The Tonga Trench is an oceanic trench located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean . It is the deepest trench in the Southern hemisphere and the second deepest on Earth after the Mariana Trench . The fastest plate-tectonic velocity on Earth is occurring at this location, as the Pacific plate is being subducted westward in the trench.
169-688: The deepest point of the Tonga Trench, the Horizon Deep at 23°15′30″S 174°43′36″W / 23.25833°S 174.726667°W / -23.25833; -174.726667 , is 10,800 ± 10 m (35,433 ± 33 ft) deep, making it the deepest point in the Southern Hemisphere and the second deepest on Earth after the Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench . It is named for
338-498: A trough deeper that Vitiaz 's record by 5 metres (16 ft) was detected. There is a possibility that a depth exceeding 11,000 metres (36,089 ft) with a horizontal scale less than the beam width of measurements exists in the Challenger Deep. Since each SeaBeam 2.7-degree beam width sonar ping expands to cover a circular area about 500 metres (1,640 ft) in diameter at 11,000 metres (36,089 ft) depth, dips in
507-551: A 12 kHz Precision Depth Recorder (PDR) with a single 60° beam. They mapped one, "possibly two", axial basins with a depth of 10,915 ± 20 m (35,810 ± 66 ft). Five dredges were hauled 27–31 March, all into or slightly north of the deepest depths of the western basin. Fisher noted that this survey of the Challenger Deep (western basin) had "provided nothing to support and much to refute recent claims of depths there greater than 10,915 ± 20 m (35,810 ± 66 ft)." While Fisher missed
676-613: A Kongsberg Maritime EM 122 multi-beam echosounder system coupled to positioning equipment that can determine latitude and longitude the team determined that the Challenger Deep has a maximum depth of 10,925 m (35,843 ft) at 11°19.945′N 142°12.123′E / 11.332417°N 142.202050°E / 11.332417; 142.202050 ( 11°19′57″N 142°12′07″E / 11.332417°N 142.20205°E / 11.332417; 142.20205 ), with an estimated vertical uncertainty of ±12 m (39 ft) at one standard deviation (≈ 68.3%) confidence level. The analysis of
845-453: A brief transit of the area on Cruise #25. She returned in 1958, Cruise #27, to conduct a detailed single beam bathymetry survey involving over a dozen transects of the Deep, with an extensive examination of the western basin and a quick peek into the eastern basin. Fisher records a total of three Vityaz sounding locations on Fig.2 "Trenches" (1963), one within yards of the 142°11.5' E location, and
1014-511: A consequence of a change in the motion of the Pacific Plate. 100–45 Ma, after the break-up of Gondwana, a single, almost continuous arc-subduction system existed in the south-west Pacific, from Solomon Islands to New Zealand's North Island . Today only two actively spreading back-arc basins remain in the region: Taupo –Kermadec–Tonga and Hunter–Vanuatu. Other geological structures are remnants of island arcs and back-arc basins mostly from
1183-484: A depth of 10,920 ± 5 m (35,827 ± 16 ft), located about 290 m (950 ft) southeast of the deepest site determined by the survey vessel Takuyo in 1984. The 2002 surveys of both the western and eastern basins were tight, with especially meticulous cross-gridding of the eastern basin with ten parallel tracks N–S and E–W less than 250 meters apart. On the morning of 17 October, ROV Kaikō dive #272 began and recovered over 33 hours later, with
1352-440: A depth of 10,951 m (35,928 ft) was located at approximately 23.75 nmi (44.0 km) to the east at 11°22′11″N 142°35′19″E / 11.369639°N 142.588582°E / 11.369639; 142.588582 in the eastern basin of the Challenger Deep. JAMSTEC returned Yokosuka to the Challenger Deep with cruise YK10-16, 21–28 November 2010. The chief scientist of this joint Japanese-Danish expedition
1521-484: A maximum depth of 10,030 ± 10 m (32,907 ± 33 ft), and thus established that the Challenger Deep was about 800 metres (2,600 ft) deeper than the Philippine Trench. The 1959 Stranger surveys of the Challenger Deep and of the Philippine Trench informed the U.S. Navy as to the appropriate site for Trieste 's record dive in 1960. The Proa Expedition, Leg 2 , returned Fisher to
1690-417: A maximum depth of 10,915 ± 10 m (35,810 ± 33 ft) at 11°20.0′N 142°11.8′E / 11.3333°N 142.1967°E / 11.3333; 142.1967 . Discrepancies between the geographical location (lat/long) of Stranger 's deepest depths and those from earlier expeditions ( Challenger II 1951; Vityaz 1957 and 1958) "are probably due to uncertainties in fixing
1859-670: A month after descending four times to the bottom of the Challenger Deep , which is also approximately 6,000 km away from the Tonga Trench. The region between the Tonga trench and the Lau back-arc basin , the Tonga-Kermadec Ridge , moves independently from the Australian and Pacific plates and is subdivided into several small plates, the Tonga , Kermadec , and Niuafo'ou plates. The Tonga plate
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#17328379362072028-542: A new species of snailfish from the Northern slope of the Challenger Deep at 7,581 metres (24,872 ft), newly designated Pseudoliparis swirei . They also placed four or more CTD casts into the central and eastern basins of the Challenger Deep, as part of the World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE). Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology dispatched the research vessel Shinyo Maru to
2197-411: A quick but thorough depth survey of the Challenger Deep, 11–13 January 1998, under chief scientist Kantaro Fujioka. Tracking largely along the trench axis of 070–250° they made five 80-km bathymetric survey tracks, spaced about 15 km apart, overlapping their SeaBeam 2112-004 (which now allowed sub-bottom profiling penetrating as much as 75 m below the bottom) while gaining gravity and magnetic data covering
2366-639: A result is the earth's most active zone of mantle seismicity . Subduction rates decrease southward along the Tonga-Kermadec Arc, from 24 cm/year (9.4 in/year) in the north to 6 cm/year (2.4 in/year) in the south and also become more oblique southward. The high rate in the Tonga Trench is largely due to a reduction in extension in the Lau Basin. Crustal extension in the Miocene Lau-Colville Ridge began at 6 Ma which initiated
2535-630: A section of the andesite line in the south-west Pacific: east of the NFB the Kermadec-Tonga Arc stretches some 3,000 km (1,900 mi) north from New Zealand , and west of the NFB the New Hebrides subduction zone formed during the opening of the NFB back-arc basin. There are three small tectonic plates in the NFB: New Hebrides , Balmoral Reef , and Conway Reef . Little was known about
2704-575: A survey of the Marianas Trench between Guam and Ulithi atoll, using seismic-sized bomb-soundings and recorded a maximum depth of 5,663 fathoms (33,978 ft; 10,356 m). The depth was beyond Challenger II 's echo sounder capability to verify, so they resorted to using a taut wire with "140 lbs of scrap iron", and documented a depth of 5,899 fathoms (35,394 ft; 10,788 m). The Senior Scientist aboard Challenger II , Thomas Gaskell , recalled: [I]t took from ten past five in
2873-723: A third at 11°20.0′N 142°07′E / 11.3333°N 142.117°E / 11.3333; 142.117 , all with 11,034 ± 50 m (36,201 ± 164 ft) depth. The depths were considered statistical outliers , and a depth greater than 11,000 m has never been proven. Taira reports that if Vityaz 's depth was corrected with the same methodology used by the Japanese RV Hakuho Maru expedition of December 1992, it would be presented as 10,983 ± 50 m (36,033 ± 164 ft), as opposed to modern depths from multibeam echosounder systems greater than 10,900 metres (35,800 ft) with
3042-515: A transverse line across the Challenger Deep on 1 December 1992. The center CTD was located at 11°22.78′N 142°34.95′E / 11.37967°N 142.58250°E / 11.37967; 142.58250 , in the eastern basin, at 10,989 metres (36,053 ft) by the SeaBeam depth recorder and 10,884 metres (35,709 ft) by the CTD. The other two CTDs were cast 19.9 km to the north and 16.1 km to
3211-485: A trip to New Zealand waters (YK13-09), with the return cruise identified as YK13-12. The project name was QUELLE2013; and the cruise title was: "In situ experimental & sampling study to understand abyssal biodiversity and biogeochemical cycles". They spent one day on the return trip at the Challenger Deep to obtain DNA/RNA on the large amphipods inhabiting the Deep ( Hirondellea gigas ). Hideki Kobayashi (Biogeos, JAMSTEC) and
3380-528: A very thin or absent sedimentary cover over a distance of c. 100 km (62 mi); and continuous magnetic lineations indicating a very low half spreading rate (8 km (5.0 mi)/Ma) during the past 7 Ma. The Tripartite Ridge is divided into three segments oriented in different directions. It is a very young ridge that is propagating into an older domain covered by sediments. The inactive volcanic islands Mitre and Anuta are rejuvenated Vitiaz arc volcanoes that formed 2.2 Ma, probably as
3549-652: Is Fais Island (one of the outer islands of Yap ), 287 km (178 mi) southwest, and Guam , 304 km (189 mi) to the northeast. Detailed sonar mapping of the western, center and eastern basins in June 2020 by the DSSV Pressure Drop combined with manned descents revealed that they undulate with slopes and piles of rocks above a bed of pelagic ooze . This conforms with the description of Challenger Deep as consisting of an elongated seabed section with distinct sub-basins or sediment-filled pools. Over many years,
