The deepest ocean trench is the Mariana trench. What is a contributing factor in it's depth?
A.
It is the site of an ancient meteorite collision.
B.
It is located near a divergent plate boundary.
C.
It is located near a convergent plate boundary.
D.
It is located near a transform boundary.
E.
None of these is correct.
E. None of these is correct, although I bet you were hoping for a punchline about a buried treasure chest or a secret door to Atlantis. But alas, the depth of the Mariana Trench is primarily due to its location near a subduction zone, where one tectonic plate is diving beneath another. So, no meteorites or magical boundaries, just good old-fashioned plate tectonics. At least it's deep enough to hide all the embarrassing things we throw into the ocean!
C. It is located near a convergent plate boundary.
To determine the contributing factor to the depth of the Mariana Trench, we can use the knowledge of plate tectonics. The Mariana Trench is located in the western Pacific Ocean and it is indeed the result of a convergence of two tectonic plates. So, the correct answer is C. It is located near a convergent plate boundary.
Convergent plate boundaries occur when two tectonic plates collide, and in the case of the Mariana Trench, it is the Pacific Plate and the Philippine Sea Plate that are converging. As these two plates collide, the denser oceanic plate is forced beneath the less dense continental plate in a process called subduction. Subduction creates deep trenches like the Mariana Trench.
The subduction of the Pacific Plate beneath the Philippine Sea Plate is responsible for the formation of the trench and its extreme depth. The process of subduction allows for the formation of a deep, narrow depression on the ocean floor, resulting in the Mariana Trench being the deepest part of the world's oceans.