There are deep realms on our planet that seem almost extraterrestrial. Translucent fish flit back and forth while strange, flower-like crinoids sway in the water. But of all the submarine canyons and trenches out there, what are the deepest, darkest spots in each of the world’s five oceans?
The deepest place in the Pacific Ocean (and on Earth) is the Mariana Trench. The trench’s deepest point is the Challenger Deep near the U.S. territory of Guam — a plunge that’s almost 36,000 feet (10,973 meters) below the water’s surface, according to a 2019 study published in the journal Earth-Science Reviews.
The deepest region in the Atlantic Ocean is the Milwaukee Deep in the 27,585-foot-deep (8,408 m) axis of the Puerto Rico Trench. Coming in at 23,917 feet (7,290 m) deep is a nameless region at the bottom of the Indian Ocean. The Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean) goes all the way down to 24,229 feet (7,385 m) in the South Sandwich Trench, and the Arctic Ocean goes down to 16,000 feet (4,877 m) deep at Molloy Deep in the Fram Strait.
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