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#17328379362073718-466: Is a propagating rift . A ridge on its western side, reaching less than 2,000 m (6,600 ft) bsl, is flanked by another graben, 4 km (2.5 mi)-wide and 3,000 m (9,800 ft)-deep. This system of grabens and ridges, probably the southern extremity of the North Fiji fracture zone, converges in a flat area at the southern end of the western graben, 3,500 m (11,500 ft)-deep, that
3887-628: Is actively spreading southward and is characterised by three spreading centres and an oceanic crust younger than 12 Ma . The opening of the NFB began when a slab roll-back was initiated beneath the New Hebrides and the island arc started its clockwise rotation. The opening of the basin was the result of the collision between the Ontong Java Plateau and the Australian Plate along the now inactive Solomon–Vitiaz subduction system north of
4056-611: Is an oceanic basin west of Fiji in the south-west Pacific Ocean . It is an actively spreading back-arc basin delimited by the Fiji islands to the east, the inactive Vitiaz Trench to the north, the Vanuatu / New Hebrides island arc to the west, and the Hunter fracture zone to the south. Roughly triangular in shape with its apex located at the northern end of the New Hebrides Arc, the basin
4225-434: Is either in or near the Tonga Trench. However, due to protective casing, no release of Pu ( half-life of 87.7 years) used as heat source in the thermoelectric generator could be detected by atmospheric and oceanic monitoring. 22°S 174°W / 22°S 174°W / -22; -174 Challenger Deep The Challenger Deep is the deepest known point of the seabed of Earth , located in
4394-470: Is especially important when sounding in deep water, as the resulting footprint of an acoustic pulse gets large once it reaches a distant sea floor. Further, sonar operation is affected by variations in sound speed , particularly in the vertical plane. The speed is determined by the water's bulk modulus , mass , and density . The bulk modulus is affected by temperature, pressure , and dissolved impurities (usually salinity ). In 1875, during her transit from
4563-556: Is expected to be completely consumed by the trench within 500,000 years. When the Apollo 13 mission was aborted in 1970 following an explosion in an oxygen tank, it had to bring the entire Lunar Module back to Earth. As the LEM was jettisoned prior to reentry, its radioisotope thermoelectric generator broke up in the atmosphere, and the heat source plunged into an area of the Pacific Ocean that
4732-425: Is facing the Tonga Trench. The Tonga Trench-Arc system is an extension-dominated, non-accretionary convergent margin. The Pacific plate is being subducted westward in the trench. The convergence rate has been estimated to 15 cm/year (5.9 in/year) but GPS measurements in the northern trench indicate a convergence rate of 24 cm/year (9.4 in/year) there. This is the fastest plate velocity on Earth,
4901-470: Is flanked by two pseudofaults c. 500 m (1,600 ft)-high. The eastern graben, 10–12 km (6.2–7.5 mi)-wide and 3,200 m (10,500 ft)-deep, is flanked by parallel ridges and depressions over a 25 km (16 mi)-wide area. In the central plateau there is a fan-shaped system of ridges and depressions, the centre of which is occupied by a 3,000 m (9,800 ft)-deep and 10 km (6.2 mi)-wide graben. The sedimentary cover
5070-463: Is not available). Yayanos noted: "The lasting impression from this cruise comes from the thoughts of the revolutionary things that Seabeam data can do for deep biology." On 22 August 1988, the U.S. Navy-owned 1,000-ton research vessel Moana Wave (AGOR-22), operated by the Hawaii Institute of Geophysics (HIG), University of Hawaii , under the direction of chief scientist Robert C. Thunell from
5239-693: Is one of three major spreading centres in the northern Lau Basin (together with the Futuna Spreading Centre and Northwest Lau Spreading Centre). The maximum spreading rate in the NELSC is 94 mm/a (3.7 in/year) but spreading decreases to zero at either end of the spreading centre. The total spreading rate between the Tongan and Australian plates, however, is 157 mm/a (6.2 in/year), and additional microplates and/or deformations zones must thus exist. The NELSC probably receives magmatic contributions from
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5408-471: Is part of China's national marine research fleet but is owned by a Shanghai marine technology company. CAS' Institute of Deep-sea Science and Engineering sponsored Tansuo-1 's return to the Challenger Deep 20 January – 5 February 2017 (cruise TS03) with baited traps for the capture of fish and other macrobiology near the Challenger and Sirena Deeps. On 29 January they recovered photography and samples of
5577-441: Is thin or absent over the entire area. Pillow basalts in both the western and eastern grabens have a composition close to the mid-ocean ridge basalt (MORB) of the central spreading ridge. The South Pandora and Tripartite Ridges in the northern NFB are active spreading ridges with 50–100 km (31–62 mi)-long segments, a 10–20 km (6.2–12.4 mi)-wide volcanic axis, and ordered magnetic lineations running parallel to
5746-670: The Admiralty Islands in the Bismarck Archipelago to Yokohama in Japan, the three-masted sailing corvette HMS Challenger attempted to make landfall at Spanish Marianas (now Guam ), but was set to the west by "baffling winds" preventing her crew from "visiting either the Carolines or the Ladrones ." Their altered path took them over the undersea canyon which later became known as
5915-670: The Louisville seamount chain subducts under the Tonga trench rifting propagates at 10 cm/year (3.9 in/year). This seamount chain–trench intersection propagates southward at a rate of 12.8 cm/year (5.0 in/year) and, as a consequence, Tonga Islands rotate clockwise at a rate of 9.3°/ Ma . The southern margin of the NFB is formed by the Hunter Fracture Zone and the Hunter Ridge (including Matthew and Hunter Islands , two active volcanoes). The central spreading ridge of
6084-481: The North Fiji Basin , a detached segment of the subducted Australian plate has collided with the subducted Pacific plate which produces many large-scale earthquakes. The subducted Pacific plate is also being deformed in the collision as both slabs settle on the 660 km discontinuity . This slab collision probably occurred 5–4 Ma when the Lau Basin started to open. Oceanic trenches are important sites for
6253-722: The Polytechnic University of Marche , Italy (UNIVPM) were investigating the dynamics in virus/ prokaryotes interactions in the Mariana Trench. From 16–19 December 2014, the Schmidt Ocean Institute 's 2,024-ton research vessel Falkor , under chief scientist Douglas Bartlett from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, deployed four different untethered instruments into the Challenger Deep for seven total releases. Four landers were deployed on 16 December into
6422-702: The Samoa hotspot . The NELSC has a morphology which is similar to those of slow-spreading ridges with many closely packed ridges and troughs reaches. Where it meets the trench, a ridge-transform-transform boundary is developing between the Tonga Ridge, the Pacific plate, and the Australian plate. North-east of the 60° bend in the Tonga Trench the Pacific seafloor is full of parallel lineations. These have been interpreted as remnants of an extinct, east-to-west-trending spreading centre on
6591-492: The University of South Carolina , transited northwesterly across the central basin of the Challenger Deep, conducting a single-beam bathymetry track by their 3.5 kHz narrow (30-degs) beam echosounder with a Precision Depth Recorder. In addition to sonar bathymetry, they took 44 gravity cores and 21 box cores of bottom sediments. The deepest echosoundings recorded were 10,656 to 10,916 metres (34,961–35,814 ft), with
6760-463: The "11-K camera system" lander for sediment cores and water samples to "Station C" at the deepest depth, i.e. 11°22.19429′N 142°25.7574′E / 11.36990483°N 142.4292900°E / 11.36990483; 142.4292900 , at 10,903 metres (35,771 ft). The other stations were investigated with the "Multi-core" lander, both to the backarc northward, and to the Pacific Plate southward. The 11,000-meter capable crawler-driven ROV ABIMSO
6929-601: The "Marianas Deep" (sic) in October 1951. Using their newly improved echo sounder, they ran survey lines at right angles to the axis of the trench and discovered "a considerable area of a depth greater than 5,900 fathoms (35,400 ft; 10,790 m)" – later identified as the Challenger Deep's western basin. The greatest depth recorded was 5,940 fathoms (35,640 ft; 10,863 m), at 11°19′N 142°15′E / 11.317°N 142.250°E / 11.317; 142.250 . Navigational accuracy of several hundred meters
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7098-472: The 142°30.00' longitude line, about 30 nmi east of the earlier DY37II cruise survey (see Xiangyanghong 09 above). In November 2016 sonar mapping of the Challenger Deep area was conducted by the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ)/ GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel aboard the 8,554-ton Deep Ocean Research Vessel Sonne . The results were reported in 2017. Using
