Which ocean is the deepest on Earth, reaching the Mariana Trench?

The Pacific Ocean is the deepest ocean on Earth, reaching the Mariana Trench. It covers more area than all of Earth’s land combined and stretches between Asia and Australia on one side and the Americas on the other.

Its greatest known depth is Challenger Deep, within the Mariana Trench in the western Pacific. Modern measurements place the seabed there at roughly 10,900 metres below sea level, although exact figures vary slightly by survey method. The trench formed where one tectonic plate is forced beneath another.

The Pacific is also the largest ocean by surface area. The name comes from the Latin word pacificus, meaning peaceful, although the region is surrounded by active volcanoes and earthquake zones commonly called the Ring of Fire.

The Atlantic is often confused with the Pacific because it is also enormous, but it is substantially smaller and has a less extreme maximum depth.