As avid boaters, we’ve all wondered what our oceanic playground would be like if it were deeper than we could ever imagine. What if the ocean was 1,000 km deep? Would our boats still float? How would marine life be affected? What kind of geological changes would occur?
Let’s start with the basics – could our boats handle a 1,000 km deep ocean? The short answer is no. The average depth of the ocean is around 3.6 km, so jumping to 1,000 km would be an extreme jump. Boats and ships would be crushed under the immense pressure that comes with such a depth. Even submarines, which can withstand the high-pressure depths of the Mariana Trench at a little over 10 km, would be crushed like a soda can.
Assuming our boats could magically handle the absurd depth, how would marine life fare in the world’s deepest ocean? Animal and plant life that depend on light would die out as they couldn’t survive without photosynthesis. But as we move deeper, bio-luminescence would become the norm. Creatures such as deep-sea fish, jellyfish, bioluminescent plankton, and vampire squids would dominate the waters. The giant squid, already known as the Kraken, would unquestionably be more gargantuan in such an environment.
The geological changes in the ocean floor would also be dramatic. The continental shelves would expand creating more oceanic abysses. Earthquakes and volcanic eruptions would likely be more commonplace with the high heat and pressure under the surface. Tsunami and tidal waves could even worsen and wash entire cities and towns away with more massive waves present in the expanded ocean.
So, while a 1,000 km deep ocean may seem like an exciting thought for boaters, the reality of it is nothing short of terrifying. Our boats couldn’t handle the pressure, marine life would adjust, but our usual aquatic playground would vanish, and the very earth we stand on now would see dramatic seismic and geologic changes caused by the massive shift. Let’s be content with the ocean depths we are used to and leave the thought experiments to conjecture on our next voyage.