7267-410: The 16-beam Seabeam "Classic". This allowed chief scientist Yayanos an opportunity to transit the Challenger Deep with the most modern depth-sounding equipment available. During the pre-midnight hours of 21 April 1986, the multibeam echosounder produced a map of the Challenger Deep bottom with a swath of about 5–7 miles wide. The maximum depth recorded was 10,804 metres (35,446 ft) (location of depth
7436-429: The 1998–1999 surveys include the first recognition that the Challenger Deep consists of three "right-stepping en echelon individual basins bounded by the 10,500 metres (34,400 ft) depth contour line. The size of [each of] the deeps are almost identical, 14–20 km long, 4 km wide". They concluded with the proposal "that these three individual elongated deeps constitute the 'Challenger Deep', and [we] identify them as
7605-588: The 1999 Kairei cruise shows that the greatest depths in the eastern, central, and western depressions are 10,920 ± 10 m (35,827 ± 33 ft), 10,894 ± 14 m (35,741 ± 46 ft), and 10,907 ± 13 m (35,784 ± 43 ft), respectively, which supports the results of the previous survey. In 2002 Kairei revisited the Challenger Deep 16–25 October 2002, as cruise KR02-13 (a cooperative Japan-US-South Korea research program) with chief scientist Jun Hashimoto in charge; again with Kazuyoshi Hirata managing
7774-545: The 37th China Cruise Dayang (DY37II) sponsored by the National Deep Sea Center, Qingdao and the Institute of Deep-Sea Science and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences (Sanya, Hainan), to the Challenger Deep western basin area (11°22' N, 142°25' E) 4 June – 12 July 2016. As the mother ship for China's manned deep submersible Jiaolong , the expedition carried out an exploration of the Challenger Deep to investigate
7943-556: The CAS 3,300-ton research vessel Shiyan 3 deployed 33 broadband seismometers onto both the backarc northwest of the Challenger Deep, and onto the near southern Pacific Plate to the southeast, at depths of up to 8,137 m (26,696 ft). This cruise was part of a $ 12 million Chinese-U.S. initiative, led by co-leader Jian Lin of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution ; a 5-year effort (2017–2021) to image in fine detail
8112-577: The Challenger Deep from her home port of Sanya, Hainan Island. On 12 July 2016, the ROV Haidou-1 dived to a depth of 10,767 metres (35,325 ft) in the Challenger Deep area. They also cast a free-drop lander, 9,000 metres (29,528 ft) rated free-drop ocean-floor seismic instruments (deployed to 7,731 metres (25,364 ft)), obtained sediment core samples, and collected over 2000 biological samples from depths ranging from 5,000 to 10,000 metres (16,404–32,808 ft). The Tansuo 01 operated along
8281-501: The Challenger Deep in 12 km (7.5 mi) sidesteps, covering more than 90 nmi (166.7 km) north into the backarc with overlapping swaths from their SeaBeam 2000 12 kHz multi-beam echosounder and MR1 towed system. They also gathered magnetic and gravity information, but no seismic data. Their primary survey instrument was the MR1 towed sonar, a shallow-towed 11/12 kHz bathymetric sidescan sonar developed and operated by
8450-502: The Challenger Deep on 12–13 April 1962 aboard the Scripps research vessel Spencer F. Baird (formerly the steel-hulled US Army large tug LT-581 ) and employed a Precision Depth Recorder (PDR) to verify the extreme depths previously reported. They recorded a maximum depth of 10,915 metres (35,810 ft) (location not available). Additionally, at location "H-4" in the Challenger Deep, the expedition cast three taut-wire soundings: on 12 April,
8619-563: The Challenger Deep with multibeam ensonification. Under chief scientist Hideo Nishida, they used CTD temperature and salinity data from the top 4,500 metres (14,764 ft) of the water column to correct depth measurements, and later conferred with Scripps Institution of Oceanography (including Fisher), and other GEBCO experts to confirm their depth correction methodology. They employed a combination of NAVSAT , LORAN-C and OMEGA systems for geodetic positioning with accuracy better than 400 metres (1,300 ft). The deepest location recorded
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#17328379362078788-557: The Challenger Deep, mainly with biological objectives. "Echo soundings were carried out primarily with a 3.5 kHz single-beam system, with a 12 kHz echosounder operated in addition some of the time" (the 12 kHz system was activated for testing on 16 January). A benthic lander was put into the western basin ( 11°19.7′N 142°09.3′E / 11.3283°N 142.1550°E / 11.3283; 142.1550 ) on 13 January, bottoming at 10,663 metres (34,984 ft) and recovered 50 hours later in damaged condition. Quickly repaired, it
8957-521: The Challenger Deep. Depth soundings were taken by Baillie-weighted marked rope, and geographical locations were determined by celestial navigation (to an estimated accuracy of two nautical miles). One of their samples was taken within fifteen miles of the deepest spot in all of Earth's oceans. On 23 March 1875, at sample station number #225, HMS Challenger recorded the bottom at 4,475 fathoms (26,850 ft ; 8,184 m ) deep, (the deepest sounding of her three-plus-year eastward circumnavigation of
9126-404: The Challenger Deep. A 6-hour descent into the western basin anchored the array at 10,854.7 ± 8.9 m (35,613 ± 29 ft) of water depth, at 11°20.127′N 142°12.0233′E / 11.335450°N 142.2003883°E / 11.335450; 142.2003883 , about 1 km northeast of Sumner 's deepest depth, recorded in 2010. After 16 weeks, the moored array
9295-681: The Cook Expedition, Leg 6 with chief scientist Patricia Fryer of the University of Hawaii from Guam on 10 February 2001 to the Challenger Deep for a survey titled "Subduction Factory Studies in the Southern Mariana", including HMR-1 sonar mapping, magnetics, gravity measurements, and dredging in the Mariana arc region. They covered all three basins, then tracked 120-nautical-mile-long (222.2 km) lines of bathymetry East-West, stepping northward from
9464-456: The Deep from east to west, collecting single beam bathymetry, magnetic and gravity measurements, and employed the air guns along the trench axis, and well into the backarc and forearc , from 13 to 15 March 1976. Thence they proceeded south to the Ontong Java Plateau . All three deep basins of the Challenger Deep were covered, but Kana Keoki recorded a maximum depth of 7,800 m (25,591 ft). Seismic information developed from this survey
9633-663: The Earth's third deepest site (the Sirena Deep only 150 nautical miles east of the Challenger Deep), which would remain undiscovered for another 122 years. Seventy-five years later, the 1,140-ton British survey vessel HMS Challenger II , on her three-year westward circumnavigation of Earth, investigated the extreme depths southwest of Guam reported in 1875 by her predecessor, HMS Challenger . On her southbound track from Japan to New Zealand (May–July 1951), Challenger II conducted
9802-462: The Earth) at 11°24′N 143°16′E / 11.400°N 143.267°E / 11.400; 143.267 – and confirmed it with a second sounding at the same location. The serendipitous discovery of Earth's deepest depression by history's first major scientific expedition devoted entirely to the emerging science of oceanography , was incredibly good fortune, and especially notable when compared to
9971-506: The East, Central and West Deep. The deepest depth we obtained during the swath mapping is 10,938 metres (35,886 ft) in the West Deep (11°20.34' N, 142°13.20 E)." The depth was "obtained during swath mapping ... confirmed in both N–S and E-W swaths." Speed of sound corrections were from XBT to 1,800 metres (5,900 ft), and CTD below 1,800 metres (5,900 ft). The cross track survey of
10140-760: The Eocene and Miocene, including the Vitiaz Trench and the Lau–Colville , Three Kings , and Loyalty ridges. Accordingly the Loyalty-Three Kings Ridge once formed a single, continuous arc with the Lau-Colville Ridge which is called the Vitiaz arc. The Fiji–New Hebrides region is made of volcanic rock but where volcanism began is uncertain. The region probably formed far south-west of its present location where it
10309-622: The Five Deeps expedition, Sirena Deep, itself 5,750 km (3,570 mi) away from Horizon Deep, was visited by Victor Vescovo on the first crewed descent to the bottom of the Sirena Deep on 5 June 2019 (in the Deep-Submergence Vehicle DSV ; Limiting Factor , a Triton 36000/2 model submersible) and measured a depth of 10,823 m (35,509 ft) ±10 m (33 ft) by direct CTD pressure measurements. This descent and direct depth measurement of Sirena Deep occurred
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#173283793620710478-620: The Futuna (1–4 cm/year (0.39–1.57 in/year) and North Cikobia (2 cm/year (0.79 in/year) spreading centres, and the Tripartite (2–5 cm/year (0.79–1.97 in/year), South Pandora, and Hazel-Holmes ridges. Basalts in the Central Spreading ridge are of N- MORB -type, indicative of a mature accretionary system, whereas basalts in the northern NFB have an ocean island basalt (OIB) mantle source. The central spreading centre of
