Imagine a place where the water is so deep that even Mount Everest, the tallest of mountains, could be swallowed whole, with its peak still submerged underwater.

It might sound impossible, but there is indeed such a place called the Mariana Trench. 

The Mariana Trench is incredibly deep, reaching a depth of 36,201 feet! This depth is so immense that it could easily submerge Mount Everest within its abyss, in the vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean.

The Trench stretches for about 2,550 kilometres and is 69 kilometres wide and is located in the western Pacific Ocean, about 200 kilometres east of the Mariana Islands.

The Mariana trench hasn’t always been there. It was formed over millions of years as two tectonic plates, the Pacific Plate, and the Mariana Plate, moved against each other. As the Pacific Plate slid beneath the Mariana Plate, it melted and sank into the Earth's mantle, creating this deep valley.

The Mariana Trench is an extreme environment. The pressure at the bottom of the trench is over 1,000 times greater than the pressure at sea level. It's so heavy that it would feel like an elephant standing on a fingernail! The water temperature is also very cold, at around 1-4 degrees Celsius.

Despite these harsh conditions, life has found a way to thrive in the Mariana Trench. There are many strange and amazing creatures that live there, including the giant Japanese spider crab, the vampire squid, which has a bioluminescent light that attracts its prey, and the hagfish, all having adaptation techniques that allow them to survive the extreme pressures of the deep.

Scientists have embarked on research missions to explore the depths of the Mariana Trench, using sophisticated submarines and remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) to navigate its environment. They've learned more about how the trench was formed, made discoveries of new species of fish and other marine life, and also studied the creatures' adaptability to extreme conditions.

As scientists continue to learn more about this underwater world, we can only imagine the wonders that await discovery.