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In comparison, the average depth of the ocean is about 4 km. The pH value at greater depths (more than 100 m) has not yet been affected by ocean acidification in the same way. There is a large body of deeper water where the natural gradient of pH from 8.2 to about 7.8 still exists and it will take a very long time to acidify these waters, and ...
The maximum known depth is 10,984 ± 25 metres (36,037 ± 82 ft; 6,006 ± 14 fathoms; 6.825 ± 0.016 mi) at the southern end of a small slot-shaped valley in its floor known as the Challenger Deep. [1] The deepest point of the trench is more than 2 km (1.2 mi) farther from sea level than the peak of Mount Everest. [a]
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 ...
Below this zone, the deep sea consists of the abyssal zone (ocean depth between 3-6 km, 1.8-3.6 mi) [14] and the hadal zone (6-11 km, 3.6-7 mi). [15] [16] Food consists of falling organic matter known as 'marine snow' and carcasses derived from the productive zone above, and is scarce both in terms of spatial and temporal distribution. [17]
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 the basins 200 to 300 m (660 to 980 ft) higher.
The mass of the oceans is approximately 1.35 × 10 18 metric tons, or about 1/4400 of the total mass of the Earth. The oceans cover an area of 3.618 × 10 8 km 2 with a mean depth of 3,682 m, resulting in an estimated volume of 1.332 × 10 9 km 3. [8]
The hadal zone, also known as the hadopelagic zone, is the deepest region of the ocean, lying within oceanic trenches.The hadal zone ranges from around 6 to 11 km (3.7 to 6.8 mi; 20,000 to 36,000 ft) below sea level, and exists in long, narrow, topographic V-shaped depressions.
The depth of the seafloor (or the height of a location on a mid-ocean ridge above a base-level) is closely correlated with its age (i.e. the age of the lithosphere at the point where depth is measured). Depth is measured to the top of the ocean crust, below any overlying sediment.