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OceanGate’s Titan submarine went missing Monday on what was expected to be an eight-hour journey to the Titanic’s wreckage.
The remains of that famous ship lie about 12,500 feet underwater, a level twice the depth of the Grand Canyon that most submarines cannot reach.
This is due to the increasing pressure on submersible vehicles as they get deeper and deeper, and OceanGate’s Titan is one of the few manned submersibles or submarines capable of reaching such a depth.
The difficulties in the deep sea are so great that it is often said that we know more about the surface of the moon than about the bottom of the ocean.
So what are the challenges ships face 12,500 feet underwater?
OceanGate’s Titan submarine is one of the few ships in the world capable of reaching the depths of the Titanic wreck
After hitting an iceberg on its maiden voyage in 1912, the Titanic sank to a depth of about 12,5000 feet
Stockton Rush is the founder of OceanGate and designer of the Titan submarine
Under what conditions does OceanGate’s Titanic submarine Titan encounter in the deep sea?
The deep sea is one of the most challenging environments to work in and pushes human engineering to its limits.
Water pressure
First, the biggest complication from a technical point of view is undoubtedly the water pressure.
At the 12,500 feet depth where the Titan submarine traveled, the pressure exerted on it by the water is 40 Megapascals; about 200 times the pressure in a car tire.
That is also 390 times greater than the pressure just below the surface of the water.
Having room for a crew makes it even more difficult to combat this problem, as the surface area of the submarine inevitably increases.
However, Titan, designed by OceanGate founder Stockton Rush, is built to withstand the pressures exerted at depths down to just over 4,000 feet.
Darkness
In addition, the deep ocean will recede as water quickly absorbs sunlight.
The “aphotic zone,” where light doesn’t reach the sea, includes everything from 1,000 meters (about 3,300 ft) and below, with the wreck of the Titanic well within that bracket in the “midnight zone.”
This means that even with light, from entering the aphotic zone, you see nothing, until the ocean floor suddenly appears in front of you.
This makes navigation extremely difficult – pilots on submarines may need to calculate their position based on speed and orientation to calculate a location relative to where they are leaving.
Once you’re at the bottom of the ocean, you may be only a few hundred yards from your target, but it may still take you hours to find what you’re looking for.
currents
A problem towards the top of the sea is also present in the deep sea.
Currents are familiar to many – we are warned about them on the beach when we are told not to swim too far.
These still exist in the deep sea, albeit not as strongly, and can further complicate navigation for blind deep divers.
What else lies as deep as the OceanGate’s Titan?
The Titanic is nowhere near even the deepest shipwreck, with the deepest known wreck nearly doubling the Titanic’s record.
The deepest known shipwreck, USS Samuel B. Roberts, was found in 2023, at 22,523 ft (6,865 m) in the Philippine Sea after decades of mystery.
The deepest point in the world is the foot of the Mariana Trench, in the Pacific Ocean, which is no less than 10,000 meters below the water’s surface.
Due to the aforementioned differences between the deep ocean and what we are used to, the creatures that inhabit this realm can look completely strange.
The absence of light contributes to particularly bizarre adaptations in creatures in the midnight zone.
Whale
There are 30 known whale species that live in the midnight zone and use vibrations in the water instead of sight
Whales use vibrations in the water to navigate the ocean, rather than relying on the minute amounts of light reaching those depths.
They live from depths of 5,000 feet to as deep as the Titanic, eating crustaceans and other fish.
Whiptail Gulper Eel
Because the harsh conditions and lack of light make finding a meal so difficult, the Whip Lobby has a new adaptation to make the most of every bite it encounters.
This eel is one of a number of deep-sea species that can unclip its jaws to consume food that can be as large as or even larger than itself.
It can live to a depth of 2000 meters in the Pacific Ocean.
Fisherman Fish
Anglerfish use a lamp suspended above their mouths to lure unsuspecting prey
Despite its deep-sea habitat, an anglerfish washed up in California in 2021
The anglerfish is one of the most famous species of deep-sea animals, as seen in the 2003 movie Finding Nemo.
They take advantage of both the scarcity of food and the light in the midnight zone with a light hanging just outside their mouths that lures prey their way.
As soon as something unsuspecting comes within reach, the predator pulls the light away and eats it.
Amazingly, given its deep-sea habitat, an anglerfish washed up on California shores in 2021.