The deepest cave drop in the continental United States is found underneath Pigeon Mountain in Georgia. The “Fantastic Pit” in Ellison’s Cave drops 586 vertical feet.
Photograph by Carsten Peter, National Geographic
In 2012 filmmaker and National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence James Cameron made the first solo dive to the Mariana Trench. Inside the DEEPSEA CHALLENGER submersible, here being hoisted over the Pacific, he reached the deepest part of the ocean.
Photograph by Mark Thiessen, National Geographic
Emperor penguins can dive to 1,850 feet (564 meters)—deeper than any other bird—and stay underwater for more than 20 minutes.
Photograph by Norbet Wu, Minden Pictures
Hang Son Doong, the “mountain river cave” in Vietnam, may be the world’s biggest subterranean passage. A half-mile block of 40-story buildings could fit inside this stretch of the cave.
Photograph by Carsten Peter, National Geographic
In April 2005 Croatian freediver Kristijan Curavic plunged to 168 feet (51 meters) below the North Pole, the deepest dive ever made in the Arctic.
Photograph by Fred Buyle, Corbis
The fangtooth is among the deepest living fish ever discovered. The fish’s normal habitat ranges as high as about 6,500 feet (1,980 meters), but it has been found swimming at depths near 16,500 feet (5,030 meters).
Photograph by Norbet Wu, Minden Pictures
The submersible DeepSee, some 600 feet (183 meters) below the surface of the Pacific, descends into a volcanic vent of the seamount Las Gemelas. Seamounts are underwater mountains that rival the height of those on land—the peak of Las Gemelas rises 7,500 feet (2,290 meters) from the ocean floor.
Photograph by Brian Skerry, National Geographic
This optical mosaic consists of 1,500 high-resolution images that have been digitally stitched together to create a detailed portrait of Titanic where she rests 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) below the ocean’s surface.
Photograph by RMS Titanic, Inc. Produced by AIVL, WHOI
Diving in the flooded caves of the Bahamas is a dangerous but rewarding task for scientists studying fields as varied as geology, archaeology, and astrobiology. The caves can be hundreds of feet deep.
Photograph by Wes Skiles, National Geographic
Spelunkers rappel 300 feet (91 meters) into the Greenland ice sheet. Glacier caves such as these form when seasonal meltwater or geothermal vents cut fissures and channels through an ice sheet.
Photograph by Carsten Peter, National Geographic
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