How Deep Is The Mariana Trench?
QUICK ANSWER
The Mariana Trench reaches about 36,000 feet (11,000 meters) at its deepest point, called Challenger Deep. It's the deepest known location on Earth, deeper than Mount Everest is tall. The trench is located in the western Pacific Ocean, east of the Philippines. Only a few crewed expeditions have ever reached its bottom.
The Mariana Trench is the deepest place on Earth, plunging miles below the ocean surface in the western Pacific. Its extreme depth makes it one of the most extreme environments on the planet, with pressures over 1,000 times atmospheric pressure at sea level. Despite the extreme conditions, life exists at the bottom. Understanding the trench reveals how Earth's plate tectonics create the deepest possible features on our planet.
How deep is Challenger Deep?
Challenger Deep is the deepest known point in the ocean, located at the southern end of the Mariana Trench. According to NOAA's data on the Mariana Trench, Challenger Deep reaches about 35,876 feet (10,935 meters) below sea level, though exact measurements vary slightly. To put this in perspective, Mount Everest at 29,032 feet would not reach the surface if placed in the trench; the summit would be about a mile underwater. Pressure at the bottom is over 16,000 pounds per square inch, more than 1,000 times normal atmospheric pressure.
Where is the Mariana Trench?
The Mariana Trench is located in the western Pacific Ocean, just east of the Mariana Islands and south of Japan. The trench forms where the Pacific tectonic plate dives beneath the smaller Philippine Sea plate (a process called subduction). The trench stretches about 1,580 miles long and averages 43 miles wide. The deepest portion (Challenger Deep) is at the southern end, near Guam. The trench is essentially a long crescent-shaped chasm in the seafloor, formed continuously as plate movement creates new depths.
Who has reached the bottom?
Very few crewed expeditions have reached Challenger Deep. The first was the Trieste in 1960, with Jacques Piccard and Don Walsh making the descent in a special bathyscaphe. The next crewed visit didn't happen until 2012, when filmmaker James Cameron descended alone in the Deepsea Challenger submersible. Several more expeditions have visited since 2018, including by businessman Victor Vescovo who made multiple dives. The total number of humans who have visited Challenger Deep is fewer than the number who have walked on the moon.
What lives in the trench?
Life exists even at the bottom of the Mariana Trench, though it's adapted to extreme conditions. Various microbes, amphipods (small shrimp-like crustaceans), sea cucumbers, and snailfish have been observed at depths beyond 30,000 feet. The Mariana snailfish, discovered in 2014, lives at depths of 26,000 feet, the deepest known fish. These creatures have evolved to survive crushing pressure, total darkness, near-freezing temperatures, and very limited food. The discoveries continue to expand our understanding of what conditions can support life.
The Mariana Trench reaches about 36,000 feet (11,000 meters) at Challenger Deep, the deepest known point in any ocean. Located in the western Pacific east of the Philippines, the trench forms where the Pacific Plate subducts beneath the Philippine Sea Plate. Only a handful of crewed expeditions have reached the bottom, but life exists there including snailfish and various invertebrates adapted to extreme pressure.
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