Oceanic trench the level of the surrounding oceanic floor. The greatest ocean depth measured is in the Challenger Deep of the Mariana Trench, at a depth of below sea level. Oceanic lithosphere moves into trenches at a global rate of about 3 km/yr. There are approximately of convergent plate margins, mostly around the Pacific Ocean—the reason for the reference “Pacific-type” margin—but they are also in the eastern Indian Ocean, with relatively short convergent margin segments in the Atlantic Ocean and in the Mediterranean Sea. Globally, there are over 50 major ocean trenches covering an area of 1.9 million km or about 0.5%
South Sandwich Trench South Sandwich Trench The South Sandwich Trench is a deep arcuate trench in the South Atlantic Ocean lying 100 km to the east of the South Sandwich Islands. The trench is produced by the subduction of the southernmost portion of the South American Plate beneath the small South Sandwich Plate. The South Sandwich Islands constitute a volcanic island arc which results from this active subduction. Mount Belinda on Montagu Island is an active volcano. It is the deepest trench of the Southern Atlantic Ocean, and the second deepest of the Atlantic Ocean after the Puerto Rico Trench. The trench is