But the ocean floor consists of more than just the flat and seemingly vacant abyssal plain. Pockets of life thrive when food is available, and often these distinct deep sea communities rely on alternate sources of chemical energy that do not originate from the sun—they have figured a way to make do with what they get.

May 1, 2020 · First you will need to get into a deep ocean submersible and dive almost 4 miles under the surface of the Pacific Ocean to the sea floor. Graphic depicting satellite captured, bathymetric data of the western Atlantic Ocean Basin and its ocean floor features.

Most of the ocean is very deep, where the seabed is known as the abyssal plain. Seafloor spreading creates mid-ocean ridges along the center line of major ocean basins, where the seabed is slightly shallower than the surrounding abyssal plain.

The deep sea is broadly defined as the ocean depth where light begins to fade, at an approximate depth of 200 m (660 ft) or the point of transition from continental shelves to continental slopes. [1] [2] Conditions within the deep sea are a combination of low …

The United States and Japan are developing research submersible systems that will be able to explore the ocean floor's deepest spot: the 10,920-m Challenger Deep at the southern end of the Marianas Trench off the Mariana Islands.

Jun 5, 2023 · The deepest point in the ocean drops an incredible 11,000 meters (6.8 miles) beneath the sea surface—that is deeper than Mount Everest is tall! These remarkable features, and others still awaiting discovery, play a critical role in life on Earth.

The deep sea—that part of the ocean that is perpetually dark—is 103 million square miles in area. However, despite a dramatic increase in exploration in recent decades, we still know very little about this “inner space.”

Mar 28, 2023 · The deepest zone of the ocean, the hadalpelagic zone extends from 6,000 meters (19,700 feet) to the very bottom, 10,994 meters (36,070 feet) in the Mariana Trench off the coast of Japan. The temperature is constant, at just above freezing.

Apr 25, 2017 · An oceanic trench is a long and narrow depression in the ocean floor. These trenches are considered the deepest part of the ocean floor, occurring at the boundary between convergent plates and lithospheric plates.

With a depth rating of 6,500 meters (4 miles), the human-occupied submersible Alvin provides unparalleled access to 99% of the world's seafloor. It allows researchers to explore, sample and map the deep ocean in person, enabling ground-breaking discoveries about the biological, chemical, physical and geological processes that shape the planet.