The Mariana Trench - Oceanography
What is a Trench?
At least 22 trenches have been identified although not all are
classified as major.
Of this number, 18 are in the Pacific Ocean, three in the Atlantic
Ocean, and one in the Indian Ocean.
Where, and What is the Mariana Trench?
The Mariana Trench is located in the Pacific Ocean,
just east of the 14 Mariana Islands (11"21' North latitude and
142" 12' East longitude ) near Japan. As you probably
already know, it is the deepest part of the earth's oceans, and the
deepest location of the earth itself. It was created by
ocean-to-ocean subduction, a phenomena in which a plate topped by
oceanic crust is subducted beneath another plate topped by oceanic
crust.
But just how deep is the Mariana Trench?
First off, here are the average depths of the earth's oceans; the
Arctic Ocean is 1,038 meters (3,407 feet) deep, the Indian Ocean is
3,960 meters (12,990 feet) deep, the Atlantic Ocean is 3,339 meters
(10,955 feet) deep and the Pacific Ocean is 4,188 meters (13,740 feet)
deep.
The deepest point in each of the earth's oceans are as follows; the
Arctic Ocean's Eurasian Basin at 5,450 meters (17,881 feet) deep, the
Indian Ocean's Java Trench at 7,725 meters (25,344 feet) deep, the
Atlantic Ocean's Puerto Rico Trench at 8,648 meters (28,374 feet) deep
and the Pacific Ocean's Mariana Trench at 11,033 meters (36,201 feet)
deep.
The deepest point of the Mariana Trench is called The Challenger
Deep , so named after the British exploration vessel
HMS Challenger II, and it is located 210 miles south-west of Guam. This depth was
reached in 1960 by the Trieste, a manned submersible owned by the
U.S. Navy.
In order to better illustrate the actual depth of the Mariana Trench,
consider the following; if Mount Everest, which is the tallest point
on earth at 8,850 meters (29,035 feet), were set in the Mariana
Trench, there would still be 2,183 meters (7,166 feet) of water left
above it.
The Mariana Trench is often used as a North-South passage by
submarines as it is part of a long system of trenches that circle the
Pacific Ocean, connected with the Japan and Kuril Trenches.
|
Fact Finder
The Mariana Trench is 11,033 meters (36,201 feet),
(6033.5) fathoms
deep.
The Pressure at the deepest part of the Mariana
Trench is over 8 tons per square inch.
The coordinates for the Mariana Trench are 11"21'
North latitude and 142" 12' East longitude.
The Mariana Trench is 2, 542 km (1,580 miles) long and 69 km (43
miles) wide. |
