deep-sea trenches
Seafloor's deepest valleys
Deep-sea trenches are the deepest parts of the ocean floor—long, narrow depressions where tectonic plates converge and one slides beneath another.
The Mariana Trench, deepest of all, descends nearly seven miles.
These trenches host extreme environments of crushing pressure and total darkness, yet support specialized life forms.
Scientists discovered new species in the deep-sea trenches.
- bottom of the oceanLowest marine terrain
- subductionPlate descending beneath another
- tectonic platesMobile crustal sections
- tectonic activityCrustal plate motion
- oceanic crustBasaltic layer beneath seas
hydrothermal vents · chemosynthesis · crushing · water pressure · fault lines · bioluminescence · amphipods · oceanic trenches · sonar imaging · earthquake zones · sea creatures · plunging · lithosphere · continental crust · seafloor · pitch black · fathoms · crevasse
- ocean geologyseafloor, seabed, ocean basins, ocean floor, ocean basin
- oceanographyoceanography, oceanographer, sonar, marine science, ocean circulation
deep-sea trenchescontinental shelves
Submerged edges of landmasses
coastal waters · coral reefs · shoals · lagoons · sea surface
deep-sea trenchesmountain ranges
Extended series of peaks
seamounts · volcanic peaks · underwater volcanoes · volcanic islands · rift valleys
deep-sea trenchescontinental shelves
Submerged edges of landmasses
coastal waters · estuaries · bays · harbors · tidal flats