Deep-sea exploration

Deep-sea exploration is the investigation of physical, chemical, and biological conditions on the sea bed, for scientific or commercial purposes. Deep-sea exploration is considered as a relatively recent human activity compared to the other areas of geophysical research, as the depths of the sea have been investigated only during comparatively recent years. The ocean depths still remain as a largely unexplored part of the planet, and form a relatively undiscovered domain.

In general, modern scientific Deep-sea exploration can be said to have begun when French scientist Pierre Simon de Laplace investigated the average depth of the Atlantic ocean by observing tidal motions registered on Brazilian and African coasts. He calculated the depth to be 3,962 m (13,000 ft), a value later proven quite accurate by soundings measurement. Later on, with increasing demand for submarine cables installment, accurate soundings was required and the first investigations of the sea bottom were undertaken. First deep-sea life forms were discovered in 1864 when Norwegian researchers obtained a sample of a stalked crinoid at a depth of 3,109 m (10,200 ft). The British Government sent out the Challenger expedition (a ship called the HMS Challenger) in 1872 which discovered 715 new genera and 4,417 new species of marine organisms over the space of 4 years.

The first instrument used for deep-sea investigation was the sounding weight, used by British explorer Sir James Clark Ross. With this instrument, he reached a depth of 3,700 m (12,140 ft) in 1840. The Challenger expedition used similar instruments called Baillie sounding machines to extract samples from the sea bed.

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