10647-551: The Guam-based 1,930-ton US Coast Guard Cutter Sequoia (WLB 215) hosted a team of researchers, under chief scientist Robert P. Dziak, from the NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL), the University of Washington , and Oregon State University, in deploying PMEL's "Full-Ocean Depth Mooring", a 45-meter-long moored deep-ocean hydrophone and pressure sensor array into the western basin of
10816-464: The HMRG Deep/Sirena Deep at 10,714 ± 20 m (35,151 ± 66 ft) are centered at/near 12°03.94′N 142°34.866′E / 12.06567°N 142.581100°E / 12.06567; 142.581100 , approximately 2.65 km from Fisher's 25 March 1975 10,015 metres (32,858 ft) dredge haul. On Scripps Institution of Oceanography's INDOPAC Expedition Leg 3 ,
10985-630: The Hawaii Mapping Research Group (HMRG), a research and operational group within University of Hawaii's School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST) and the Hawaii Institute of Geophysics and Planetology (HIGP). The MR1 is full-ocean-depth capable, providing both bathymetry and sidescan data. Leg 7 of the Cook Expedition continued the MR-1 survey of the Mariana Trench backarc from 4 March to 12 April 2001 under chief scientist Sherman Bloomer of Oregon State University . In May/June 2009,
11154-509: The King's or Mangatolu Triple Junction (MTJ), characterised by deformation and recent and intense volcanism (see for example Home Reef ). The Tofua volcanic arc on the northern Tonga Ridge extends to less than 40 km (25 mi) of the trench's northern end. Just north of the MTJ lies the south–north-trending Northeast Lau Spreading Centre (NELSC) which intercepts the northern end of the Tonga Trench and
11323-475: The Louisville Ridge collision zone, is a 900 km (560 mi)-long extinct spreading ridge midway between two large oceanic plateaux north and south of the Tonga Trench respectively: Manihiki 1,750 km (1,090 mi) to the north and Hikurangi 1,550 km (960 mi) to the south. These plateaux once formed part of the 100 × 10 ^ km (3.5 × 10 cu ft) Ontong Java -Manihiki-Hikurangi large igneous province (LIP). Spreading between
11492-447: The Mariana Trench from 20 January to 5 February 2017 with baited traps for the capture of fish and other macrobiology near the Challenger and Sirena Deeps. On 29 January they recovered photography and samples of a new species of snailfish from the Northern slope of the Challenger Deep at 7,581 metres (24,872 ft), which has been newly designated Pseudoliparis swirei . Water samples were collected at Challenger Deep from 11 layers of
11661-442: The Mariana Trench in March 2017. Seawater samples from 4 to 4,000 m were collected by Niskin bottles mounted to a Seabird SBE25 CTDs; whereas water samples at depths from 6,050 m to 8,320 m were collected by a self-designed acoustic-controlled full ocean depth water samplers. In this study, scientists studied the RNA of pico- and nano-plankton from the surface to the hadal zone. North Fiji Basin The North Fiji Basin ( NFB )
11830-450: The NFB before 1985 and in the 1970s the central part of the basin, the only mapped area, was called the North Fiji Plateau. The New Hebrides central chain stretches 1,200 km (750 mi) from Ureparapara island , Banks Islands , in the north to Hunter island in the south. The New Hebrides trench retreats progressively which causes the southern end the subduction zone to bend eastward. The Australian Plate subducts under Vanuatu at
11999-417: The NFB have been attributed to a detached slab segment of the subducted Australian plate which collided with the subducting Pacific plate at a depth of 500 km (310 mi) c. 5 Ma. The earthquakes are the result of these colliding slabs settling on the 660 km discontinuity . Beneath Tonga at a depth of 350–500 km (220–310 mi) the number of earthquakes increases dramatically while
12168-420: The NFB is the largest and probably the oldest back-arc basin on Earth. It can be divided into four 120–200 km (75–124 mi)-long segments: The West Fiji area is dominated by a western and an eastern graben separated by a central plateau. The western graben, 10 km (6.2 mi)-wide and 4,000 km (2,500 mi)-deep, is flanked by a steep western wall but a series of steps on its eastern side and
12337-462: The NFB transects Hunter Ridge and a small spreading centre is developing south of it. The Hunter Ridge formed c. 3 Ma and fossil transform faults in NFB north of the ridge are remains of a spreading ridge that was active before the Vanuatu Trench propagated south of the southern end of Vanuatu, Anatom Island . The northern Melanesian arc collided with the subducted south-eastern segment of
12506-549: The NFB. The NFB is the largest and most developed back-arc basin of the south-west Pacific. It is opening in a complex geological setting between two oppositely verging subduction systems, the New Hebrides/Vanuatu and Tonga trenches and hence its ocean floor has the World's largest amount of spreading centres per area. Two opposite-facing systems of deformation partly overlap where the Australian and Pacific plates meet along
12675-951: The NOAA accepted maximum of 10,995 ± 10 m (36,073 ± 33 ft) in the western basin. The first definitive verification of both the depth and location of the Challenger Deep (western basin) was determined by Dr. R. L. Fisher from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography , aboard the 325-ton research vessel Stranger . Using explosive soundings, they recorded 10,850 ± 20 m (35,597 ± 66 ft) at/near 11°18′N 142°14′E / 11.300°N 142.233°E / 11.300; 142.233 in July 1959. Stranger used celestial and LORAN-C for navigation. LORAN-C navigation provided geographical accuracy of 460 m (1,509 ft) or better. According to another source RV Stranger using bomb-sounding surveyed
12844-441: The New Hebrides island arc has been pushed southward and clockwise. It also reversed the direction of subduction and opened the NFB back-arc and pushed the Vitiaz slab into the mantle and initiated the subduction at New Hebrides trench. The slab avalanche was initiated at c. 8 Ma and most of the material is now located 450 km (280 mi) below the 660 km layer. The slab beneath Tonga and Kermadec penetrates into
13013-460: The New Hebrides trench which results in a complex of rifts and transforms in the NFB. The New Hebrides island chain itself is being deformed as buoyant features such as d'Entrecasteaux Ridge and West Torres Plateau are being subducted in this process. NFB is the product of the asymmetric back-arc opening about a hinge point at 11°S, 165°E around which the Vanuatu chain has rotated 28° clockwise during
13182-481: The Ontong Java Plateau at 10–8 Ma. This collision reversed the direction of subduction in the Vitiaz Trench and thus initiated the clockwise rotation of the Vanuatu arc and the opening of the NFB at 8–3 Ma. An isolated zone of deep-focus earthquakes towards the middle of the basin would be explained by the continuing slab subduction of the Pacific Plate remnant from before 110–8 Ma that cut off when
13351-650: The Pacific Plate is subducting westward along the eastern margin of the NFB, the Tonga-Kermadec Trench. The Australian Plate is subducting eastward along the western margin of the NFB, the New Hebrides Trench. The transition between these opposed subduction systems is the Fiji Fracture Zone, a complex left-lateral succession of ridges and faults north of Fiji that extends into the North Fiji and Lau basins respectively. Large magnitude earthquakes beneath
13520-537: The Pacific plate, much older than the Tonga Trench. At its southern end ( c. 26°S ) the Tonga Trench is colliding with the Louisville Seamount Chain , a chain of guyots and seamounts on the Pacific plate roughly parallel to the Hawaiian–Emperor seamount chain in the northern pacific. The Louisville collision zone migrates southward at a rate of 18 cm/year (7.1 in/year) because of
13689-597: The ROV Kaikō team. On this survey, the size of each of the three basins was refined to 6–10 km long by about 2 km wide and in excess of 10,850 m (35,597 ft) deep. In marked contrast to the Kairei surveys of 1998 and 1999, the detailed survey in 2002 determined that the deepest point in the Challenger Deep is located in the eastern basin around 11°22.260′N 142°35.589′E / 11.371000°N 142.593150°E / 11.371000; 142.593150 , with
13858-577: The ROV working at the bottom of the western basin for 26 hours (vicinity of 11°20.148' N, 142°11.774 E at 10,893 m (35,738 ft)). Five Kaikō dives followed on a daily basis into the same area to service benthic landers and other scientific equipment, with dive #277 recovered on 25 October. Traps brought up large numbers of amphipods (sea fleas), and cameras recorded holothurians ( sea cucumbers ), White polychaetes (bristle worms), tube worms, and other biological species. During its 1998, 1999 surveys, Kairei
14027-433: The Tonga Trench is currently slicing it like a loaf of bread: inside the guyot a north–south-trending horst and graben system is developing parallel to the trench; the western slope of the guyot has reached the 9,000 m deep (30,000 ft) trench and has started to fill it; the summit of the guyot is tilted 1.7° towards the trench and its centre is only 45 km (28 mi) from the trench axis. The Capricorn Seamount
14196-416: The Tonga Trench the bathymetry of these structures is affected by the rotation of the Pacific plate. The Capricorn Seamount is a guyot located on the eastern wall of the northern Tonga Trench (see map above). It is a large guyot, 100 km (62 mi) wide at its base with a small part of its reefal or lagoonal summit reaching 440 m (1,440 ft) below sea level. The bending of the Pacific plate at
