probably new to us.
We discovered that the communities that feed on chemical and inorganic compounds were found in the Atacama Trench.
That opened up a lot of questions about what those compounds are. What type ofbacteria are they? We don't know, we're going to have to go back there.
The species of amphipods found on the expedition were closely related to shrimp. They were discovered in the same place.
The Peru-Chile Trench is also known as the Atacama Trench and is where the South American and North American tectonic plates converge.
It has been the location of many earthquakes.
We will put three sensors on the South American Plate and two on the Nazca Plate to see how the ocean floor changes.
For the moment, these types of sensors only exist on land.
Completed the 1st human descent to the bottom of the Atacama Trench with Dr. Osvaldo Ulloa of Chile. Preliminary maximum depth of 8,062 m. Extraordinary marine life observed: very many holothurians, rock faces showing chemosynthesis, and the largest bacterial tendrils I've seen. pic.twitter.com/7IZEyyoAQ4
— Victor Vescovo (@VictorVescovo) January 21, 2022
Scientists will be able to predict where the next earthquake will take place with the help of the devices.
Ulloa said that the project is the largest experiment that has been done in underwater geology in Chile.
The second half of this year will see the placement of the sensors.
There is a lot of interest from the international community to put more sensors in this region to study all the processes associated with the collision of these two plates.
Agence France-Presse
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