The ten deepest ocean trenches on Earth, ranked by the depth of each trench's deepest known point, from the Mariana Trench's Challenger Deep at 10,925 m to the South Sandwich Trench at 8,266 m.
Updated October 18, 202610 ranked6 sources
Quick answer
The Mariana Trench is the deepest ocean trench, with its deepest point, the Challenger Deep, at 10,925 m. The Tonga Trench is second at 10,820 m and the Philippine Trench third at 10,540 m. The ranking uses the maximum depth of each trench's deepest known point, from the deepest-trenches table in Wikipedia's Oceanic trench article, as read on 18 October 2026.
Ocean trenches are long, narrow, V-shaped depressions in the seafloor that form where one tectonic plate is forced beneath another. They hold the deepest places on Earth, and most of the deepest trenches ring the western Pacific.
This list ranks the ten deepest trenches by the depth of each trench's single deepest known point. Depths come from the deepest-trenches table in Wikipedia's Oceanic trench article, with one correction for the Kuril–Kamchatka Trench, whose long-quoted 10,542 m was disproved by a 2016 survey.
Maximum depth (m)
Maximum depth (m)
Mariana Trench
10925 m
Tonga Trench
10820 m
Philippine Trench
10540 m
Kermadec Trench
10047 m
Izu–Ogasawara (Izu–Bonin) Trench
9810 m
Kuril–Kamchatka Trench
9604 m
New Britain Trench
9140 m
Japan Trench
8412 m
Puerto Rico Trench
8376 m
South Sandwich Trench
8266 m
The ranking
1
Mariana Trench
The Mariana Trench in the western Pacific holds the deepest known point on Earth, the Challenger Deep, at 10,925 m as measured by the Five Deeps Expedition in 2019. A 2021 study revised it to 10,935 m (plus or minus 6 m), and earlier surveys gave other figures, including 10,994 m (plus or minus 40 m) from a 2010 sonar survey. The first crewed descent was the bathyscaphe Trieste in 1960; Victor Vescovo has since dived it fifteen times.
Deepest point: Challenger DeepOcean: PacificDepth source: Five Deeps Expedition (2019)
2
Tonga Trench
The Tonga Trench in the southwest Pacific is the second-deepest trench on Earth and the deepest in the Southern Hemisphere. Its deepest point, the Horizon Deep, is 10,820 m in the compiled table; Victor Vescovo's crewed dive there on 10 June 2019 recorded 10,823 m. GPS measurements in the north of the trench show convergence of about 24 cm a year, among the fastest plate motions on Earth.
The Philippine Trench, about 1,320 km long, lies east of the Philippines. Its deepest point, the Emden (or Galathea) Deep, is 10,540 m. The first crewed descent there was made on 23 March 2021 by Victor Vescovo and Filipino oceanographer Deo Florence Onda.
Deepest point: Emden Deep (Galathea Deep)Ocean: PacificDepth source: Jamieson et al. (2010)
4
Kermadec Trench
The Kermadec Trench runs northeast of New Zealand, where the Pacific Plate is subducting beneath the Australian Plate, and continues north into the Tonga Trench. Its deepest point, the Scholl Deep, reaches 10,047 m, making it one of only four trenches known to exceed 10,000 m.
Deepest point: Scholl DeepOcean: PacificDepth source: Jamieson et al. (2010)
5
Izu–Ogasawara (Izu–Bonin) Trench
The Izu–Ogasawara Trench runs south from Japan near the Izu and Bonin (Ogasawara) islands, linking the Japan Trench to the north with the Mariana Trench to the south. Its maximum depth is 9,810 m.
Deepest point: UnnamedOcean: PacificDepth source: Jamieson et al. (2010)
6
Kuril–Kamchatka Trench
The Kuril–Kamchatka Trench runs off Kamchatka and the Kuril Islands, where the Pacific Plate subducts beneath the Okhotsk Plate. It was long credited with 10,542 m, but a 2016 German survey (Dreutter et al., 2020) found its deepest point at 9,604 m and showed the old 10,542 m spot is only about 7,920 m deep. Many popular lists still use the outdated figure.
Deepest point: UnnamedOcean: PacificDepth source: Dreutter et al. (2020)
7
New Britain Trench
The New Britain Trench curves around the south of New Britain and west of Bougainville Island in the northern Solomon Sea. Its deepest point, the Planet Deep, is 9,140 m.
The Japan Trench, about 800 km long, runs off northeast Japan, where the Pacific Plate subducts beneath the Okhotsk Plate; it was the source of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. The 8,412 m used here is a 2010 compilation figure; Wikipedia's Japan Trench article gives 8,046 m and a 2022 crewed dive's sonar found at most about 8,012 m in the area surveyed, so this depth and rank are uncertain.