14365-555: The US Navy-owned 3,064-ton twin-hulled research vessel Kilo Moana (T-AGOR 26) was sent to the Challenger Deep area to conduct research. Kilo Moana is civilian-crewed and operated by SOEST. It is equipped with two multibeam echosounders with sub-bottom profiler add-ons (the 191-beam 12 kHz Kongsberg Simrad EM120 with SBP-1200, capable of accuracies of 0.2–0.5% of water depth across the entire swath), gravimeter , and magnetometer . The EM-120 uses 1 by 1 degree sonar-emissions at
14534-742: The annual American Geophysical Union fall meeting. Using a Kongsberg Maritime EM 122 multi-beam echosounder system coupled to positioning equipment that can determine latitude and longitude up to 50 cm (20 in) accuracy, from thousands of individual soundings around the deepest part the CCOM/JHC team preliminary determined that the Challenger Deep has a maximum depth of 10,994 m (36,070 ft) at 11°19′35″N 142°11′14″E / 11.326344°N 142.187248°E / 11.326344; 142.187248 , with an estimated vertical uncertainty of ±40 m (131 ft) at two standard deviations (i.e. ≈ 95.4%) confidence level. A secondary deep with
14703-464: The application of differing sound velocity profiles, which are essential for accurate depth determination. Sonne used CTD casts about 1.6 km west of the deepest sounding to near the bottom of the Challenger Deep that were used for sound velocity profile calibration and optimization. Likewise, the impact of using different projections, datum and ellipsoids during data acquisition can cause positional discrepancies between surveys. In December 2016,
14872-406: The basins 200 to 300 m (660 to 980 ft) higher. The three basins feature extends about 48 km (30 mi) west to east if measured at the 10,650 m (34,941 ft) isobath . Both the western and eastern basins have recorded depths (by sonar bathymetry) in excess of 10,920 m (35,827 ft), while the center basin is slightly less deep. The closest land to the Challenger Deep
15041-460: The bottom that are less than that size would be difficult to detect from a sonar-emitting platform seven miles above. For most of 1995 and into 1996, the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC) employed the 4,439-ton Research Vessel Yokosuka to conduct the testing and workup of the 11,000-meter remotely-operated vehicle (ROV) Kaikō , and the 6,500 meter ROV Shinkai. It
15210-414: The bottom, they recovered some 90 individual Hirondellea gigas . JAMSTEC deployed Kairei to the Challenger Deep again 11–17 January 2014, under the leadership of chief scientist Takuro Nunora. The cruise identifier was KR14-01, titled: "Trench biosphere expedition for the Challenger Deep, Mariana Trench". The expedition sampled at six stations transecting the central basin, with only two deployments of
15379-450: The bottom. In the first successful retrieval of a live animal from the Challenger Deep, on 21 November 1980 in the western basin at 11°18.7′N 142°11.6′E / 11.3117°N 142.1933°E / 11.3117; 142.1933 , Yayanos recovered a live amphipod from about 10,900 meters depth with a pressurized trap. Once again, other than a brief look into the eastern basin, all bathymetric and biological investigations were into
15548-459: The central basin at a depth of 10,285 metres (33,743 ft). The benthic lander was not recovered and may remain on the bottom in the vicinity of 11°20.1′N 142°25.2′E / 11.3350°N 142.4200°E / 11.3350; 142.4200 . Free traps and pressure-retaining traps were put down at eight locations from 13 to 19 January into the western basin, at depths ranging from 7,353 to 10,715 metres (24,124–35,154 ft). Both
15717-506: The central basin, near where Trieste dived in 1960 (vicinity 11°18.5′N 142°15.5′E / 11.3083°N 142.2583°E / 11.3083; 142.2583 , and where Challenger II , in 1950, recorded 10,863 ± 35 m (35,640 ± 115 ft). At the far western end of the western basin (about 142°11'E), the Stranger recorded 10,850 ± 20 m (35,597 ± 66 ft), some 6 km south of
15886-429: The central basin. On 13 April, the final cast recorded 5,297 fathoms (corrected for wire angle) 9,687 metres (31,781 ft) at 11°17.5′N 142°11′E / 11.2917°N 142.183°E / 11.2917; 142.183 (the western basin). They were chased off by a hurricane after only two days on-site. Once again, Fisher entirely missed the eastern basin of the Challenger Deep, which later proved to contain
16055-417: The central basin: the baited video-equipped lander Leggo for biologics; the lander ARI to 11°21.5809′N 142°27.2969′E / 11.3596817°N 142.4549483°E / 11.3596817; 142.4549483 for water chemistry; and the probes Deep Sound 3 and Deep Sound 2 . Both Deep Sound probes recorded acoustics floating at 9,000 metres (29,528 ft) depth, until Deep Sound 3 imploded at
16224-648: The chief scientist, Dr. Joseph L. Reid, and oceanographer Arnold W. Mantyla made a hydrocast of a free vehicle (a special-purpose benthic lander (or "baited camera") for measurements of water temperature and salinity) on 27 May 1976 into the western basin of the Challenger Deep, "Station 21", at 11°19.9′N 142°10.8′E / 11.3317°N 142.1800°E / 11.3317; 142.1800 at about 10,840 metres (35,560 ft) depth. On INDOPAC Expedition Leg 9 , under chief scientist A. Aristides Yayanos, Thomas Washington spent nine days from 13–21 January 1977 conducting an extensive and detailed investigation of
16393-669: The collision with the Ontong Java Plateau occurred stalling further subduction and reorientating the direction of subduction in the area. There are two main spreading systems in the central and southern part of the NFB: the Central Spreading Ridge and the West Fiji Rift, both with a variable spreading rate of 5–8 cm/year (2.0–3.1 in/year). In the northern NFB a series of spreading centres stretches 1,500 km (930 mi) along an east–west-trending belt (with spreading rates):
16562-432: The corrected depth was 10,989 metres (36,053 ft), and at 11°22.0′N 142°34.0′E / 11.3667°N 142.5667°E / 11.3667; 142.5667 the depth was 10,927 metres (35,850 ft); both in the eastern basin. This may demonstrate that the basins might not be flat sedimentary pools but rather undulate with a difference of 50 metres (160 ft) or more. Taira revealed, "We considered that
16731-542: The cruise, Jiaolong regularly deployed gas-tight samplers to collect water near the sea bottom. In a test of navigational proficiency, Jiaolong used an Ultra-Short Base Line (USBL) positioning system at a depth more than 6,600 metres (21,654 ft) to retrieve sampling bottles. From 22 June to 12 August 2016 (cruises 2016S1 and 2016S2), the Chinese Academy of Sciences' 6,250-ton submersible support ship Tansuo 1 (meaning: to explore) on her maiden voyage deployed to
16900-467: The deep and that the difference in biomass between these locations is even bigger. Species diversity, on the other hand, is twice as big on the trench slope, probably because of a small number of opportunistic species in the trench. Figures for abundance and biomass are similar for the deeps of the Mariana Trench but considerably lower in the Peru–Chile Trench . The Tonga Trench and the operating area
17069-550: The deepest depths. The Scripps Institution of Oceanography deployed the 1,490-ton Navy-owned, civilian-crewed research vessel Thomas Washington (AGOR-10) to the Mariana Trench on several expeditions from 1975 to 1986. The first of these was the Eurydice Expedition, Leg 8 which brought Fisher back to the Challenger Deep's western basin from 28–31 March 1975. Thomas Washington established geodetic positioning by ( SATNAV ) with Autolog Gyro and EM Log. Bathymetrics were by
17238-480: The depth of 8,620 metres (28,281 ft) (about 2,200 metres (7,218 ft) above the bottom) at 11°21.99′N 142°27.2484′E / 11.36650°N 142.4541400°E / 11.36650; 142.4541400 . The Deep Sound 2 recorded the implosion of Deep Sound 3 , providing a unique recording of an implosion within the Challenger Deep depression. In addition to the loss of the Deep Sound 3 by implosion,
17407-536: The difference in the oblique angle between the Louisville Ridge relative the direction of convergence. In the eastern Lau Basin spreading centres are propagating southward at roughly the same rate. The collision zone also offsets the Tonga Trench to the north-west relative to the Kermadec Trench by c. 50 km (31 mi) . The subducting Louisville Ridge has caused a significant amount of erosion on
17576-462: The discovery of the deepest basin of the world's oceans. In August 1957, the Soviet 3,248-ton Vernadsky Institute of Geochemistry research vessel Vityaz recorded a maximum depth of 11,034 ± 50 m (36,201 ± 164 ft) at 11°20.9′N 142°11.5′E / 11.3483°N 142.1917°E / 11.3483; 142.1917 in the western basin of the Challenger Deep during
17745-442: The eastern basin again was missed by this expedition. From 20 to 30 November 1980, Thomas Washington was on site at the western basin of the Challenger Deep, as part of Rama Expedition Leg 7 , again with chief-scientist Dr. A. A. Yayanos. Yayanos directed Thomas Washington in arguably the most extensive and wide-ranging of all single-beam bathymetric examinations of the Challenger Deep ever undertaken, with dozens of transits of
17914-438: The eastern basin of the Challenger Deep (for the third time), he did report a deep depression about 150 nautical miles east of the western basin. The 25 March dredge haul at 12°03.72′N 142°33.42′E / 12.06200°N 142.55700°E / 12.06200; 142.55700 encountered 10,015 metres (32,858 ft), which pre-shadowed by 22 years the discovery of HMRG Deep/ Sirena Deep in 1997. The deepest waters of
