A deep sea trench is any long, narrow, steep-sided depression in the ocean bottom, approximately 7,300 to more than 11,000 meters.

Ocean trenches are found in every ocean basin on the planet. The deepest ocean trenches ring the Pacific as part of the “Ring of Fire” that also includes active volcanoes and earthquake zones.

At convergent plate boundaries, dense lithosphere melts or slides beneath less-dense lithosphere, creating a trench.

The deepest trench is the Mariana trench, located in the Pacific Ocean near Japan. The deepest point is 6.83 miles down.

Pressure is more than 1,000 times that on the surface, and the water temperature is just above freezing.

Organisms that live in ocean trenches have evolved with unusual adaptations to thrive in these cold, dark canyons.

Ocean trenches remain one of the most elusive and little-known marine habitats. Until the 1950s, many oceanographers thought that these trenches were unchanging environments nearly devoid of life.

The Deepsea Challenger reached the bottom of the Mariana Trench on March 26th, 2012, the decent took 2 hours and 37 minutes

By Nick Roger & Malia Smith