Mariana Trench

The Mariana Trench is the deepest part of the ocean on Earth. It is found in the western Pacific Ocean, about 200 kilometres east of the Mariana Islands. This huge trench is shaped like a crescent wrench and stretches for about 2,550 kilometres.

Its deepest point, called the Challenger Deep, is more than 11,000 metres below the surface—deeper than Mount Everest is tall! At such amazing depths, the water puts out a lot of pressure—about 1,000 times more than what we feel on land!

Even though it is very cold at the bottom, scientists have found tiny living things living there. These include special single-celled creatures called monothalamea and tiny microbial life forms that manage to survive in this extreme world. In 2009, the United States protected part of the trench by creating the Mariana Trench Marine National Monument.

The Mariana Trench is named after the nearby Mariana Islands. These islands are called Las Marianas to honor Spanish Queen Mariana of Austria. The islands sit on a moving plate called the Mariana plate, located on the western side of the trench.