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Oceanic crust is formed at an oceanic ridge, while the lithosphere is subducted back into the asthenosphere at trenches. Oceanic trenches are prominent, long, narrow topographic depressions of the ocean floor. They are typically 50 to 100 kilometers (30 to 60 mi) wide and 3 to 4 km (1.9 to 2.5 mi) below the level of the surrounding oceanic ...
The Mariana Trench is an oceanic trench located in the western Pacific Ocean, about 200 kilometres (124 mi) east of the Mariana Islands; it is the deepest oceanic trench on Earth. It is crescent-shaped and measures about 2,550 km (1,580 mi) in length and 69 km (43 mi) in width.
The trench is also a part of the Chile triple junction, an unusual junction that consists of a mid-oceanic ridge and the Chile Rise being subducted under the South American plate at the Peru–Chile Trench. Two seamount ridges within the Nazca plate enter the subduction zone along this trench: the Nazca Ridge and the Juan Fernández Ridge.
The eastern boundary of the Kermadec plate is also the site of the Kermadec Trench, which is the fifth deepest trench in the world at about 10,000 m. [2] The eastern boundary of the Tonga plate is one of the fastest subduction zones with a rate of up to 24 cm/year (9.4 in/year). [1]
At the deepest point, the trench is nearly 11,000 m deep (almost 36,000 feet). [38] [3] This is further below sea level than Mount Everest is above sea level, by over 2 kilometers. Volcanic arcs and oceanic trenches partly encircling the Pacific Basin form the so-called Pacific Ring of fire, a zone of frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
The trench is 1,700 miles (2,750 km) long and is 21,880 feet (6,669 m) at its deepest point. The trench is the boundary between the Rivera, Cocos, and Nazca plates on one side and the North American and Caribbean plates on the other. It is the 18th-deepest trench in the world.
Two oceanic plates meet at the Kermadec Trench which is located far from any larger landmass. Because of this, the Pacific Plate as well as the trench itself is only covered by c. 200 m (660 ft) of sediments. The trench is almost perfectly straight and its simple geometry is the result of the uniformity of the subducting sea-floor.
The Tonga Trench constitutes the northern half of the Tonga-Kermadec subduction system, which extends 2,550 km (1,580 mi) between New Zealand and Tonga. [1] The Tonga Trench is an oceanic trench located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It is the deepest trench in the Southern hemisphere and the second deepest on Earth after the Mariana Trench.