Vertical exploration
Ocean trenches
The deepest known points of the oceans, where pressure crushes everything but the best-adapted life.
🕳️ down to 10935 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.
🕳️ down to 10882 m
Tonga Trench
The world's second-deepest trench, where the Pacific Plate subducts beneath the Tonga Plate at one of the fastest known subduction rates.
🕳️ down to 10540 m
Philippine Trench
A narrow, deep trench east of the Philippine archipelago, formed by the subduction of the Philippine Sea Plate.
🕳️ down to 10500 m
Kuril–Kamchatka Trench
A long trench in the northwestern Pacific bordering the Kuril Islands, an area of intense seismic and volcanic activity.
🕳️ down to 8376 m
Puerto Rico Trench
The deepest trench in the Atlantic Ocean, capable of generating major earthquakes and tsunamis for the Caribbean.
🕳️ down to 8065 m
Peru–Chile Trench (Atacama)
A long coastal trench off South America, source of some of the largest earthquakes ever recorded, including Chile's in 1960.