What lies at the bottom of the oceanWhile what’s considered the deep ocean extends from 3,280 feet to 19,685 feet (1,000 meters to 6,000 meters) beneath the surface, deep-sea trenches can plunge to 36,000 feet (11,000 meters), according to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts. Alessandro Mancini/Alamy Stock PhotoWhy mapping the ocean is so challengingFrom a strictly scientific perspective, touristic trips to the ocean floor do little to advance our understanding of the ocean’s mysteries. “We want to go to the highest, the lowest, the longest.”But only a “very small percentage of the deep ocean, and even the middle ocean, has been seen by human eyes — an infinitesimal amount. “However, 150 years of modern oceanography have led to better understanding of many aspects of the ocean such as the life it contains, its chemistry and its role in the Earth system.”Mapping the ocean “helps us to understand how the shape of the seafloor affects ocean currents, and where marine life occurs,” Rogers added. Researchers say the ocean and the life it contains could provide answers to some of medicine’s biggest challenges, such as antibiotic drug resistance.

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Persons: ”, Gene Feldman, Jamie Pringle, Pringle, Cornelis Drebbel, Auguste Piccard, Feldman, ” Feldman, Jacques Piccard, Don Walsh, what’s, “, Robert Ballard, Alvin, Ballard, Alessandro Mancini, Alamy, Alex Rogers, ” Rogers Organizations: CNN, National Oceanic, Atmospheric Administration, Oceanographic, NASA, OceanGate Expeditions, England’s Keele University, bathyscaphe, Keystone, Hulton, NOAA, Bluegreen, Sea Ventures, of Ocean Exploration, Research, University of Oxford Locations: Cape Cod , Massachusetts, Washington, Dutch, Trieste, bathyscaphe Trieste, Italy, Massachusetts, Japan, United Kingdom