Oceanic trench

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 10,994 m (36,070 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. 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.

There are approximately 50,000 km (31,000 mi) of convergent plate margins worldwide. These are mostly located around the Pacific Ocean, but are also found in the eastern Indian Ocean, with a few shorter convergent margin segments in other parts of the Indian Ocean, in the Atlantic Ocean, and in the Mediterranean. They are found on the oceanward side of island arcs and Andean-type orogens. Globally, there are over 50 major ocean trenches covering an area of 1.9 million km² or about 0.5% of the oceans.

Trenches are geomorphologically distinct from troughs. Troughs are elongated depressions of the sea floor with steep sides and flat bottoms, while trenches are characterized by a V-shaped profile. Trenches that are partially infilled are sometimes described as troughs, for example the Makran Trough. Some trenches are completely buried and lack bathymetric expression as in the Cascadia subduction zone, which is completely filled with sediments. Despite their appearance, in these instances the fundamental plate-tectonic structure is still an oceanic trench. Some troughs look similar to oceanic trenches but possess other tectonic structures. One example is the Lesser Antilles Trough, which is the forearc basin of the Lesser Antilles subduction zone. Also not a trench is the New Caledonia trough, which is an extensional sedimentary basin related to the Tonga-Kermadec subduction zone. Additionally, the Cayman Trough, which is a pull-apart basin within a transform fault zone, is not an oceanic trench.

Trenches, along with volcanic arcs and Wadati–Benioff zones (zones of earthquakes under a volcanic arc) are diagnostic of convergent plate boundaries and their deeper manifestations, subduction zones. Here, two tectonic plates are drifting into each other at a rate of a few millimeters to over 10 centimeters (4 in) per year. At least one of the plates is oceanic lithosphere, which plunges under the other plate to be recycled in the Earth's mantle.

Trenches are related to, but distinct from, continental collision zones, such as the Himalayas. Unlike in trenches, in continental collision zones continental crust enters a subduction zone. When buoyant continental crust enters a trench, subduction comes to a halt and the area becomes a zone of continental collision. Features analogous to trenches are associated with collision zones. One such feature is the peripheral foreland basin, a sediment-filled foredeep. Examples of peripheral foreland basins include the floodplains of the Ganges River and the Tigris-Euphrates river system.

Trenches were not clearly defined until the late 1940s and 1950s. The bathymetry of the ocean was poorly known prior to the Challenger expedition of 1872–1876, which took 492 soundings of the deep ocean. At station #225, the expedition discovered Challenger Deep, now known to be the southern end of the Mariana Trench. The laying of transatlantic telegraph cables on the seafloor between the continents during the late 19th and early 20th centuries provided further motivation for improved bathymetry. The term trench, in its modern sense of a prominent elongated depression of the sea bottom, was first used by Johnstone in his 1923 textbook An Introduction to Oceanography.