18083-584: The entire Challenger Deep: western, central, and eastern basins. Kairei returned in May 1998, cruise KR98-05, with ROV Kaikō , under the direction of chief scientist Jun Hashimoto with both geophysical and biological goals. Their bathymetric survey from 14–26 May was the most intensive and thorough depth and seismic survey of the Challenger Deep performed to date. Each evening, Kaikō deployed for about four hours of bottom time for biological-related sampling, plus about seven hours of vertical transit time. When Kaikō
18252-524: The evening until twenty to seven, that is an hour and a half, for the iron weight to fall to the sea-bottom. It was almost dark by the time the weight struck, but great excitement greeted the reading... In New Zealand, the Challenger II team gained the assistance of the Royal New Zealand Dockyard, "who managed to boost the echo sounder to record at the greatest depths". They returned to
18421-463: The first cast was to 5,078 fathoms (corrected for wire angle) 9,287 metres (30,469 ft) at 11°23′N 142°19.5′E / 11.383°N 142.3250°E / 11.383; 142.3250 in the central basin (Up until 1965, US research vessels recorded soundings in fathoms). The second cast, also on 12 April, was to 5,000 fathoms at 11°20.5′N 142°22.5′E / 11.3417°N 142.3750°E / 11.3417; 142.3750 in
18590-468: The formation of what will become continental crust and for recycling of material back into the mantle . Along the Tonga Trench mantle-derived melts are transferred to the island arc systems, and abyssal oceanic sediments and fragments of oceanic crust are collected. The northern end of the Tonga Trench (at 15°10'S) is probably linked to the Fiji Fracture Zone , trending east–west north of Fiji, but
18759-433: The free traps and the pressure-retaining traps brought up good sample amphipods for study. While the ship briefly visited the area of the eastern basin, the expedition did not recognize it as potentially the deepest of the three Challenger Deep basins. Thomas Washington returned briefly to the Challenger Deep on 17–19 October 1978 during Mariana Expedition Leg 5 under chief scientist James W. Hawkins. The ship tracked to
18928-440: The friction during subduction, others are produced in the Pacific plate due to its bending. The Pacific crust that descends into the trench is old, 100–140 Ma, and relatively cold and it can therefore store a lot of elastic energy. As it reaches deep into the mantle, more than 600 km (370 mi), and encounters barriers, it is being contorted, which produces deep mantle earthquakes. About 500 km (310 mi) beneath
19097-424: The geological, biological, and chemical characteristics of the hadal zone . The diving area for this leg was on the southern slope of the Challenger Deep, at depths from about 6,300 to 8,300 metres (20,669 to 27,231 ft). The submersible completed nine piloted dives on the northern backarc and south area ( Pacific plate ) of the Challenger Deep to depths from 5,500 to 6,700 metres (18,045 to 21,982 ft). During
19266-404: The greatest depth at 11°22′N 142°25′E in the central basin. This was the first indication that all three basins contained depths in excess of 10,900 metres (35,800 ft). The 3,987-ton Japanese research vessel Hakuhō Maru , an Ocean Research Institute – University of Tokyo sponsored ship, on cruise KH-92-5 cast three Sea-Bird SBE-9 ultra-deep CTD (conductivity-temperature-depth) profilers in
19435-453: The greatest depth was at 11°20.0′N 142°11.8′E / 11.3333°N 142.1967°E / 11.3333; 142.1967 . All of the 10,900-plus m recordings were in the western basin. The 10,455 metres (34,301 ft) depth was furthest east at 142°26.4' E (in the central basin), about 17 km west of the eastern basin. Again, focused efforts on the known areas of extreme depths (the western and central basins) were so tight that
19604-424: The greatest depths in the eastern, central, and western depressions are 10,922 ± 74 m (35,833 ± 243 ft), 10,898 ± 62 m (35,755 ± 203 ft), and 10,908 ± 36 m (35,787 ± 118 ft), respectively, making the eastern depression the deepest of the three. In 1999, Kairei revisited the Challenger Deep during cruise KR99-06. The results of
19773-490: The grid point has an uncertainty of ±50 to 100 m (164 to 328 ft), depending on along-track or across-track direction. This depth (59 m (194 ft)) and position (about 410 m (1,345 ft) to the northeast) measurements differ significantly from the deepest point determined by the Gardner et al. (2014) study. The observed depth discrepancy with the 2010 sonar mapping and Gardner et al 2014 study are related to
19942-552: The lander ARI failed to respond upon receiving its instruction to drop weights, and was never recovered. On 16/17 December, Leggo was returned to the central basin baited for amphipods. On the 17th, RV Falkor relocated 17 nms eastward to the eastern basin, where they again deployed both the Leggo (baited and with its full camera load), and the Deep Sound 2 . Deep Sound 2 was programmed to drop to 9,000 metres (29,528 ft) and remain at that depth during its recording of sounds within
20111-661: The lander's mackerel bait and with sample amphipods. Falknor departed the Challenger Deep on 19 December en route the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument to the Sirena Deep. RV Falkor had both a Kongsberg EM302 and EM710 multibeam echosounder for bathymetry, and an Oceaneering C-Nav 3050 global navigation satellite system receiver, capable of calculating geodetic positioning with an accuracy better than 5 cm (2.0 in) horizontally and 15 cm (5.9 in) vertically. From 10 to 13 July 2015,
20280-557: The last 6 Ma, or 6–7.5°/Ma. This rotation has also caused rifting in the northern part of the NFB. Vanuatu can be divided into a southern and a northern tectonic blocks separate from the western NFB block. These blocks are separated by an extensional zone east of the islands chain. In the Lau Basin east of the NFB the Pacific Plate is subducting westward under Tonga trench in the highest rate of back-arc rifting known — where
20449-584: The location where Vityaz recorded 11,034 ± 50 m (36,201 ± 164 ft) in 1957–1958. Fisher stated: "differences in the Vitiaz [sic] and Stranger – Challenger II depths can be attributed to the [sound] velocity correction function used". After investigating the Challenger Deep, Stranger proceeded to the Philippine Trench and transected the trench over twenty times in August 1959, finding
20618-457: The mechanism behind this process is poorly understood. Geochemical evidence suggests that the Louisville chain has been subducting under the Tonga-Kermadec Arc since 4 Ma. Seismic studies have identified a southward, along-arc mantle flow that indicate that Pacific mantle is being replaced by Indo-Australian mantle west of the Tonga Trench. The Osbourn Trough, located at 25.5°S just north of
20787-579: The next two decades. The Yokosuka employed a 151-beam SeaBeam 2112 12 kHz multibeam echosounder, allowing search swaths 12–15 km in width at 11,000 metres (36,089 ft) depth. The depth accuracy of Yokosuka 's Seabeam was about 0.1% of water depth (i.e. ± 110 metres (361 ft) for 11,000 metres (36,089 ft) depth). The ship's dual GPS systems attained geodetic positioning within double digit meter (100 metres (328 ft) or better) accuracy. Cruise KR98-01 sent JAMSTEC's two-year-old 4,517-ton Deep Sea Research Vessel RV Kairei south for
20956-469: The opening of the Lau Basin - Havre Trough . This extension has propagated southward since and has developed into a spreading centre in the Lau Basin in front of the Tonga Trench. New crust is thus produced in front of the Tonga-Kermadec trenches while old crust is consumed behind it in the Tonga Trench. While most of the large earthquakes occur at the contact zone between both tectonic plates, related to
21125-518: The outer edge of the southern Tonga fore-arc and has probably accelerated subsidence in the Tonga Trench, a process which makes the Tonga Trench the second deepest trench on Earth and considerably deeper than the Kermadec Trench. The oldest and westernmost of the Louisville seamounts, the Osbourn Seamount , is sitting on the edge of the trench and its former flat top is currently tilting towards
21294-576: The plateaux ceased when Hikurangi collided with the Chatham Rise east of New Zealand which had been estimated to have been at 86 Ma, although may be as recent as 79 Ma. The western end of the Osbourn Trough is bounded by the Tonga Trench and its eastern by the Wishbone–East Manihiki scarp . In between the Osbourn Trough is divided into three segments separated by dextral offsets. Near
21463-476: The research vessel Horizon of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography , the crew of which found the deep in December 1952. As one of the deepest hadal trenches, the sediment of the Horizon Deep harbours a community of roundworms . A 2016 study found that the abundance of individuals in this community is six times greater than it is at a site on the trench edge at approximately 6,250 m (20,510 ft) near
