The Puerto Rico Trench is a deep oceanic subduction zone that runs parallel with the northern coasts of Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. It is the deepest place in the Atlantic Ocean with a maximum depth of approximately 8400 m. Discovered by the HMS Challenger Expedition in 1875, the depth of the trench increased multiple times in the ensuing 100 years with the onset of sonar usage. It is perhaps unique among the world's deep trenches in that a series of unrelated but equally pioneering expeditions captured the true biological and geological characteristics of one of the deepest places in the world, observations that are still highly relevant today. Multiple deep water trawling campaigns and surveys using drop cameras and exploratory dives in a deep diving submersible provided great insight into the morphology of the trench, the types of habitat within the trench, the substrate, the food supply, and the diversity of species that inhabit these extraordinary depths. Many of these accounts are obscure and disparate, yet combined bear a remarkable similarity to recent work in other trenches. These unique and insightful accounts are collated and retold here alongside recent and comparable findings to contextualise these discoveries, prevent them from being forgotten, and keep the efforts of those involved to remain relevant as we continue to explore the deepest places of the world's oceans.

中文翻译：

---

二十世纪中叶对波多黎各海沟的探索：今天的意义和相关性

波多黎各海沟是一个深海俯冲带，与波多黎各和多米尼加共和国的北部海岸平行。它是大西洋最深的地方，最大深度约为 8400 m。由 HMS Challenger Expedition 于 1875 年发现，随着声纳的开始使用，海沟的深度在随后的 100 年中增加了数倍。在世界上的深海沟中，这可能是独一无二的，因为一系列无关但同样具有开创性的探险捕捉到了世界上最深的地方之一的真实生物和地质特征，这些观察结果在今天仍然非常重要。多次深水拖网捕捞活动和使用水下摄像机进行的调查以及在深潜潜水器中进行的探索性潜水提供了对海沟形态的深入了解，海沟内的栖息地类型、基质、食物供应以及栖息在这些非凡深处的物种多样性。这些描述中有许多是晦涩难懂的，但结合起来与其他战壕中最近的工作有着显着的相似之处。这些独特而有见地的描述在这里与最近的和可比较的发现一起整理和重述，以将这些发现置于背景下，防止它们被遗忘，并在我们继续探索世界海洋最深处时保持相关人员的努力保持相关性。