New Picture of the Mariana Trench

[Deano]

It is the deepest trench in the world’s deepest ocean, and now scientists have a new map of it.
The new map has a resolution of 100 meters per pixel, nearly 20 times more detailed and precise than previous efforts (two kilometers per pixel).
The Mariana Trench stretches 2,500 kilometers (1,500 miles) in an arc that is edged by islands such as Guam and Saipan. Its depths easily dwarf the tallest mountains on Earth’s surface and pressures exceed 1,000 atmospheres, or 1,000 times the air pressure at the land surface. The trench was formed (and is constantly remodeled) by the collision of the old and cold Pacific tectonic plate with the much younger Philippine plate. The Pacific plate is diving under the Philippine plate in a process known as subduction.
Full story here.
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=77640&src=eoa-iotd

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