21632-438: The ridge. The ridge segments are separated by complex relay zones rather than transform faults. The South Pandora Ridge is divided into five segments averaging 20 km (12 mi) in width. The axial valley is partly obscured by faulted and rifted volcanic structures; elongated grabens are typical of slow spreading ridges with steep walls flanking a deep valley. On either side of the ridge there are numerous, large volcanoes;
21801-585: The rock layers in and around the Challenger Deep. The newly launched 4,800-ton research vessel (and mothership for the Rainbow Fish series of deep submersibles), the Zhang Jian departed Shanghai on 3 December. Their cruise was to test three new deep-sea landers, one uncrewed search submersible and the new Rainbow Fish 11,000-meter manned deep submersible, all capable of diving to 10,000 meters. From 25 to 27 December, three deep-sea landing devices descended into
21970-491: The sea surface. Each 1 degree beam width sonar ping expands to cover a circular area about 192 metres (630 ft) in diameter at 11,000 metres (36,089 ft) depth. Whilst mapping the Challenger Deep the sonar equipment indicated a maximum depth of 10,971 m (35,994 ft) at an undisclosed position. Navigation equipment includes the Applanix POS MV320 V4, rated at accuracies of 0.5–2 m. RV Kilo Moana
22139-403: The search for, and investigation of, the location of the maximum depth of the world's oceans has involved many different vessels, and continues into the twenty-first century. The accuracy of determining geographical location, and the beamwidth of (multibeam) echosounder systems, limits the horizontal and vertical bathymetric sensor resolution that hydrographers can obtain from onsite data. This
22308-617: The shape of the Pacific becomes complex. Hundreds of these earthquakes occur outside the Wadati-Benioff zone (top of slab) along a horizontal plane. The eastward subduction of the Australian Plate (together with the now-fused South Fiji plate) under NFB created the New Hebrides and south Solomon Islands. The slab produced from this subduction stretches steeply down to 300–350 km (190–220 mi) except at its southern end where it only reaches 150 km (93 mi). The north end of
22477-429: The ships' positions". Stranger 's north-south zig-zag survey passed well to the east of the eastern basin southbound, and well to the west of the eastern basin northbound, thus failed to discover the eastern basin of the Challenger Deep. The maximum depth measured near longitude 142°30'E was 10,760 ± 20 m (35,302 ± 66 ft), about 10 km west of the eastern basin's deepest point. This
22646-412: The slab, at the southern Rennell Trough, corresponds to the sharp bend in the andesite line. A detached slab from the east-dipping Australian plate beneath the NFB has slid eastward and collided with the west-dipping Pacific slab. A series of unusual earthquakes below the NFB occur within several such detached slab segments. If these segments are combined and reconstructed back to their original location at
22815-439: The sonar survey offered a 100 by 100 metres (328 ft × 328 ft) grid resolution at bottom depth, so small dips in the bottom that are less than that size would be difficult to detect from the 0.5 by 1 degree sonar-emissions at the sea surface. Each 0.5-degree beam width sonar ping expands to cover a circular area about 96 metres (315 ft) in diameter at 11,000 metres (36,089 ft) depth. The horizontal position of
22984-487: The south and west of the eastern basin, and recorded depths between 5,093 and 7,182 metres (16,709–23,563 ft). Another miss. On Mariana Expedition Leg 8 , under chief scientist Yayanos, Thomas Washington was again involved, from 12–21 December 1978, with an intensive biological study of the western and central basins of the Challenger Deep. Fourteen traps and pressure-retaining traps were put down to depths ranging from 10,455 to 10,927 metres (34,301–35,850 ft);
23153-514: The south. Hakuhō Maru was equipped with a narrow beam SeaBeam 500 multi-beam echosounder for depth determination, and had an Auto-Nav system with inputs from NAVSAT/NNSS , GPS, Doppler Log, EM log and track display, with a geodetic positioning accuracy approaching 100 metres (330 ft). When conducting CTD operations in the Challenger deep, they used the SeaBeam as a single beam depth recorder. At 11°22.6′N 142°35.0′E / 11.3767°N 142.5833°E / 11.3767; 142.5833
23322-406: The surface, they equal both the NFB and the subducted part of the Australian plate since 12 Ma in area. The Tonga slab is avalanching through the 660 km layer at the southern end of the New Hebrides arc and trench. The Pacific Plate has been subducting at the Tonga trench for a long time which led to an accumulation of slab material at the 660 km layer south of the Vitiaz trench while
23491-434: The team deployed a benthic lander on 23 November 2013 with eleven baited traps (three bald, five covered by insulating materials, and three automatically sealed after nine hours) into the central basin of the Challenger Deep at 11°21.9082′N 142°25.7606′E / 11.3651367°N 142.4293433°E / 11.3651367; 142.4293433 , depth 10,896 metres (35,748 ft). After an eight-hour, 46-minute stay at
23660-416: The trench ends in a complex transition from subduction to a strike-slip motion and seismicity patterns indicate a presence of a c. 100 km-broad (62 mi) transition zone rather than a simple transform fault . In or near this zone there is a ridge-ridge-ridge triple junction ( 15°37′S 174°52′W / 15.617°S 174.867°W / -15.617; -174.867 ), known as
23829-414: The trench. On 19 December Leggo landed at 11°22.11216′N 142°35.250996′E / 11.36853600°N 142.587516600°E / 11.36853600; 142.587516600 at a uncorrected depth of 11,168 metres (36,640 ft) according to its pressure sensor readings. This reading was corrected to 10,929 metres (35,856 ft) depth. Leggo returned with good photography of amphipods feeding on
23998-424: The trench. The first Rainbow Fish lander took photographs, the second took sediment samples, and the third took biological samples. All three landers reached over 10,000 meters, and the third device brought back 103 amphipods. Cui Weicheng, director of Hadal Life Science Research Center at Shanghai Ocean University , led the team of scientists to carry out research at the Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench. The ship
24167-603: The trench. West of the Osbourn Seamount a broad zone of faulted blocks shallows the trench by 3,000 m (9,800 ft) while the adjacent fore-arc is elevated by c. 300 m (980 ft) and covered by canyons . The Louisville collision zone correlates with a zone of seismic quiescence along the Tonga-Kermadec Trench known as the "Louisville Gap". This gap in seismicity indicates that subducting seamounts inhibit or even prevent seismicity at subduction zones, perhaps by increasing intervals between earthquakes, but
24336-612: The value to 10,935 ± 6 m (35,876 ± 20 ft) at a 95% confidence interval ). However, both the precise geographic location and depth remain ambiguous, with contemporary measurements ranging from 10,903 to 11,009 m (35,771 to 36,119 ft). The depression is named after the British Royal Navy survey ships HMS Challenger , whose expedition of 1872–1876 first located it, and HMS Challenger II , whose expedition of 1950–1952 established its record-setting depth. The first descent by any vehicle
24505-478: The water from hydrothermal vents, white smokers, and hot spots. Kyoko OKINO from the Ocean Research Institute, University of Tokyo, was principal investigator for this aspect of the cruise. The second goal of the cruise was to deploy a new "10K free fall camera system" called Ashura , to sample sediments and biologics at the bottom of the Challenger Deep. The principal investigator at the Challenger Deep
24674-529: The western Pacific Ocean at the southern end of the Mariana Trench , in the ocean territory of the Federated States of Micronesia . The GEBCO Gazetteer of Undersea Feature Names indicates that the feature is situated at 11°22.4′N 142°35.5′E / 11.3733°N 142.5917°E / 11.3733; 142.5917 and has a maximum depth of 10,920 ± 10 m (35,827 ± 33 ft) below sea level . A subsequent study revised
24843-430: The western basin, and ranging far into the backarc of the Challenger Deep (northward), with significant excursions into the Pacific Plate (southward) and along the trench axis to the east. They hauled eight dredges in the western basin to depths ranging from 10,015 to 10,900 metres (32,858–35,761 ft), and between hauls, cast thirteen free vertical traps. The dredging and traps were for biological investigation of
25012-545: The western basin. On Leg 3 of the Hawaii Institute of Geophysics' (HIG) expedition 76010303, the 156-foot (48 m) research vessel Kana Keoki departed Guam primarily for a seismic investigation of the Challenger Deep area, under chief scientist Donald M. Hussong. The ship was equipped with air guns (for seismic reflection soundings deep into the Earth's mantle ), magnetometer , gravimeter , 3.5 kHz and 12 kHz sonar transducers, and precision depth recorders. They ran
25181-485: The world's oceans. Technological advances such as improved multi-beam sonar would be the driving force in uncovering the mysteries of the Challenger Deep into the future. The Scripps research vessel Thomas Washington 's returned to the Challenger Deep in 1986 during the Papatua Expedition, Leg 8 , mounting one of the first commercial multi-beam echosounders capable of reaching into the deepest trenches, i.e.
