1. Marianas Trench
Done by: Chee Keng Jin
Javier Loo
Jeryl Seow
Tan Jing Rong
Leon Lim
2. Overview
• Introduction
• Challenger Deep
• Expeditions and what was found
• Impacts of the subduction that formed
Marianas Trench
• Reflections
• References
3. Introduction to Marianas Trench
Mariana Plate
• The Marianas Trench is caused by plate Pacific Plate
tectonics. Where the Pacific Plate and the
smaller Mariana Plate converge, the
denser Pacific Plate is forced under the
Mariana Plate. The trench is formed due
to the subduction of the Pacific Plate as it
is forced under the smaller Mariana Plate
at the bottom of the ocean between
Japan and New Guinea.
• The deepest point of the trench is around
11,033 meters (36,201 feet) deep and if Challenger Deep
Mount Everest(8,850 meters)was set in
the Marianas Trench, there would still be
2,183 meters (7,166 feet) of water left
above it.
4. Challenger Deep
• Challenger Deep is the deepest part of the Marianas Trench
where the water pressure is about 50 jumbo jets piled on
top of you
• The depth of Challenger Deep can be measured by sending
sound waves to the submersibles below and by using the
velocity of sound in water we can find the depth of
challenger deep
• Many expeditions were carried out to explore and to
determine the depth of Challenger Deep like using the US
Navy submersible manned vessel “Trieste” managed to dive
to a depth of 10,900 meters and 2 other unmanned
expeditions were made to reach very similar depths
achieved by the US Navy’s submersible
5. Expeditions and what was found
• There was a particular expedition that was a total success,
where gasoline was used to flood the submersible's air tanks,
allowed them to explore the Mariana Trench’s Challenger Deep
and enabled them to gather important data on the features and
species of the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian oceans. Nearly 5000
new species of sea creatures were discovered during the 4 year
expedition.
• There has also been life found in the soil of Challenger Deep
where Scientists have pulled a plug of dirt from Challenger Deep
and found that the soil was packed with a unique community of
mostly soft-walled, singled-celled organisms that are thought to
resemble some of the world's earliest life forms.
foraminifera
6. Impacts of the subduction that formed
Marianas Trench
• As highlighted in the previous slides, this trench
allowed us to discover many new species of sea
creatures that were able to live under
tremendous water pressure and some include
the foraminifera
• The distance in which the Pacific Plate moved
towards the Mariana Plate has also caused a
Divergent movement from the plates at the
opposite side such as the Nazca Plate and result
in frequent volcanic activity around that part
forming the East Pacific Rise for example
8. Impacts of the subduction that formed
Marianas Trench
• Another impact of the subduction is the
creation of the island arc, a curved line of
stratovolcanoes that rise up from the ocean
floor.
9. Reflections
• Through this project, we have gained more
knowledge about the Marianas Trench and see
how it links to what we are learning now and
hope there are more of these kinds of projects so
as to probe us to learn more and acquire more
knowledge so as to help us in the future
• We have also been able to work with some
people that we do not really know(3A1 and 3A3)
and thus felt that it was a great experience for us
