Plate Tectonic Tour: Post #1

Hello Army! Today, I wanted to talk about something very special (it is also my first installment of my Plate Tectonic Tour). I will talk about what it is, where it was, and how it relates to our earth's lithosphere and plates. So... let’s get started?

For those of you who didn’t know, I've decided to take on my role of a photo journalist and take pictures that go along with the subject. So today’s subject is… Trenches! Yup, the deep sea oceanic trenches, those giant cracks in the ground. Surprisingly, I learned from accomplished earth scientist Antonio Hopson that trenches define one of the most important natural boundaries on the Earth’s solid surface: the one between two lithospheric plates. There are three types of lithospheric plate boundaries: divergent (where lithosphere and oceanic crust is created at mid-ocean ridges), convergent (where one lithospheric plate sinks beneath another and returns to the mantle), and transform (where two lithospheric plates slide past each other). In a better overview, the oceanic trenches are hemispheric-scale long but narrow topographic depressions of the sea floor. They are also the deepest parts of the ocean floor. So I flew myself all the way to the deepest trench in the world… Mariana trench! The Mariana trench is located near the Mariana Islands in the pacific islands… here is a description straight from a jolly scientist I met there: “The Mariana Trench is the deepest part of the world's oceans, and the lowest elevation of the surface of the Earth's crust. It is currently estimated to be up to 10,971 m (35,994 ft) deep. It is located in the western Pacific Ocean, to the east of the Mariana Islands. The trench is about 2,550 kilometres (1,580 mi) long but has a mean width of only 69 kilometres (43 mi). It reaches a maximum-known depth of about 10.91 kilometres (6.78 mi) at the challenger deep, a small slot-shaped valley in its floor, at its southern end; Although, some unrepeated measurements place the deepest portion at 11.03 kilometres (6.85 mi). If Mount Everett, the highest mountain on Earth at 8,848 metres (29,029 ft), were set in the deepest part of the Mariana Trench, there would be 2,076 metres (6,811 ft) of water left above it.”

Because the altitude was so low, I wasn’t able to take any photos… So I apologize. I’ll leave you with a diagram that I saw on the submarine about how trenches are related to plate tectonics and the lithosphere, and I’ll see you next time!