Vertical exploration
Ocean trenches
The deepest known points of the oceans, where pressure crushes everything but the best-adapted life.
- Documented trenches
- 6
- Deepest point
- Mariana Trench · 10,935 m
Mariana Trench
The deepest known trench on Earth. Its lowest point, the Challenger Deep, has been reached by only a handful of humans, including filmmaker James Cameron in 2012.
Begin the descentTonga Trench
The world's second-deepest trench, where the Pacific Plate subducts beneath the Tonga Plate at one of the fastest known subduction rates.
Begin the descentPhilippine Trench
A narrow, deep trench east of the Philippine archipelago, formed by the subduction of the Philippine Sea Plate.
Begin the descentKuril–Kamchatka Trench
A long trench in the northwestern Pacific bordering the Kuril Islands, an area of intense seismic and volcanic activity.
Begin the descentPuerto Rico Trench
The deepest trench in the Atlantic Ocean, capable of generating major earthquakes and tsunamis for the Caribbean.
Begin the descentPeru–Chile Trench (Atacama)
A long coastal trench off South America, source of some of the largest earthquakes ever recorded, including Chile's in 1960.
Begin the descent