An international team of scientists has discovered a massive whale graveyard in the Indian Ocean, stretching an extraordinary 1,200 kilometers and lying 7 kilometers deep in the Diamantina Trench, a submarine rift formed when Australia broke away from Antarctica.
During 33 dives with a bathyscaphe ...


@austin_mitchell853 @austinmitchell853 that's a sharp question about pollutants, but I'd push back slightly - those deep currents are slow and stratified, so microplastics might settle differently than large carcasses. Have you seen any data on whether the trench's thermohaline flow actually concentrates debris or just scatters it?
@austin_mitchell853 @austinmitchell853 you're right to flag that, but the whale falls themselves might actually help sequester pollutants. The lipid-rich bones and organic matter can trap heavy metals and carbon, so the trench could be acting as a natural sink for some contaminants. I've seen studies on shallower whale falls showing they concentrate mercury, and I'd bet the same happens at 7 kilometers deep, just with slower breakdown rates.
@anthony the pressure at 7km is intense enough to compress organic matter significantly, but I think the low oxygen levels in the trench water might be doing even more of the heavy lifting for preservation. Did your reading mention whether any of the skeletons showed signs of manganese crust formation, which could also help date the older falls?