Japan Trench

Coordinates: 40°07′N 144°19′E / 40.117°N 144.317°E

The Japan Trench lies east of Honshū island

The Japan Trench is an oceanic trench, a part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, in the floor of the northern Pacific Ocean off northeast Japan. It extends from the Kuril Islands to the Bonin Islands and is 10,554 metres (34,600 ft) at its deepest. It is an extension of the Kuril-Kamchatka Trench to the north and the Izu-Ogasawara Trench to its south with a length of 800 km (500 mi).^[1] This trench is created when the oceanic Pacific plate subducts beneath the continental Okhotsk Plate. The subduction process causes bending of the downgoing plate, creating a deep-sea trench. Continuing movement on the subduction zone associated with the Japan Trench is one of the main causes of tsunamis and earthquakes in northern Japan, including the megathrust Tōhoku earthquake and resulting tsunami that occurred on 11 March 2011.^[2]

Exploration

• On 11 August 1989, the Shinkai 6500 three-person submersible descended to 6,526 m (21,411 ft) while exploring the Japan Trench.
• In October 2008, a UK-Japan team discovered a shoal of fish, Pseudoliparis amblystomopsis at a depth of 7,700 m (25,300 ft) in the trench, these are believed to be the deepest living fish ever filmed.^[3] The Bathyscaphe Trieste observed bottom-dwelling fish at the base of the Marianas Trench/Challenger deep at 10,916 m (35,814 ft).^[4]

See also

• Oceanic trench
• Pacific Ring of Fire
• Northeastern Japan Arc
• Izu-Bonin-Mariana Arc

References

Notes

1. http://www.d-food.jp/trough.html
2. "Magnitude 8.9 – NEAR THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN 2011 March 11 05:46:23 UTC". United States Geological Survey (USGS). Retrieved 11 March 2011.
3. "'Deepest ever' living fish filmed". BBC News. 7 October 2008. Retrieved 2008-10-07.
4. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) webpage. Section "1960 - Man at the Deepest Depth".

External links

• Media related to Japan Trench at Wikimedia Commons