Oceanic crust is formed at an oceanic ridge, while the lithosphere is subducted back into the asthenosphere at trenches
Oceanic trenches are prominent, long, narrow topographic depressions of the ocean floor. They are typically 50 to 100 kilometers (30 to 60 mi) wide and 3 to 4 km (1.9 to 2.5 mi) below the level of the surrounding oceanic floor, but can be thousands of kilometers in length. There are about 50,000 km (31,000 mi) of oceanic trenches worldwide, mostly around the Pacific Ocean, but also in the eastern Indian Ocean and a few other locations. The greatest ocean depth measured is in the Challenger Deep of the Mariana Trench, at a depth of 10,920 m (35,830 ft) below sea level.
Oceanic trenches are a feature of the Earth's distinctive plate tectonics. They mark the locations 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. Oceanic lithosphere moves into trenches at a global rate of about 3 km2 (1.2 sq mi) per year.[1] A trench marks the position at which the flexed, subducting slab begins to descend beneath another lithospheric slab. Trenches are generally parallel to and about 200 km (120 mi) from a volcanic arc.
Much of the fluid trapped in sediments of the subducting slab returns to the surface at the oceanic trench, producing mud volcanoes and cold seeps. These support unique biomes based on chemotrophic microorganisms. There is concern that plastic debris is accumulating in trenches and threatening these communities.
the surrounding oceanic floor, but can be thousands of kilometers in length. There are about 50,000 km (31,000 mi) of oceanictrenches worldwide, mostly...
The Mariana Trench is an oceanictrench located in the western Pacific Ocean, about 200 kilometres (124 mi) east of the Mariana Islands; it is the deepest...
Ridge Tonga Trench Kermadec Trench Osbourn Trough Louisville Seamount Chain Hikurangi Trough New Zealand The Tonga Trench is an oceanictrench located in...
or oceanictrenches, are created by geological movement of tectonic plates. Some oceanictrenches include the Mariana Trench and the Aleutian Trench. The...
The Ryukyu Trench (琉球海溝, Ryūkyū kaikō), also called Nansei-Shotō Trench, is a 1398 km (868 mi) long oceanictrench located along the southeastern edge...
take place between an oceanic and an oceanic crust, creating a so-called oceanictrench. It can also take place between an oceanic and a continental crust...
The Hikurangi Trench, also called the Hikurangi Trough, is an oceanictrench in the bed of the Pacific Ocean off the east coast of the North Island of...
The Sunda Trench, earlier known as and sometimes still indicated as the Java Trench, is an oceanictrench located in the Indian Ocean near Sumatra, formed...
The Yap Trench, also known as the West Caroline Trench, is an oceanictrench near Yap Island in the western Pacific Ocean. The trench is roughly J-shaped...
Philippine Trench (also called the Philippine Deep, Mindanao Trench, and the Mindanao Deep) is a submarine trench to the east of the Philippines. The trench is...
The Japan Trench is an oceanictrench part of the Pacific Ring of Fire off northeast Japan. It extends from the Kuril Islands to the northern end of the...
The Puerto Rico Trench is located on the boundary between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. The oceanictrench, the deepest in the Atlantic, is...
fill in oceanictrenches varies and generally depends on abundance of sediment input from surrounding areas. An oceanictrench, the Mariana Trench, is the...
subducting oceanic tectonic plate, with the belt arranged in an arc shape as seen from above. Volcanic arcs typically parallel an oceanictrench, with the...
which the oceanic lithosphere and some continental lithosphere is recycled into the Earth's mantle at convergent boundaries. Where the oceanic lithosphere...
The outer trench swell, outer trench high, or outer rise is a subtle ridge on the seafloor near an oceanictrench, where a descending plate begins to...
tectonic term referring to a region in a subduction zone between an oceanictrench and the associated volcanic arc. Forearc regions are present along convergent...
Mariana end members. Oceanictrenches are the topographic expression of subduction zones on the floor of the oceans. Oceanictrenches associated with the...
and 45 mm (1.8 in)/yr in the south. The Kermadec Trench is one of Earth's deepest oceanictrenches, reaching a depth of 10,047 metres (32,963 ft). Formed...
The Manila Trench is an oceanictrench in the Pacific Ocean, located west of the islands of Luzon and Mindoro in the Philippines. The trench reaches a...
The Aleutian Trench (or Aleutian Trough) is an oceanictrench along a convergent plate boundary which runs along the southern coastline of Alaska and the...
The Middle America Trench is a major subduction zone, an oceanictrench in the eastern Pacific Ocean off the southwestern coast of Middle America, stretching...
Pacific Ocean Tonga Trench – An oceanictrench in the south-west Pacific Ocean Yap Trench – Oceanictrench in the western Pacific OceanOceanictrenches of...
Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of the Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or,...
nearer the coasts, one oceanic plate may slide beneath another oceanic plate in a process known as subduction. Deep trenches are formed here and the...
known as the hadopelagic zone, is the deepest region of the ocean, lying within oceanictrenches. The hadal zone ranges from around 6 to 11 km (3.7 to 6.8 mi;...
volcanic activity, mountain-building, and oceanictrench formation. Tectonic plates are composed of the oceanic lithosphere and the thicker continental...
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