Challenger Expedition Revealed Mariana Trench

From December 1872 to May 1876, the Royal Society of London and the Royal Navy sent HMS Challenger around the world under British scientist Sir Charles Wyville Thomson to conduct one of the first major studies of the deep ocean. The ship carried 291 kilometers of Italian hemp rope for lowering sounding leads and other scientific equipment to the seabed. Its crew completed 492 deep-sea soundings, including an 8,184-meter measurement between Guam and Palau in March 1875, that revealed the Mariana Trench. The expedition also discovered about 4,700 previously unknown marine species and helped establish oceanography as a scientific field.

Previous Fact Next Fact