Which ocean contains the Mariana Trench, the deepest point on Earth?

The Mariana Trench is in the Pacific Ocean, where it forms part of the boundary between the Pacific Plate and the Mariana Plate.

Located east of the Mariana Islands, the trench is a crescent-shaped subduction zone. Its deepest section, Challenger Deep, reaches nearly 11,000 meters below sea level—far deeper than Mount Everest is tall.

The trench was first measured during the 1875 Challenger expedition. Later sonar surveys and crewed and robotic dives refined the measurements. The bathyscaphe Trieste reached the bottom in 1960, and filmmaker James Cameron made a solo descent in 2012.

A common mix-up is confusing the trench with the Mariana Islands or the Mariana Trench Marine National Monument. The monument protects part of the region, but Challenger Deep lies outside its boundaries.