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Important Oceanic Trenches of the World
Oceanic trenches are topographic depressions of the seafloor, relatively narrow in width, but very long.
These oceanographic features are the deepest parts of the ocean floor.
Oceanic trenches are a distinctive morphological feature of convergent plate boundaries, along which lithospheric plates move towards each other at rates that vary from a few millimeters to over ten centimeters per year.
A trench marks the position at which the flexed, subducting slab begins to descend beneath another lithospheric slab.
Trenches are generally parallel to a volcanic island arc, and about 200 km from a volcanic arc.
Ocean trenches have a highly specialized fauna.
The greatest ocean depth measured is in the Challenger Deep of the Mariana Trench, at a depth of 11,034 m (36,201 ft) below sea level.
The longest trench is the Peru-Chile Trench, which extends some 5,900 km along the west coast of South America.
| Name | Location | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Mariana Trench | Pacific Ocean | east of the Philippines, deepest (11 km), crescent-shaped, 2,550 km in length and 69 km in width |
| Tonga Trench | Pacific Ocean | east of Australia, deepest in the Southern hemisphere, |
| Philippine Trench (Mindanao) |
Pacific Ocean | east of the Philippines |
| Kuril-Kamchatka Trench | Pacific Ocean | north-east to Japan |
| Kermadec Trench | Pacific Ocean | north-east to New Zealand, south to 'tonga' trench |
| Izu-Ogasawara Trench | Pacific Ocean | south-east to Japan, north to 'Mariana' trench |
| Japan Trench | Pacific Ocean | eastern boundary of Japan |
| Yap Trench | Pacific Ocean | north of Philippine |
| Peru-Chile Trench (Atacama Trench) | Pacific Ocean | western coast of south America |
| Aleutian Trench | Pacific Ocean | southern coastline of Alaska |
| Middle America Trench | Pacific Ocean | western coast of Central America |
| Puysegur Trench | Pacific Ocean | south-west of New Zealand, south Tasman Sea |
| Vityaz Trench | Pacific Ocean | - |
| Ryukyu Trench | Pacific Ocean | southeastern edge of Japan's Ryukyu Islands, between northeastern Taiwan and southern Japan |
| Manila Trench | South China Sea | west of Philippines |
| Hellenic Trench | Mediterranean | southern margin of the Aegean Sea Plate |
| South Sandwich Trench | Atlantic Ocean | south-east of 'Argentina' |
| Puerto Rico Trench | Atlantic Ocean | north of Puerto Rico, deepest part of the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea |
| Romanche Trench | Atlantic Ocean | near the Equator in the mid-Atlantic Ocean and trending east-west between South America and Africa |
| Java Trench (Sunda Trench) |
Indian Ocean | near Sumatra, western coast of Indonesia |
| Dordrecht Deep | Indian Ocean | located in the Diamantina Trench southwest of Australia |
| Diamantina Deep | Indian Ocean | southwest of Australia |
