The Deepest Points in the Ocean
The Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench is the deepest known point in the ocean at about 10,935 metres.
Also known as: Deepest place on Earth
The Challenger Deep in the Pacific's Mariana Trench is the deepest known point on Earth, roughly 10,935 m below sea level, deeper than Mount Everest is tall.
What it is
The deepest known point in the world's oceans is the Challenger Deep, at the southern end of the Mariana Trench in the western Pacific. Modern sonar and dive measurements place its depth at about 10,935 metres (35,876 ft) below sea level, with a small measurement uncertainty of a few metres.
| Rank | Trench | Ocean | Depth |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mariana (Challenger Deep) | Pacific | ~10,935 m |
| 2 | Tonga (Horizon Deep) | Pacific | ~10,820 m |
| 3 | Philippine (Emden Deep) | Pacific | ~10,540 m |
| 4 | Kuril–Kamchatka | Pacific | ~10,542 m |
| 5 | Puerto Rico (Milwaukee Deep) | Atlantic | ~8,376 m |
If Mount Everest (8,849 m) were placed in the Challenger Deep, its summit would still lie more than two kilometres underwater. The point was first reached in 1960 by Jacques Piccard and Don Walsh in the bathyscaphe Trieste.
Related entries
Sources & further reading
- How deep is the ocean? — NOAA National Ocean Service (article)