Our 7-Mile Dive to Bottom – Part 1

GeneralCarlos4

The Mariana Trench, located in the western Pacific Ocean, is the deepest oceanic trench on Earth. Measuring about 1,580 miles in length and 43 miles in width, its maximum known depth is 36,037 feet (about 7 miles), located at the southern end of a small valley in its floor known as the Challenger Deep. If Mount Everest were placed into the trench at this point, its peak would still be underwater by more than a mile. The first descent was performed by U.S. Navy Lt. Don Walsh and Swiss oceanographer and engineer Jacques Piccard aboard the bathyscaph Trieste. The vessel was designed by Piccard and his father Auguste and sold to the U. S. Navy for this expedition. Here is Part 1 of the story, told by Lt. Walsh himself, and transcribed by me in Anniversary Gregg for the blog.

Attachment: our-7-mile-dive-to-bottom-part-1.pdf


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4 comments Add yours

  1. Just managing to get out of my sick-bed to post this before part 2 arrives. Not too many questions this time.

    Firstly, essential words I could not read:
    (1) p3c1l20 last outline
    (2) p4c1l11 first outline
    (3) p6c2l19 second outline (after “an”)
    (4) p7c1l5 last outline, &
    p7c1l6 first outline
    (5) p7c2l6 “we became ? more buoyant”

    Secondly, questions:
    (a) p4c1l1 – nineteen-hours. I would have written “19” as a number followed by hours which SEEMS quicker too
    (b) p6c2l16 I think you missed the closed bracket after “water”

    Thirdly, technical words:
    (c) p7c1l17 first outline
    (d) p8c2l1 is it “FORMAL plankton”?
    (e) p9c1l4 “in one of the hull ?”

    And I doubt whether the dive would be allowed to proceed in these “safety concious” days with two broken communication lines!

    1. I hope you’re feeling better and thanks for letting me know about the right parenthesis. Here are the other outlines you had questions about:

      p3c1l20 – “fantail”
      p4c1l11 – “liar’s”
      p6c2l19 – “extra 2 tons”
      p7c1l5/l16 – “she’s on her”
      p7c2l6 – “relatively”
      p4c1l1 – “9 or 10 hours”
      p7c1l17 – “bilingual”, so the phrase is “bilingual pun”
      p8c2l1 – “formless”
      p9c1l4 – “connectors”

  2. Thanks Carlos. I should have got formless! And I think my forgetfulness of brief forms is showing me up here.
    I would not have reasoned “liar”.
    And pronunciation led be away from “bilingual” where for UK readers the “I” is the strongest vowel. I now see it’s in the dictionary, so with a more extensive vocabulary (such as you are providing us with) I’ll add these things to my repertoire.

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