Deepest point: UnnamedOcean: PacificDepth source: Jamieson et al. (2010); disputed
9
Puerto Rico Trench
The Puerto Rico Trench, about 810 km long, lies north of Puerto Rico on the boundary between the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea and holds the deepest point in the Atlantic. Victor Vescovo reached its bottom in December 2018 at 8,376 m, the first crewed dive there.
Deepest point: Milwaukee Deep (Brownson Deep)Ocean: AtlanticDepth source: Five Deeps Expedition (2018)
10
South Sandwich Trench
The South Sandwich Trench lies about 100 km east of the South Sandwich Islands, where the South American Plate subducts beneath the small South Sandwich Plate. It is 965 km long and, in the Atlantic, is exceeded in depth only by the Puerto Rico Trench. Its deepest point, the Meteor Deep, is 8,266 m, measured by multibeam sonar during the Five Deeps Expedition in February 2019. The trench's southern end, below 60 degrees south, holds the deepest point in the Southern Ocean.
Deepest point: Meteor DeepOcean: Atlantic (southern end in Southern Ocean)Depth source: Five Deeps Expedition (2019)
Full comparison
#
Name
Deepest point
Ocean
Depth source
1
Mariana Trench
Challenger Deep
Pacific
Five Deeps Expedition (2019)
2
Tonga Trench
Horizon Deep
Pacific
Five Deeps Expedition, reported 2021
3
Philippine Trench
Emden Deep (Galathea Deep)
Pacific
Jamieson et al. (2010)
4
Kermadec Trench
Scholl Deep
Pacific
Jamieson et al. (2010)
5
Izu–Ogasawara (Izu–Bonin) Trench
Unnamed
Pacific
Jamieson et al. (2010)
6
Kuril–Kamchatka Trench
Unnamed
Pacific
Dreutter et al. (2020)
7
New Britain Trench
Planet Deep
Pacific (Solomon Sea)
Gallo et al. (2015)
8
Japan Trench
Unnamed
Pacific
Jamieson et al. (2010); disputed
9
Puerto Rico Trench
Milwaukee Deep (Brownson Deep)
Atlantic
Five Deeps Expedition (2018)
10
South Sandwich Trench
Meteor Deep
Atlantic (southern end in Southern Ocean)
Five Deeps Expedition (2019)
How we ranked this
Trenches are ranked by the maximum depth below sea level of their deepest known point, in metres, as given in the 'Deepest oceanic trenches' table of Wikipedia's Oceanic trench article (read 18 October 2026), which draws on the Five Deeps Expedition results reported by the BBC in 2021, Jamieson et al. (2010, Trends in Ecology and Evolution) and Gallo et al. (2015). One figure is not taken from that table: the Kuril–Kamchatka Trench is given as 9,604 m, the deepest point found by the 2016 German survey published by Dreutter et al. (2020, Progress in Oceanography), which showed the old 10,542 m spot is about 7,920 m deep. Each trench is counted once; the South Sandwich Trench's Southern Ocean deep (Factorian Deep) is part of the same trench and is not listed separately. Survey uncertainty matters: recent measurements carry errors of about 15 m and older soundings can be off by hundreds of metres. The Japan Trench's 8,412 m is a 2010 compilation figure; Wikipedia's Japan Trench article gives 8,046 m (GMRT), which would place it below the Peru–Chile Trench (8,055 m) and out of the top ten, so rank 10 should be read as uncertain. No two trenches tie.
FAQ
What is the deepest ocean trench?
The Mariana Trench in the western Pacific. Its deepest point, the Challenger Deep, was measured at 10,925 m by the Five Deeps Expedition in 2019; a 2021 study gives 10,935 m, plus or minus 6 m.
How do scientists measure the depth of an ocean trench?
Mainly with multibeam sonar from ships, corrected for the temperature and salinity of the water column, and with pressure sensors on landers and submersibles. Recent measurements have uncertainties of about 15 m; older soundings can be off by hundreds of metres, which is why figures for the same trench differ between sources.
Has anyone been to the bottom of the Mariana Trench?
Yes. The bathyscaphe Trieste reached the Challenger Deep in 1960 and James Cameron dived it solo in 2012. Since 2019 there have been many more crewed dives; Victor Vescovo alone has made fifteen.
Why isn't the Kuril–Kamchatka Trench third?
Many lists still give it 10,542 m, but a 2016 survey published by Dreutter et al. in 2020 found its deepest point at 9,604 m and showed the 10,542 m spot is only about 7,920 m deep. On the corrected figure it ranks sixth.
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