Which ocean is the deepest on Earth, reaching the Challenger Deep?

The Pacific Ocean is the deepest ocean on Earth and contains the Challenger Deep. Challenger Deep lies in the Mariana Trench, east of the Mariana Islands, and reaches nearly 11,000 metres below sea level. Measurements vary slightly by survey method, but it is the deepest known point in the world’s oceans.

The Pacific is also the largest ocean, extending from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south. Its name comes from the Latin pacificus, meaning peaceful, a name associated with Ferdinand Magellan’s description of relatively calm waters after entering the ocean in 1520.

The ocean’s floor is shaped by active plate tectonics. The Pacific Ring of Fire surrounds much of its basin and contains many volcanoes and earthquake zones. The Mariana Trench formed where the Pacific Plate is being forced beneath the Philippine Sea Plate, a process called subduction.