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Where are ocean trenches found?
Ocean trenches are found in every ocean basin on the planet, although the deepest ocean trenches ring the Pacific as part of the so-called “Ring of Fire” that also includes active volcanoes and earthquake zones. Ocean trenches are a result of tectonic activity, which describes the movement of the Earth’s lithosphere.
Where are most deep sea trench is located?
the Pacific Ocean
The Mariana Trench, in the Pacific Ocean, is the deepest location on Earth. According to the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), the United States has jurisdiction over the trench and its resources.
What are the three deepest trenches in the world?
Deepest oceanic trenches
Trench | Ocean | Maximum Depth |
---|---|---|
Mariana Trench | Pacific Ocean | 10,920 m (35,830 ft) |
Tonga Trench | Pacific Ocean | 10,820 m (35,500 ft) |
Philippine Trench | Pacific Ocean | 10,540 m (34,580 ft) |
Kuril–Kamchatka Trench | Pacific Ocean | 10,542 m (34,587 ft) |
What causes deep ocean trenches?
Trenches are formed by subduction, a geophysical process in which two or more of Earth’s tectonic plates converge and the older, denser plate is pushed beneath the lighter plate and deep into the mantle, causing the seafloor and outermost crust (the lithosphere) to bend and form a steep, V-shaped depression.
What is the longest ocean trench?
The longest trench is the Peru-Chile Trench, which extends some 5,900 km (about 3,700 miles) along the west coast of South America. Trenches are relatively narrow, usually less than 100 km (about 60 miles) wide.
What ocean is the deepest?
western Pacific Ocean
The deepest part of the ocean is called the Challenger Deep and is located beneath the western Pacific Ocean in the southern end of the Mariana Trench, which runs several hundred kilometers southwest of the U.S. territorial island of Guam. Challenger Deep is approximately 36,200 feet deep.
Where are some of the deepest trenches in the world?
The Mariana Trench in the northern Pacific is the deepest part of the world’s oceans. You might think a place that remote would be untouched by human activity. But the Mariana Trench is polluted. At its deepest – about 7 miles down – the water in the trench is near freezing.
What is the most famous ocean trench?
The Aleutian Trench, in the North Pacific Ocean, and the deepest, most famous one in the world, the Marianas Trench off the coast of the Marianas Islands in the Southeast Pacific. These are all places where oceanic plates are subducting beneath continental plates.
What is an example of a deep ocean trench?
Examples of some deep ocean trenches that are subduction zones are off the West coast of South America, in the Peruvian Trench. The Aleutian Trench, in the North Pacific Ocean, and the deepest, most famous one in the world, the Marianas Trench off the coast of the Marianas Islands in the Southeast Pacific.
Where are subduction zones found?
Subduction zones occur all around the edge of the Pacific Ocean, offshore of Washington, Canada, Alaska, Russia, Japan and Indonesia. Called the “Ring of Fire,” these subduction zones are responsible for the world’s biggest earthquakes, the most terrible tsunamis and some of the worst volcanic eruptions.