Challenger Deep

Challenger Deep is the deepest known point in Earth’s oceans, located in the southern Mariana Trench in the western Pacific Ocean. Its depth is about 10.9 kilometers, though estimates vary by measurement method.

Mariana Trench: A crescent-shaped oceanic trench in the western Pacific, formed where the Pacific Plate descends beneath the Mariana Plate. Challenger Deep occupies the trench’s southern end.
Mariana Plate: A small tectonic plate beneath the western Pacific, bordering the Mariana Trench. It overlies the region where the Pacific Plate descends beneath it.
HMS Challenger expedition: A global oceanographic expedition conducted by the British ship HMS Challenger from 1872 to 1876. Its soundings in the region inspired the name Challenger Deep.
Deep-submergence vehicle: A crewed or uncrewed underwater vehicle designed to operate at great ocean depths. Such vehicles enable direct exploration of Challenger Deep.
Challenger Deep dives: Crewed and uncrewed expeditions that have descended to or surveyed Challenger Deep. Their observations and instruments have documented the site firsthand.
Hadal zone: The deep-ocean zone below about 6,000 meters, found mainly in ocean trenches. Challenger Deep lies within this zone, Earth’s deepest marine habitat.
Pacific Plate: The largest tectonic plate, carrying much of the Pacific Ocean floor. Its descent beneath the Mariana Plate contributes to trench formation.
USS Nero: A United States Navy vessel that made early depth soundings in the Mariana Trench in 1899. Its measurements helped establish the trench’s extraordinary depth.
Deepsea Challenger: A crewed submersible built for James Cameron’s 2012 solo descent to Challenger Deep. It demonstrated a new approach to single-person full-ocean-depth exploration.
Nereus (underwater vehicle): An uncrewed hybrid remotely operated vehicle that reached Challenger Deep in 2009. Its 2009 expedition provided a robotic descent and seafloor observations.

Linked from 8 pages

Philippine SeaBroader topic: It represents the extreme depth of the sea’s trench system.