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The hadal zone, also known as the hadopelagic zone, is the deepest region of the ocean, lying within oceanic trenches.The hadal zone ranges from around 6 to 11 km (3.7 to 6.8 mi; 20,000 to 36,000 ft) below sea level, and exists in long, narrow, topographic V-shaped depressions.
The deepest point of the trench is more than 2 km (1.2 mi) farther from sea level than the peak of Mount Everest. [a] At the bottom of the trench, the water column above exerts a pressure of 1,086 bar (15,750 psi), more than 1,071 times the standard atmospheric pressure at sea level. At this pressure, the density of water is increased by 4.96%.
The deep sea, or deep layer, is the lowest layer in the ocean, existing below the thermocline, at a depth of 1000 fathoms (1800 m) or more. The deepest part of the deep sea is Mariana Trench located in the western North Pacific. It is also the deepest point of the Earth's crust.
The bathymetry of the ocean was poorly known prior to the Challenger expedition of 1872–1876, [12] which took 492 soundings of the deep ocean. [13] At station #225, the expedition discovered Challenger Deep , [ 14 ] now known to be the southern end of the Mariana Trench .
This cold and dense water moves slowly away from the poles which is why the waters in the deepest layers of the world ocean are so cold. This deep ocean water circulation is relatively slow and water at the bottom of the ocean can be isolated from the ocean surface and atmosphere for hundreds or even a few thousand years. [115]
Ocean dynamics define and describe the flow of water within the oceans. Ocean temperature and motion fields can be separated into three distinct layers: mixed (surface) layer, upper ocean (above the thermocline), and deep ocean. Ocean dynamics has traditionally been investigated by sampling from instruments in situ. [1]
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica ) in the south, and is bounded by the continents of Asia and Australia in the west and the Americas in the east.
The oceanic zone is typically defined as the area of the ocean lying beyond the continental shelf (e.g. the neritic zone), but operationally is often referred to as beginning where the water depths drop to below 200 metres (660 ft), seaward from the coast into the open ocean with its pelagic zone.