The oceanic trenches are hemispheric-scale long but narrow topographic depressions of the sea floor. They are also the deepest parts of the ocean floor.
Trenches define one of the most important natural boundaries on the Earth’s solid surface: the one between two lithospheric plates.
There are three types of lithospheric plate boundaries:
1.) divergent (where lithosphere and oceanic crust is created at mid-ocean ridges),
2.) convergent (where one lithospheric plate sinks beneath another and returns to the mantle), and
3.) transform (where two lithospheric plates slide past each other).
1.) divergent (where lithosphere and oceanic crust is created at mid-ocean ridges),
2.) convergent (where one lithospheric plate sinks beneath another and returns to the mantle), and
3.) transform (where two lithospheric plates slide past each other).
| Trench | Ocean | Deepest Point | Depth (m/ft) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mariana Trench | Pacific Ocean | Challenger Deep | 11,033 m (36,198 ft) |
| Tonga Trench | Pacific Ocean | Vityaz 11 (Tonga) | 10,882 m (35,702 ft) |
| Kuril–Kamchatka Trench | Pacific Ocean | --- | 10,542 m (34,587 ft) |
| Philippine Trench | Pacific Ocean | Galathea deep | 10,540 m (34,580 ft) |
| Kermadec Trench | Pacific Ocean | --- | 10,047 m (32,963 ft) |
| Izu-Bonin Trench (Izu-Ogasawara Trench) | Pacific Ocean | --- | 9,780 m (32,090 ft) |
| Japan Trench | Pacific Ocean | ---- | 9,000 m (30,000 ft) |
| Puerto Rico Trench | Atlantic Ocean | Milwaukee Deep | 8,800 m (28,900 ft) |
| Peru-Chile Trench or Atacama Trench | Pacific Ocean | --- | 8,065 m (26,460 ft) |
Last updated on: 18/09/2019
