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Descent: Surface to Hadal Zone

When these happened

12 dated records from 1875 to 2022. Each is drawn as wide as its date is certain — a band is a band because nobody knows the year, not because the drawing is imprecise.

187519001925195019752000HMS Challenger sounds the deep that will bear her name — 1875Trieste reaches the bottom of the Challenger Deep — 1960-01-23Alvin finds hydrothermal vents on the Galapagos Rift — 1977-02Submarine thermal springs on the Galapagos Rift published in Science — 1979Chemoautotrophic symbionts identified in Riftia pachyptila — 1981JAMSTEC's Kaiko reaches the Challenger Deep floor — 1995Multibeam survey reports a 10,984 m maximum sounding — 2010First solo crewed dive to the Challenger Deep — 2012So, How Deep Is the Mariana Trench? asks the question in print — 2014Five Deeps Expedition dives the Challenger Deep four times — 2019-04-28/2019-05-07Submersible pressure transects across the Challenger Deep floor — 2020-06Revised depth of the Challenger Deep published — 2021
12 shown · 12 dated · 0 cannot be placed on an axis · Approximate or contested. Draw a band and do not sharpen its edges.
In order12
  1. 1875HMS Challenger sounds the deep that will bear her name

    It happened, and the record is settled.

  2. 1960-01-23Trieste reaches the bottom of the Challenger Deep

    It happened, and the record is settled.

  3. 1977-02Alvin finds hydrothermal vents on the Galapagos Rift

    It happened, and the record is settled.

  4. 1979Submarine thermal springs on the Galapagos Rift published in Science

    It happened, and the record is settled.

  5. 1981Chemoautotrophic symbionts identified in Riftia pachyptila

    It happened, and the record is settled.

  6. 1995JAMSTEC's Kaiko reaches the Challenger Deep floor

    It happened, and the record is settled.

  7. 2010Multibeam survey reports a 10,984 m maximum sounding

    It was measured or witnessed, with the observation cited.

  8. 2012First solo crewed dive to the Challenger Deep

    It happened, and the record is settled.

  9. 2014So, How Deep Is the Mariana Trench? asks the question in print

    It happened, and the record is settled.

  10. 2019-04-28/2019-05-07Five Deeps Expedition dives the Challenger Deep four times

    It happened, and the record is settled.

  11. 2020-06Submersible pressure transects across the Challenger Deep floor

    It was measured or witnessed, with the observation cited.

  12. 2021Revised depth of the Challenger Deep published

    It happened, and the record is settled.