Deepest Part of the Ocean, the Mariana Trench, Proves Hauntingly Noisy

— -- The deepest part of the ocean -- the Mariana Trench -- is proving to be eerily noisy.

Scientists recorded ambient noise for three weeks from a hydrophone placed 36,000 feet below the ocean surface in the Challenger Deep trough in the Mariana Trench near Micronesia. What they discovered was the deepest part of the ocean is not a place of peace and solitude but instead has a cacophony of sounds.

"You would think that the deepest part of the ocean would be one of the quietest places on Earth," Robert Dziak, a research oceanographer with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said in a statement this week.

"Yet there is almost constant noise," he added. "The ambient sound field is dominated by the sound of earthquakes, both near and far, as well as distinct moans of baleen whales, and the clamor of a category 4 typhoon that just happened to pass overhead."