In April 2017, President Trump issued an Executive Order that calls for a review of all national monuments created or expanded in the past two decades. This includes five important marine monuments.
Turtle Island strongly opposes the Executive Order.
Sign our petition today to help defend our marine monuments.
This week we are highlighting second of these five monuments to help people understand the value and importance of these national treasures.
Today we will focus on the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument.
Champagne Vent – Photo courtesy of NOAA
Located to the east of the Philippines, the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument protects the Mariana Trench, the deepest place on Earth. Its depth is greater than the height of Mount Everest and its distance is longer than the Grand Canyon.
At 95,216 square miles, this national monument protects other unique natural resources, especially in its volcanic unit, an area of undersea mud volcanoes and thermal vents.
The Marianas Trench MNM is home to the Champagne Vent which produces almost pure carbon dioxide. Another location has the world’s only known site for liquid sulfur. The one other place we have ever found molten sulfur is on Jupiter’s moon Io.
Stony corals – Photo courtesy of NOAA
The Marianas Trench MNM is habitat to more than 300 species of stony coral, higher than any other reef area in the United States.
To help defend this marine monument, please add your name to our online petition.
