OceanFloor

Where Science Meets the Abyss

The surface of Mars has been mapped to 20-metre resolution.
Our own ocean floor sits at 5 kilometres — unmapped, unnamed, unknown.
Why have more people walked on the Moon than reached the deepest point on Earth?

This is an archive of what we've found. And a map of what remains.

Do you know anything about it?
80% of Earth's ocean
remains unmapped
10,935m deepest point
Challenger Deep
~2M estimated species
still undiscovered

Depth Zones

The ocean descends through five distinct layers. Each has its own physics, its own biology, its own rules. Below 1,000 metres, no sunlight has ever reached.

Epipelagic

0 — 200m

The sunlit layer. All marine photosynthesis occurs here. Contains less than 5% of ocean volume but supports the majority of known marine life.

Mesopelagic

200 — 1,000m

The twilight zone. Light is measurable but insufficient for photosynthesis. Host to the diel vertical migration — the largest biomass movement on Earth, nightly.

Bathypelagic

1,000 — 4,000m

Permanent darkness. Pressure exceeds 400 atmospheres. Temperature holds near 4°C. Giant squid, anglerfish, and species without scientific names exist here.

Abyssopelagic

4,000 — 6,000m

The abyssal plains — Earth's largest habitat by area. Organisms feed on marine snow: organic debris falling from the surface. A particle takes weeks to reach this depth.

Hadopelagic

6,000 — 11,000m

The trenches. Pressure reaches 1,100 atmospheres. The Mariana, Tonga, Kermadec, and Philippine trenches form the deepest known habitats. Life persists — amphipods, foraminifera, xenophyophores.

Hydrothermal Systems

Variable · 1,000 — 5,000m

Chemosynthetic ecosystems independent of solar energy. Water temperatures exceed 400°C at vent sources. First discovered 1977 near the Galápagos Rift. Candidate environment for the origin of life.

Key Expeditions

A timeline of humanity reaching deeper.

1872
HMS Challenger — First systematic survey of the deep ocean. Catalogued 4,700 new species. Measured the Mariana Trench for the first time.
1960
Trieste — Jacques Piccard and Don Walsh descended to 10,916m in Challenger Deep. The viewport cracked at 9,000m. They continued.
1977
Galápagos Rift — Alvin submersible discovered hydrothermal vents and chemosynthetic life. Rewrote the definition of where life can exist.
2012
Deepsea Challenger — James Cameron reached 10,908m solo. First person at the bottom in 52 years.
2019
Five Deeps — Victor Vescovo reached the deepest point in all five oceans. Found plastic at 10,927m.
2025
Seabed 2030 — GEBCO initiative to map the entire ocean floor by 2030. Currently at approximately 25% coverage.

Archive active · Research ongoing

Trenches. Vents. Species. Geology. Technology. Expeditions.
Building a reference of the deep — one entry at a time.

oceanfloor.sestito.com