25350-400: Was 10,920 ± 10 m (35,827 ± 33 ft) at 11°22.4′N 142°35.5′E / 11.3733°N 142.5917°E / 11.3733; 142.5917 ; for the first time documenting the eastern basin as the deepest of the three en echelon pools. In 1993, GEBCO recognized the 10,920 ± 10 m (35,827 ± 33 ft) report as the deepest depth of
25519-530: Was Hiroshi Kitazato of the Institute of Biogeosciences, JAMSTEC. The cruise was titled "Biogeosciences at the Challenger Deep: relict organisms and their relations to biogeochemical cycles". The Japanese teams made five deployments of their 11,000-meter camera system (three to 6,000 meters – two into the central basin of the Challenger Deep) which returned with 15 sediment cores, video records and 140 scavenging amphipod specimens. The Danish Ultra Deep Lander System
25688-513: Was Taishi Tsubouchi of JAMSTEC. The lander Ashura made two descents: on the first, 6 July 2009, Ashura bottomed at 11°22.3130′N 142°25.9412′E / 11.3718833°N 142.4323533°E / 11.3718833; 142.4323533 at 10,867 metres (35,653 ft). The second descent (on 10 July 2009) was to 11°22.1136′N 142°25.8547′E / 11.3685600°N 142.4309117°E / 11.3685600; 142.4309117 at 10,897 metres (35,751 ft). The 270 kg Ashura
25857-509: Was a two-part program: surveying three hydrothermal vent sites in the southern Mariana Trough backarc basin near 12°57'N, 143°37'E about 130 nmi northeast of the central basin of the Challenger Deep, using the autonomous underwater vehicle Urashima . AUV Urashima dives #90–94, were to a maximum depth of 3500 meters, and were successful in surveying all three sites with a Reson SEABAT7125AUV multibeam echosounder for bathymetry, and multiple water testers to detect and map trace elements spewed into
26026-496: Was again put down on the 15th to 10,559 metres (34,642 ft) depth at 11°23.3′N 142°13.8′E / 11.3883°N 142.2300°E / 11.3883; 142.2300 . It was recovered on the 17th with excellent photography of amphipods (shrimp) from the Challenger Deep's western basin. The benthic lander was put down for the third and last time on the 17th, at 11°20.1′N 142°25.2′E / 11.3350°N 142.4200°E / 11.3350; 142.4200 , in
26195-651: Was also used as the support ship of the hybrid remotely operated underwater vehicle (HROV) Nereus that dived three times to the Challenger Deep bottom during the May/June 2009 cruise and did not confirm the sonar established maximum depth by its support ship. Cruise YK09-08 brought the JAMSTEC 4,429-ton research vessel Yokosuka back to the Mariana Trough and to the Challenger Deep June–July 2009. Their mission
26364-577: Was an important gap in information, as the eastern basin was later reported as deeper than the other two basins. Stranger crossed the center basin twice, measuring a maximum depth of 10,830 ± 20 m (35,531 ± 66 ft) in the vicinity of 142°22'E. At the western end of the central basin (approximately 142°18'E), they recorded a depth of 10,805 ± 20 m (35,449 ± 66 ft). The western basin received four transects by Stranger , recording depths of 10,830 ± 20 m (35,531 ± 66 ft) toward
26533-514: Was attained by celestial navigation and LORAN-A . As Gaskell explained, the measurement was not more than 50 miles from the spot where the nineteenth-century Challenger found her deepest depth [...] and it may be thought fitting that a ship with the name Challenger should put the seal on the work of that great pioneering expedition of oceanography. The term "Challenger Deep" came into use after this 1951–52 Challenger circumnavigation, and commemorates both British ships of that name involved with
26702-641: Was by the bathyscaphe Trieste in January 1960. As of July 2022 , there were 27 people who have descended to the Challenger Deep . The Challenger Deep is a relatively small slot-shaped depression in the bottom of a considerably larger crescent-shaped oceanic trench , which itself is an unusually deep feature in the ocean floor. The Challenger Deep consists of three basins, each 6 to 10 km (3.7 to 6.2 mi ) long, 2 km (1.2 mi) wide, and over 10,850 m (35,597 ft) in depth, oriented in echelon from west to east, separated by mounds between
26871-534: Was employed by Ronnie Glud et al on four casts, two into the central basin of the Challenger Deep and two to 6,000 m some 34 nmi west of the central basin. The deepest depth recorded was on 28 November 2010 – camera cast CS5 – 11°21.9810′N 142°25.8680′E / 11.3663500°N 142.4311333°E / 11.3663500; 142.4311333 }, at a corrected depth of 10,889.6 metres (35,727 ft) (the central basin). With JAMSTEC Cruises YK13-09 and YK13-12, Yokosuka hosted chief scientist Hidetaka Nomaki for
27040-457: Was equipped with a GPS satellite-based radionavigation system. The United States government lifted the GPS selective availability in 2000, so during its 2002 survey, Kairei had access to non-degraded GPS positional services and achieved single-digit meter accuracy in geodetic positioning. The 2.516-ton research vessel Melville , at the time operated by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, took
27209-522: Was equipped with multiple baited traps, a HTDV video camera, and devices to recover sediment, water, and biological samples (mostly amphipods at the bait, and bacteria and fungus from the sediment and water samples). On 7 October 2010, further sonar mapping of the Challenger Deep area was conducted by the US Center for Coastal & Ocean Mapping /Joint Hydrographic Center (CCOM/JHC) aboard the 4.762-ton Sumner . The results were reported in December 2011 at
27378-484: Was instrumental in gaining an understanding of the subduction of the Pacific Plate under the Philippine Sea Plate . In 1977, Kana Keoki returned to the Challenger Deep area for wider coverage of the forearc and backarc. The Hydrographic Department, Maritime Safety Agency, Japan (JHOD) deployed the newly commissioned 2,600-ton survey vessel Takuyo (HL 02) to the Challenger Deep 17–19 February 1984. Takuyo
27547-472: Was not until February 1996, during Yokosuka 's cruise Y96-06, that Kaikō was ready for its first full depth dives. On this cruise, JAMSTEC established an area of the Challenger Deep (11°10'N to 11°30'N, by 141°50'E to 143°00'E – which later was recognized as containing three separate pools/basins en echelon, each with depths in excess of 10,900 m (35,761 ft)) toward which JAMSTEC expeditions would concentrate their investigations for
27716-404: Was onboard for servicing, Kairei conducted bathymetric surveys and observations. Kairei gridded a survey area about 130 km N–S by 110 km E–W. Kaikō made six dives (#71–75) all to the same location, (11°20.8' N, 142°12.35' E), near the 10,900 metres (35,800 ft) bottom contour line in the western basin. The regional bathymetric map made from the data obtained in 1998 shows that
27885-478: Was recovered on 2–4 November 2015. "Observed sound sources included earthquake signals (T phases), baleen and odontocete cetacean vocalizations, ship propeller sounds, airguns, active sonar and the passing of a Category 4 typhoon." The science team described their results as "the first multiday, broadband record of ambient sound at Challenger Deep, as well as only the fifth direct depth measurement". The 3,536-ton research vessel Xiangyanghong 09 deployed on Leg II of
28054-433: Was sent to 7,646 m depth about 20 nmi due north of the central basin (ABISMO dive #21) specifically to identify possible hydrothermal activity on the north slope of the Challenger Deep, as suggested by findings from Kairei cruise KR08-05 in 2008. AMISMO 's dives #20 and #22 were to 7,900 meters about 15 nmi north of the deepest waters of the central basin. Italian researchers under the leadership of Laura Carugati from
28223-577: Was subsequently rifted apart when the South Fiji Basin opened in the Early Oligocene. From the Early Oligocene to Miocene the region was part of an arc that formed the northern margin of the Australian Plate. The NFB back-arc basin broke through this margin c. 12 Ma and has since the Late Miocene rotated the New Hebrides Arc 30° clockwise and Fiji at least 100° counter-clockwise. Today
28392-646: Was surveyed by the support ship, the Deep Submersible Support Vessel DSSV Pressure Drop , with a Kongsberg SIMRAD EM124 multibeam echosounder system. The gathered data will be donated to the GEBCO Seabed 2030 initiative. The dive was part of the Five Deeps Expedition . The objective of this expedition is to thoroughly map and visit the deepest points of all five of the world's oceans by the end of September 2019. As part of
28561-427: Was the first Japanese ship to be equipped with the new narrowbeam SeaBeam multi-beam sonar echosounder , and was the first survey ship with multi-beam capability to survey the Challenger Deep. The system was so new that JHOD had to develop their own software for drawing bathymetric charts based on the SeaBeam digital data. In just three days, they tracked 500 miles of sounding lines, and covered about 140 km of
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