Culture | The aquatic underworld

Is the deep ocean more magnificent than outer space?

Some writers who have ventured into the unknown claim so

Sea me now?Photograph: Joshua Lambus/Solent News/Shutterstock

MORE IS known about the surface of Mars than the floor of the ocean. By one count America spends 150 times more on space exploration than ocean research. Scientists have mapped almost every Martian crater but only about 20% of the seabed. Yet interest in the ocean is growing. A trio of new books plunges into the deep. They journey through the bioluminescent realm of the twilight zone (between 200-1,000 metres) and into the murky depths of the midnight zone (1,000-4,000 metres).

This article appeared in the Culture section of the print edition under the headline “The aquatic underworld”

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