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What happens to oceanic crust at a deep ocean trench?

What happens to oceanic crust at a deep ocean trench?

What happens to oceanic crust at a deep-ocean trench? At a deep-ocean trench, the oceanic crust bends downward. In a process taking tens of millions of years, part of the ocean floor sinks back into the mantle at deep-ocean trenches.

What process occurs at a deep ocean trench?

Ocean trenches are a result of tectonic activity, which describes the movement of the Earth’s lithosphere. At many convergent plate boundaries, dense lithosphere melts or slides beneath less-dense lithosphere in a process called subduction, creating a trench.

Is ocean crust destroyed at deep sea trenches?

If the oceanic crust reaches a deep sea trench, it sinks into the trench and is lost into the mantle. Scientists now know that the oldest crust is coldest and lies deepest in the ocean because it is less buoyant than the hot new crust. Seafloor spreading is the mechanism for Wegener’s drifting continents.

What is a deep open trench?

Deep-sea trench, also called oceanic trench, any long, narrow, steep-sided depression in the ocean bottom in which occur the maximum oceanic depths, approximately 7,300 to more than 11,000 metres (24,000 to 36,000 feet). They typically form in locations where one tectonic plate subducts under another.

Are deep ocean trenches stable?

They are not geologically very stable because volcanic activity and earthquakes are always associated with deep-ocean trenches.

Why are most oceanic trenches in the Pacific?

Why are most oceanic trenches found in the Pacific Ocean? The Pacific Ocean is shrinking and plates are descending below surrounding plates along its edges, hence the creation of trenches.

What are the three deepest trenches in the world?

Deepest oceanic trenches

Trench Ocean Maximum Depth
Mariana Trench Pacific Ocean 10,920 m (35,830 ft)
Tonga Trench Pacific Ocean 10,820 m (35,500 ft)
Philippine Trench Pacific Ocean 10,540 m (34,580 ft)
Kuril–Kamchatka Trench Pacific Ocean 10,542 m (34,587 ft)

Where are deep-sea trenches found?

Deep-sea trenches generally lie seaward of and parallel to adjacent island arcs or mountain ranges of the continental margins. They are closely associated with and found in subduction zones—that is, locations where a lithospheric plate bearing oceanic crust slides down into the upper mantle under the force of gravity.

What do deep-sea trenches reveal about Earth’s crust?

What do deep-sea trenches reveal about Earth’s crust? They indicate where crust is moving together and diving down deeper into the mantle.

What are the deepest trenches in the world?

The Mariana Trench, in the Pacific Ocean, is the deepest location on Earth. According to the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), the United States has jurisdiction over the trench and its resources.

Which ocean has the most trenches Why?

the Pacific Ocean
Why are most oceanic trenches found in the Pacific Ocean? The Pacific Ocean is shrinking and plates are descending below surrounding plates along its edges, hence the creation of trenches.

What is the deepest trenches in the world?

How are ocean trenches formed and how are they formed?

​National Geograp… Some ocean trenches are formed by subduction between a plate carrying continental crust and a plate carrying oceanic crust. Continental crust is always much more buoyant than oceanic crust, and oceanic crust will always subduct.

Which is the deepest trench in the ocean?

It is home to the Challenger Deep, which, at 10,911 meters (35,797 feet), is the deepest part of the ocean. The Tonga, Kuril-Kamatcha, Philippine, and Kermadec Trenches all contain depths greater than 10,000 meters (33,000 feet). What is it like in a trench?

What can ocean trenches tell us about earthquakes?

Knowledge of ocean trenches is limited because of their depth and their remoteness, but scientists do know they play a significant role in our lives on land. What can ocean trenches tell us about earthquakes?

How are ocean trenches a feature of convergent plate boundaries?

In particular, ocean trenches are a feature of convergent plate boundaries, where two or more tectonic plate s meet. At many convergent plate boundaries, dense lithosphere melts or slides beneath less-dense lithosphere in a process called subduction, creating a trench.