Re: How deep has a person ever gone in the Abyssal Zone?

Dear Megan,

People have actually been to the deepest known point on earth - a place called the Challeger Deep of the Marianas Trench, in the Western Pacific Ocean. Two people, Jacques Piccard and Donald Walsh, made this deepest ever dive in a bathyscaphe ( Greek for 'deep ship', and meaning a submersible specially designed for very deep dives) called Trieste in 1958. The dive was to 10,915 meters (35,810 ft). - thats almost 7 miles underwater.

Here are some websites that will teach you more about this deep dive, and other things about ocean exploration:

http://www.ocean.udel.edu/deepsea/level-2/tools/history.html
http://www.extremescience.com/DeepestOcean.htm

And National Geographic have a really good map of the Pacific ocean floor, including the Challenger Deep

Hope this answers your excellent question,
Yours,
James